Blake Lively

The always cute cast of Gossip Girl made the trip out to Long Island City, Queens, on Friday to shoot a series of holiday ads for the Gap. Check 'em out ...

Above: Chace Crawford (Nate) and Blake Lively (Serena) looking as terrific as ever. We can certainly see what Carrie Underwood sees in Chace Crawford!

Below: The lovely Leighton Meester (Blair), who may be the cutest girl on Earth. Or at least tied with Friday Night Lights look-alike Minka Kelly for that honor. What we would've give to receive that under the tree this year.

Blake, Chace, Leighton and the rest of their Gossip Girl cohorts return for an all-new episode this Wednesday on The CW. We're counting down the days.

The beautiful Blake Lively of Gossip Girl fame looks simply heavenly in a yellow gown at the Seventh on Sale dinner gala in New York City Thursday.

Seventh on Sale is the world's largest sample sale, in which dozens of big-name fashion brands have donated thousands of items to be sold through December 7, and 100 percent of the money raised in the process goes to services and housing for those living with HIV and AIDS. It's nice to see Blake Lively support a good cause.

And looking wonderful. See below.

Blake Lively and her Gossip Girl mates are on hiatus this week due to the holiday, but return with an all-new episode Wednesday, November 28.

Hot, young actress alert - times two!

In the photos below, Blake Lively and Leighton Meester were spotted in New York filming scenes for a Christmas episode of the new CW hit, Gossip Girl...

The lovely and stylish Blake Lively, 20, was seen wearing a red suede coat, a gray sweater, metallic gloves and a plaid tie as she enjoyed a candy cane (left).

Meanwhile, Minka Kelly look-alike Leighton Meester, 21, wore a navy school girl uniform with matching red accessories â€" patent leather tote, bow belt and ribbon hair band. Those prep school uniforms are ... something else.

These two young beauties together - along with an entertaining, funny show that doesn't take itself too seriously - make Gossip Girl a weekly must-see!

As Blake Lively continues to make a name for herself on The CW hit Gossip Girl, it seemed like a good time to help fans get to know this actress a bit more.

Here are a few fun facts about the star, courtesy of People magazine:

1. Lively told In Style that her Gossip Girl character (Serena van der Woodsen) wore a $12,000 John Galliano jacket and a $10,000 Chanel coat for her first day of school.

2. She was the only actual teenager in 2005's The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants with America Ferrera, Alexis Bledel and Amber Tamblyn.

3. Regarding her actor brothers, Blake said: "They set me up on some auditions and after a very short amount of time I got The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants," thanking them for assisting with her career.

4. At L.A.'s Burbank High School, Lively was senior class president, a cheerleader, and a member of the championship choir.

5. Her father Ernie played her onscreen dad in The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. Of her showbiz family she told the Boston Herald, "I think it's great that they're all in it. I grew up on sets. They're very helpful and understanding."

Yes, Chace Crawford has definitely seen Carrie Underwood nude by now.

But that's not the only exciting news emanating from the cast of Gossip Girl.

Another star of The CW show, Blake Lively, appeared on Live with Regis and Kelly earlier in the week.

Seen here, she took time to sign autographs outside studio, before spending most of her segment discussing her unique shows with Kelly Ripa, who insisted on trying one on.

Blake Lively is a popular new star. But will she go the way of sweet Hayden Panettiere or dirty Lindsay Lohan?

On The CW series Gossip Girl, popularity is the name of the game for Serena van der Woodsen.

But for the actress who plays her, Blake Lively, it takes a little more getting used to.

"It is a crazy and completely insane business," Blake Lively says of her new celebrity status in CosmoGIRL!

"I'll go to an event wearing some designer gown and tens of thousands of dollars in jewelry that was lent to me for the night, and I'll walk around and meet people who I always thought were such a big deal."

Despite being a stunner herself and starring on a new hit show, the 20-year-old Lively insists that she isn't overly starstruck.

"Stars really are like anyone else," the Gossip Girl star says. "At the end of the day, Brad Pitt poops - as handsome as he may be - and so does Angelina Jolie. I'm still baffled by how odd this job is."

Well put, Blake. Lively tries to keep it in perspective, and refuses to condemn other young actresses who have had difficulty in that regard.

"I think people who bash girls in Hollywood who are struggling with addiction or going into rehab aren't being totally fair; it's not solely their fault," she says.

"When you don't have someone to model yourself after, you're eventually going to make mistakes. There's no one there to tell them what's right or wrong, who's a positive example and who isn't."

THG NOTE: Sounds like an indictment of Lynne Spears to us!

Even as she gets used to the glitz of the entertainment business, Blake Lively still remembers the goggle-eyed young fan she used to be.

"As a kid, I had a crush on Leonardo DiCaprio and, my gosh, Justin Timberlake," she says. "They were the two I can really think of just being in love with."

Britney Spears is getting around these days.

Recently, she's been spotted hanging out with ex-lover J.R. Rotem. We assume they were talking about wheelbarrows and such.

The train wreck of a human being was also seen this week strutting down New York City sidewalks with Gossip Girl star Blake Lively.

Despite sharing a love for small dogs with Britney, Lively does not look pleased with her pal. Maybe it's the huge sunglasses. Or the low-cut dress. Or the fact that Spears is staring straight ahead, almost as though Blake isn't even there.

She's treating the actress like she's Sean Preston or Jayden James. That would piss us off, too...