Warming trend

While the rest of us are huddled beneath a pile of blankets trying to survive another batch of frigid weather, Tom Brady and Gisele Bundchen are busy catching some rays south of the border. On Sunday, the paparazzi snapped the Patriots signal-caller and his supermodel sweetheart snuggling in sunny Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. While it's unclear if the couple is or isn't engaged, they sure look like lovebirds lounging poolside in their boardshorts and bikini.

In light of the Bernie Madoff scandal, Laurence Leamer picked a pretty good time to write a book about Palm Beach. Leamer, who used to live in Boston and penned three dishy accounts of the Kennedy clan, is the author of "Madness Under the Royal Palms: Love and Death Behind the Gates of Palm Beach." Tomorrow, he'll be in town for a party at the Mandarin Oriental hotel hosted by Marilyn Riseman. In putting the new tome together, Leamer became well-acquainted with the super rich residents of Palm Beach, many of whom have their doubts about Robert Jaffe, the dapper broker from Massachusetts who recruited clients for Madoff's alleged Ponzi scheme. "The interesting thing with Jaffe is that his friends all say he's too stupid to do something like this," Leamer said yesterday. "I'd hope my friends would say I'm too smart to do something like this, but, well, Bob's a charming, handsome hunk of a guy who's just not too smart." (Yesterday, Jaffe was ordered to assist the Massachusetts Securities Division in its investigation of Madoff's alleged $50 billion scheme.) Asked if he delights in watching the rich suffer, the author demurred. "I would, but I don't take delight in widows losing everything or the Elie Wiesel Foundation losing its money," he said. "There are so many stories out there. I was at a party just last night and a couple were talking about having dinner with Madoff in the Riviera, and he was sitting at the end of the table with three extremely wealthy widows." Oy.

With any luck, the House of Blues will open its new Lansdowne Street digs with a bang. It's very hush-hush, but we're told plans are in the works to have the great J. Geils Band christen the deluxe new club with a show Feb. 19. Ain't nothin' but a house party, indeed. Neither the promoter nor anyone associated with the band would talk to us yesterday, but we're told the discussions are serious. "This would be the absolute best," said our source, who cautioned that nothing is yet confirmed. J. Geils broke up in the '80s and have reformed only rarely since. The celebrated Boston band's six original members - singer Peter Wolf, keyboardist Seth Justman, guitarist Jay Geils, harpist Magic Dick, bassist Danny Klein, and drummer Stephen Jo Bladd last played together at Klein's surprise 60th birthday party in 2006. The new House of Blues, with a state-of-the-art sound system and room for 2,400 screaming fans, officially opens Feb. 20.

Dennis Lehane has found a novel way to raise funds for a cause he believes in. The best-selling scribe has joined with Protect.org to produce T-shirts featuring fictional names and places from his books. For instance, there's a T advertising Kenzie & Gennaro Investigations from "Gone Baby Gone," Ashecliffe Hospital from "Shutter Island," and Hurley's Drive-In from "Mystic River." Lehane's the latest author to work with Protect.org, a political lobby focused on protecting children from abuse and exploitation. Other authors involved include Andrew Vachss, Chuck Klosterman, Joe R. Lansdale, and Nick Hornby.

Newton native John Krasinski of "The Office" and Burlington's Amy Poehler were funny pretending to be feuding lovers at Sunday's Screen Actors Guild Awards. But Krasinski's real-life love interest is actress Emily Blunt , who he was with at the ceremony.

Sandra Lee was a big hit with the Harvard Business School students who listened to her talk at the annual Dynamic Women in Business Conference. The Food Network host, who's rumored to be dating New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, attended the conference with five young women from Big Brothers Big Sisters of Massachusetts Bay.

Aerosmith bassist Tom Hamilton and his wife, Terry, stopped by the Franciscan Hospital for Children and gave the patients autographed copies of the Boston band's enormously successful Guitar Hero game. We're told the Hamiltons are also donating a week at their Captiva Island crib as an auction item at the hospital's upcoming Friends Ball. The event, hosted by Channel 7's Janet Wu, takes place Feb. 6 at the InterContinental. . . . Bruins Matt Hunwick and Stephane Yelle paid a visit to Mass. General Hospital yesterday to meet pediatric cardiac patients, saying a special hello to little Eric Boykin, who's living with a congenital heart defect. . . . Kevin Garnett celebrated his wife's birthday at the Liberty Hotel Sunday. The Big Ticket and bride Brandi joined teammate Paul Pierce and fiancee Juli Landrum for drinks at Clink followed by a feast in the private dining room downstairs at Scampo.

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