Looks like Nina Garcia is getting the last laugh. While Project Runway remains mired in legal dispute between NBC and The Weinstein Company, Garcia's new Marie Claire-centric reality show, Running in Heels, is controversy-free and set to debut on Lifetime in March. Even better: She just scored a bunch of money to publish her third book. Garcia's The Style Strategy: A Less is More Approach to Staying Chic and Shopping Smart, which will be published in August, will feature the editor showing ladies how to "shop smart and save money, while not sacrificing fashionable self expression." [NYO]

Daniel Benedict is one of the city's most frequently photographed professional party-goers: You don't appear 955 times on Patrick McMullan if you sit at home at night and watch trashy reality TV on VH1. (That's what a DVR is for.) Daniel also has a serious affection for self-tanning lotion, at least judging by the number of people who email us to comment on the shade of Daniel's skin. But have you ever considered how hard it must be to achieve just the right shade? It's a delicate balancing act. Don't put enough on and you look sickly; put on too much and your fellow party guests are wondering aloud if lobster is on the menu. But we're here to help. You can now hold up the Daniel Benedict Self-Tanning Color Swatch while you're looking in the mirror to determine if you're safe, or if you've clearly gone way too far. You're welcome!

• Why isn't your glass of water getting refilled? It might be because the restaurant decided to slash costs by firing all the busboys. [WSJ]
• E.U. in the EV is no more; a trattoria is set to take its place by March. [Eater]
• Jean-Georges Vongerichten now says he won't be taking over the Ago space inside Robert De Niro's Greenwich Hotel after all. [DBTH]
• Is Momofuku Milk Bar turning into an actual bar? That's the rumor. [TFB]
• Tom Colicchio and Damon Wise are expanding their discount menu. [Eater]
• Scott Conant will be the guest judge on tomorrow's Top Chef. [GS]
• Gordon Ramsay hasn't been banned from Mario Batali's restaurants. [GS]
• Chef Gabrielle Hamilton has inked a book deal with Random House. [EMD]

Was Dick Fuld's decision to turn over his half-share of a $14 million Florida mansion to his wife for $100 even legal? Will the move protect him in the event he's found personally liable for Lehman's collapse, or if he files for bankruptcy? So many questions! Fortunately, a bunch of wise law professors will explain, if you're interested. [TaxProfBlog via Dealbreaker]

Olivia Palermo must be in a good mood today! She and Whitney Port will be back for a second season of The City! Okay, so the show hasn't been a huge hit with viewers, and their "colleagues" at DVF haven't been too thrilled with the new arrivals. But MTV's got to fill the slot with something, and it looks like they may have another extra half-hour on their hands considering the announcement made no mention of Bromance. The release also didn't say whether Olivia's crime-loving cousin will be returning for Season 2, so you're just going to have to keep your fingers crossed on that one. [THR/Live Feed]

• Mary Louise Parker was the center of attention at the Roundabout Theatre on Sunday for the opening night of her new Broadway show, Hedda Gabler. Parker and her co-stars, Michael Cerveris, Peter Stormare, and Paul Sparks, and the play's director Christopher Shinnas were joined at the play and after-party by Liza Minnelli, Joan Rivers, Blythe Danner, Mamie Gummer, Amy Irving, Billy Stritch, and Tovah Feldshuh. [PMc, Wireimage, GoaG]

Street Wisdom [Bowery Boogie]

Ever wish you could hear Isaac Mizrahi stress the importance of style and remind you of your own mortality every time your cell phone rang? You can! Click on the photo to your left to download the unofficial Mizrahi ringtone, which features Isaac at his most philosophical. (You'll find instructions on how to set it up on your phone here.) And remember: "Style makes you feel great because it takes your mind off the fact that you're going to die." Previous ringtones: Padma Lakshmi, Anna Wintour, Andre Leon Talley, and Bernie Madoff.

• Reed Business has cut staff across its numerous publications. [NYT, THR, FB]
• Carlos Slim Helu's loan to The New York Times Co. is "an ominous move" by a "capitalist with loyalties to a foreign state," says the Seattle Times. [E&P]
• Pastor Rick Warren is launching a magazine. [WSJ]
• More on Conde Nast's new web strategy. [NYP]
• Meet the Huffington Post's new cast of celebrity bloggers. [Jossip]
• The Senate has voted to delay the transition to digital TV until June 12. [BN]

Arthur Nadel, the Florida-based money manager accused of defrauding clients to the tune of $300 million and then suggesting he'd committed suicide when he was first indicted, is now in custody. Nadel surrendered to the FBI today in Tampa. Yea, sure, we were hoping for a more exciting conclusion to this story, too, but we'll cut him a break since he's 76. [Bloomberg]

Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist John Updike died today at the age of 76. The cause was lung cancer, according to his publisher. [NYT]

Virgin doesn't have a problem mocking current events as part of its own ad campaigns. (Perhaps you saw Virgin Mobile's Eliot Spitzer-themed ad last year?) But clearly Virgin America isn't quite as happy when other people do it. The company filed a lawsuit against the advertising blog Adrants.com yesterday over a fake ad the site posted on the day Flight 1549 crashed into the Hudson River. The spoof (left), which appeared below the headline "The Hudson Crash: Just One More Reason to Fly Virgin," was later updated to make it clear the ad was a parody. (It was eventually removed from the site entirely, although you'll find a cached version here.) But that hasn't stopped Virgin from suing Adrants and the site's founders for defamation, trademark infringement and dilution, false designation, and false and deceptive advertising. "Virgin America deplores the fact that anyone would try to take advantage of the crash of flight 1549," the company said in court documents. (Here's looking at you, Ken Cole!) You can take a look at Virgin's full lawsuit after the jump.

Related: Gloomy Days in Davos [Cityfile]

Depending on your perspective, it's either a reassuring indication that the global recession can't be as bad as all that, or the kind of tasteless display of decadence that no longer has any place in the new economy: Couture fashion week in Paris is currently underway with shows as lavish as ever, even though you'd think that dresses costing a quarter of a million dollars might have a slightly shrinking client base. Dior designer John Galliano, who put on a show yesterday that cost around $3 million, points out that his job "is to make women dream. Of course I'm aware of the credit crunch, but it is not a creative crunch—not at the house of Dior, anyway."

A handful of news outlets have been reporting that Michael Bloomberg is officially the "most generous living man in America," having given away a total of $235 million over the course of 2008, according to The Chronicle of Philanthropy. Bloomberg didn't come in No. 1 on the list, though. As NY1 tells it, "Bloomberg actually ranked ninth overall on the list. He was topped by eight others who died last year and gave greater amounts away in their wills." We're guessing this news will come as a big surprise to the still-living couple that came in at No. 3, Pete Peterson and his wife, Joan Ganz Cooney. [NY1, NYT]

Your best bet for remaining in America and being satisfied with your lot? Don't be an uneducated white woman. Men, non-whites, and the college-educated are all happier than they were in the early 1970s, according to a new study. Americans, though, are hardly the happiest people on the planet: The US ranked 16th on the happy list; Denmark was rated the most cheerful nation and Zimbabwe came in dead last. Guess we'll see you in Copenhagen next week! [LiveScience]

Bernie Madoff is locked up in his Manhattan apartment, he no longer has access to his assets, and he's been stripped of his cars, too. But there's a little Madoff loot stashed away just waiting for Bernie to come and collect it, assuming he gets there before the feds do. A search of the Unclaimed Funds database maintained by New York State's Office of the Comptroller shows that Bernie and Ruth Madoff are owed half a dozen interest checks and dividends from a handful of banks and property firms. Okay, fine, it's probably not a lot of money and whatever is contained in the accounts will probably have to be turned over to the government so it can be distributed to Madoff's victims. But desperate times call for desperate measures, and considering the funds have been sitting there for 15 years now, there's always a chance they'll never find out! Bernie and Ruth's unclaimed riches after the jump.

• So much for those rumors that Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony are in the process of splitting up: The couple has paid $2.05 million to purchase their next-door neighbor's five-bedroom house in Brookville, Long Island. [Newsday]
• Private equity exec Allen Thorpe and his wife, artist Meghan Mackay, paid $9 million for a six-bedroom apartment at 235 West 71st Street. [Cityfile]
• Hedge fund manager Ricky Sandler and his wife Mara have paid $19 million for Kitty Carlisle Hart's former penthouse duplex at 1185 Park Avenue. [NYO]
• Dallas Cowboys receiver (and soon-to-be reality TV star) Terrell Owens has cut the price of the five-bedroom home in Moorestown, NJ that he's been trying to sell for more than a year now. It's now listed at $2.96 million. [Luxist, Prudential]

Keith Olbermann turns 50 today. Designer Narciso Rodriguez is celebrating his 48th. Actor Alan Cumming is turning 44. Mikhail Baryshnikov is 61. Hedge fund mogul Dan Och turns 48. Model Lily Donaldson is turning 21. Tom Cruise's first wife, actress Mimi Rogers, turns 53. Actor James Cromwell turns 69. Tricky is 41. The rapper Lil Jon is 38. Bridget Fonda is 45. And Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts, who so spectacularly mangled Barack Obama's oath of office a week ago, turns 54 today.

• Tim Geithner was sworn in as Treasury Secretary last night. William Dudley is expected to take over for Geithner at the New York Fed. [BN, NYT, WSJ]
• Nomura announced a quarterly loss of $3.8 billion yesterday. [DB]
• Barclays says it plans to write down an additional $11 billion for 2008. [NYT]
• Tremont, the hedge fund that invested in Madoff, may shut down soon. [NYP]
• Vikram Pandit has hinted that Citi may abandon plans to buy a new jet. [CS]
• John Paulson is continuing to rake in lots of money. [BN]
• 78,000 people were laid off by public companies yesterday. [NYP]
• Stan O'Neal? He's a lousy tipper, just so you know. [NYP]