Partying With the Kids From West Bev!

Thanks to a tip from Andrea Sachs who interviewed me a few weeks back for a Washington Post article, I was able to drag my boyfriend to a little shindig for the new 90210 series at the Paley Center in Beverly Hills on Saturday night.

The Paley Center, which was started in 1975 by former CBS C.E.O. William S. Paley, is a library/museum/cultural center combo of sorts dedicated to maintaining, preserving, and sharing media history with future generations. The Center, which was formerly known as the Museum of Radio and Television, houses a vast collection of recordings of over 120,000 television and radio shows – and all of it is available for the general public’s viewing pleasure – for free. The recordings cannot be taken off the property, but can be checked out and enjoyed at one of the Center’s many individual viewing consoles. It’s sort of like a ginormous Blockbuster Video store, where you watch television recordings right on the premises. 🙂 The Paley Center is an absolutely beautiful building, complete with a huge open air lobby, a rooftop terrace, and two full size movie theatres. And, of course, while there, I just had to snap a pic of the Candy and Aaron Spelling Trustee Reception Area. 🙂 LOL

Before arriving at the Paley Center for the 90210 Preview Party, I literally had no idea what to expect. I knew that the Center would be previewing both 90210 and Privileged and that there would be some sort of Question and Answer session involved. But I wasn’t sure what stars, if any, would be attending.

So I almost fell on the floor when in walked Lori Loughlin, who made her way over to the media line to answer questions from the press. Lori is absolutely beautiful in person – much prettier in real life than she even appears onscreen. I didn’t get very good pictures of her, though, as my view was was blocked by the mass of reporters in the media line.

But that’s OK, because who should walk in next but Jessica Lowndes, who plays West Beverly’s resident drug addict Adrianna, and Michael Steger, the West Beverly Blaze new Editor-in-Chief. I was absolutely floored when, after making their way through the media line, they agreed to pose for pictures with us fans. 🙂 YAY!

Jessica was very sweet in person and VERY tiny!!! I have to admit, though, that when I first saw her I didn’t recognize her at all and I actually thought she was Jessica Stroup, the actress who plays Erin Silver on 90210. LOL Jessica looks incredibly young in person, which struck me as quite ironic because the cast members of the original 90210 were always catching flack for looking too old. ; )

In person Michael Steger looks very much like Adrian Grenier from Entourage. He was also very sweet and very tall. He even went outside to sign autographs for fans who couldn’t get into the party. Awwww! Can you tell how excited I was to be taking these pictures? I could not have had a bigger, goofier grin on my face – LOL – what can I say, I am just incapable of playing it cool. 🙂

Also in attendance were Privileged stars Anne Archer and JoAnna Garcia. Anne Archer is absolutely stunning in person and VERY thin. JoAnna Garcia, who previously starred on the hit show Reba, was very cute in person and looked a lot like Isla Fisher. I really wanted to take a picture with JoAnna, but she arrived late and didn’t have time to take photos with the fans. 🙁

The Question and Answer session was also very cool to see. We weren’t able to watch it in the actual theatre where the stars were – that required special tickets. Instead, plasma TV’s were set up throughout the Paley Center, including in the main lobby and on the roof, for the viewing. My boyfriend and I opted to watch the Q&A on the roof, which had amazing views of Beverly Hills. While the session was fun to watch, nothing really earth-shattering or blog-worthy was revealed, other than the fact that Jessica chopped off a significant amount of her hair to play the role of Adrianna and that since landing his role on 90210 Michael has been receiving free clothes from designers.

I have to admit that neither my boyfriend or I wanted to stay to watch the actual TV shows. I wasn’t a big fan of the 90210 pilot when I first watched it last Tuesday, and the last thing I wanted to do was sit through it again. LOL So instead we headed out to a grab a bite to eat at a FABULOUS BH restaurant called Enoteca Drago. On our way out, though, I just had to snap a pic in the media line. 🙂

Until next time, Happy Stalking! : )

Stalk It: The Paley Center is located at 465 North Beverly Drive in the heart of Beverly Hills. There are more Fall Preview Parties happening all week, including celebrations for Chuck, Life, Lipstick Jungle, Gery Unmarried, The Ex List, Worst Week, The Mentalist, Pushing Daisies, Private Practice, and Eli Stone. You can view the entire lineup of television preview parties and reserve your tickets here. Enoteca Drago Restaurant is located at 410 N. Canon Drive in Beverly Hills. The food is amazing there and the service could not have been better! I recommend the chopped salad – it is soooo yummy!!! Don’t forget to keep your eyes peeled for the many stars who dine there nightly.