Are there degrees to domestic bliss? From the first milliseconds of her coupling with Tom Cruise, Katie Holmes has knee-jerkingly gushed about her "amazing" happiness. Now, the latest issue of People wants us to know "why Katie is happier than ever!" (Hint: It has something to do with being Mrs. Cruise and mom to 15-month-old Suri.) And despite her recent fashion don't of donning Christian Louboutin stilettos for a day at the beach with her daughter, Holmes is also "more confident and sophisticated by the day," rhapsodizes the celeb-friendly mag, which adds that the statuesque starlet is stepping out of her hubby's more-diminutive shadow. Meanwhile, Holmes will seemingly show off some of her growing confidence and sophistication this weekend. According to the New York Post, she and Tom, with a little help from pals Will Smith and Jada Pinkett, are tossing BFFs David and Victoria Beckham a "Welcome to America" bash on Sunday. "Invitations went out all over Hollywood," a spy tells the paper. "They were printed on red velvet with tacky gold lettering."

Regrets, Winona Ryder has a few, but a guilty conscience over her 2001 shoplifting arrest isn't one of them. "I didn't have this tremendous sense of guilt, because I hadn't hurt anyone," the once press-shy actress, 35, explains to Vogue, which makes her comeback plans official by anointing her its August cover girl. "Had I physically harmed someone or caused harm to a human being, I think it would have been an entirely different experience." According to Winona, she was popping the painkiller oxycodone for a broken arm before the bust, leading to what she describes as a state of "confusion." "The attention was what was embarrassing," she says, pointing out how she was picked up for purloining the estimated $5,000 in goods at Saks Fifth Avenue in Beverly Hills, Calif., just three months after Sept. 11. "So much attention was being paid to me, when we had just been attacked," Ryder sighs, "and there was all this really important news going on."

One of the quickest ways for a C-list-level star to generate some buzz these days: Lose the extra baggage. Nick Carter is proudly showing off his transformation from doughy to sinewy in the pages of Us Weekly, which says he's lost more than 44 pounds in the last seven months. "I'd become depressed," the formerly fleshy boy-bander, 27, tells the mag of his decision to reclaim his "teenage physique." "Something deep down inside of me said, I'm tired of being this person, and I'm a good-looking guy!"

In related news, there's also less of Tori Spelling to love (or hate -- your call). She tells Us she's already dropped 22 of the 40 pounds she put on while pregnant with son Liam with the help of -- product placement alert! -- NutriSystem. "I'm happy with the way I look," she enthuses to the magazine. "I don't think about getting down to a size 0 or a size 2, because that was before. I'm a mom now!"

With all the unrest in the world, it's nice to know some things never change. The London Daily Mail claims Barbra Streisand was at her diva best while performing in Ireland recently, demanding a laundry list of items that ranged from peach-hued toilet paper and towels to rose petals in the toilet and 10 high-end floor lamps.

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