NAMES & FACES

A New Day Dawns at Washingtonian

Age ain't nothing but a number: The latest addition to the upper rungs of Washingtonian magazine's masthead has been out of college for only a few years. Of course, it was Harvard University, mind you.

FishbowlDC blog editor Garrett Graff , 24, is the monthly's new editor-at-large, a prestigious position formerly held by 66-year-old Chuck Conconi, who retired. Graff says he will edit the Capital Comment section and write stories.

Editor John A. Limpert says that Graff is well suited for the job. "We would not have hired him just on the blog," he says. "We thought he had a good feel for politics and media. Then he wrote a piece for us on Howie Kurtz that showed he's a good journalist."

Fellow blogger Ana Marie Cox, aka Wonkette, says she also thinks Graff is a good fit, adding, "It's what you do that makes you a journalist, not where you publish."

So what are his credentials? Graff served as executive editor of the Harvard Crimson and interned at ABC News in Washington as well as the Atlantic Monthly. He has freelanced for Washingtonian and has been with Fishbowl DC since January. On the political side, he was a spokesman for Howard Dean's presidential campaign.

Conconi says that while he didn't have a say in the choice of his successor, he met Graff briefly and "he's a nice guy. He has a group of wonderful people who are working with him."

And what does Graff have to say about the new job? "Obviously I have a lot to learn and I don't think anyone could easily fill Chuck's shoes."

The Mother of All Baby Showers

Leave it to Britney Spears to have an over-the-top baby shower. No, it was really over-the-top. Why are we not surprised?

People magazine reports that Brit's 19 guests entered her Moroccan-themed bash, held in a bamboo tent at her Malibu estate, by walking barefoot through thousands of rose petals.

Partygoers played games like "guess how big Britney's belly is" and tried to see who could go the longest without saying the word "baby" (Spears wasn't allowed to play, but apparently would have lost right away). If attendees were bored with baby, er, infant talk, they could visit the shower's tarot card reader or henna artist.

Said Spears: "I wanted it to be really intimate with just my closest girlfriends and family members." So she splashed it all over a national glossy, naturally.

It pays to be in good with this diva. While Spears received the usual baby gifts, she reciprocated by giving all of her guests goodie bags. And we're not talking about bags filled with baby-themed trinkets and candy.