EW and friends party down for the Oscars at Elaine's

While a majority of stars were basking in Oscar glory in sunny California, a number celebrities on the East coast braved a heavy snowfall to attend EW's 13th annual Academy Awards viewing party at New York City's famed Upper East Side restaurant, Elaine's.

Among the famous faces piled into the historic restaurant: Liev Schreiber (who missed out on escorting girlfriend Naomi Watts down the red carpet due to a matinee performance of his Broadway show Talk Radio), Erika Christensen, Angela Bassett, Billy Baldwin, Jane Krakowski, and, inexplicably, two of the boys-to-men from band of brothers Hansen.

But the two people I was most excited to meet were Chris Noth (pictured here with pal Dan Florek from Law and Order: Special Victims Unit) and Candace Bushnell (and, file this under freaky coinkydink, I found out that they're neighbors!). Talk about the ultimate run-in for any Sex and the City fan. I actually ended up eating dinner next to Candace and chatted with her about her new TV pilot, Lipstick Jungle (she's one of the exec producers). She also gave me some words of wisdom about being a career girl in The "Big" City, "It’s not about finding Mr. Big, it’s about finding yourself first."

Another TV show time warp I had last night was with Danica McKellar of The Wonder Years. She sat on the other side of me at my table, and I had to keep reminding myself that she's not really Winnie Cooper, but an actual person — she looks exactly the same as she did on The Wonder Years, the same straight black hair and innocent face. But she's also one of the most down-to-earth people I have ever met (just like I'd imagined Winnie would be). Danica was in NYC to meet with her editor and publisher for a book that she's writing called Math Doesn't Suck (you could've fooled me!), which comes out in August. "It's going to help girls not be afraid of math," she told me. (Fun fact! Didja know that Danica graduated Summa Cum Laude from UCLA with a BS in mathematics in 1998? True!)

Back in Mr. Bigland, Chris Noth spent the majority of the night at his table placing bets on who will win. "All my buddies are here from different Law and Order shows," he told me. "It’s fun to see them because we all work so hard. It’s few and far between that we get together. I come to Elaine’s all the time anyway, it’s the best joint in town." Certainly for an Oscar party.