Truth or Dare, the latest horror flick from Blumhouse Productions, was released this past Friday and I, for one, could not be more excited! Not only does the film star Pretty Little Liars’ Lucy Hale, but it was filmed exclusively in Los Angeles! So be prepared for some Truth or Dare locations to be coming your way this October! I am even more excited to be hosting a special giveaway in honor of the movie’s release in which one lucky reader will win a fabulous prize package! So grab a friend and take the Truth or Dare challenge to see who survives.
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First up, test your skills on the Truth or Dare Challenge Blog App by clicking below! The game requires two players. Complete the Truth or Dare challenge before time runs out – or pass . . . if you dare! The player who completes the most challenges in the shortest amount of time wins!
Then enter to win the fabulous Truth or Dare Night Pack which includes:
1 – Limited Edition Truth or Dare Card Game: This limited edition Truth or Dare Game is only available via this promotion and has a run of 200 pieces worldwide. It has a card deck featuring dares and the creepy crawly items you need to satisfy the dares in the deck. Test your resolve… The truth will set you free!
1 – Truth or Dare Official Promo Tank – Show off the goods with this Truth or Dare Official Tank. Once you play the card game, the winner will get this tank to show off to all their friends!
The game seriously sounds so fun (I mean, the dares involve eating insects – which are included!) that I considered keeping it for myself.
Entering is simple – just follow me on Twitter by clicking below for a chance to win. If you already follow me on Twitter, you still have to click below to enter. Send out a tweet about the contest through the link below for bonus entries! The winner will be announced on April 22nd!
It has been said that you shouldn’t look down when you walk. There are two places in Manhattan where you ought to keep your eyes on the pavement, though. I blogged about one, Hess Triangle in front of Village Cigars, on Wednesday. The other, a clock imbedded in concrete outside of what was once William Barthman Jeweler in the Financial District, has been alerting overhead passersby of the time since 1899! I first learned about the historic curiosity while perusing the book The Best Things to Do in New York shortly before our April 2016 trip to the Big Apple and immediately decided it was a must-see. Even though the underfoot ticker is not a filming location (at least, not that I know of), since it is such an obscure and unique spot and definitely falls into the “Hidden NYC” category, I figured it was blog-worthy, as well.
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The sidewalk timepiece was first dreamed up by William Barthman in 1896 as a way to attract patrons to his downtown jewelry and watch store, which he opened on the corner of Broadway and Maiden Lane twelve years prior. Though large clocks posted at the entrance to boutiques were quite commonplace at the time, one embedded in the sidewalk was a definite novelty and Barthman figured such an unusual mechanism would pique the interest of all who stepped upon it. He conceived of the design himself and enlisted his associate Frank Homm to bring his vision to life. It took Homm more than two years to do so and the piece was finally installed outside of the shop in the fall of 1899.
The original Barthman Sidewalk Clock is not the one pictured above. As you can see in the screen capture below, which I grabbed from a fabulous video posted on the Hodinkee website, in its initial form the piece, a three-window jump hour mechanism with a built-in light that made it visible at night, looked much different. Though it did quickly become an area attraction, luring in those who walked by, in a rather unfortunate twist, when Homm passed away in 1917 he took the secret of maintaining the device to his grave with him. As such, the clock ceased to function, consistently broadcasting the incorrect time to all who took note of it (well, except for twice a day, as the saying goes). In the years following, it served as a source of embarrassment for the store and employees took to covering it over with cardboard each morning prior to opening.
Finally, in 1925, Barthman Jeweler replaced the busted gadget with a working Arabic-style clock. The apparatus has since been refitted and modified on several occasions throughout the years, including a 1983 revamping performed by none other than Cartier. The brass compass rose that currently encircles it was also a later enhancement. In addition to regular winding, the piece still requires quite a bit of maintenance, which is not surprising considering an estimated 15,000 people walk across it each hour during peak intervals. Thankfully, this time around more than one Barthman employee is experienced with the ins and outs of its upkeep and care. According to Gizmodo and The New York Times, the custom-made face, which can withstand 2,000 pounds of pressure, is removed for polishing twice a year and replaced altogether every four due to scratching and clouding. And how are maintenance and repairs achieved, you ask? Via an access point located underneath the sidewalk. You can check out what it looks like here.
Though William Barthman Jeweler is still in existence, it has since moved a few doors down to 176 Broadway and a Vitamin Shoppe outpost now occupies its original space.
Prior to the move, a replica clock was made with the intention that it would be installed in the sidewalk in front of the new store. That was not to be, though. As the Hodinkee website explains, when Barthman’s owners asked for permission for the project, in a rather iconic twist “the authorities had a simple answer: there is only one New York Sidewalk Clock.” The replica was eventually hung above the shop’s main door. Though I did not get any photos of it, you can see it in the Google Street View images below.
Despite the re-location, Barthman employees still maintain the clock via the underground access point.
Last month, I headed out to the Skylark Hotel in Palm Springs to meet with George Smart, of the US Modernist website, and record a bit for his popular podcast, US Modernist Radio. While sitting by the pool in the Skylark’s fabulously retro courtyard (which could not have felt more appropriate), George and I discussed all manner of stalking-related topics including modernist homes onscreen, how to be a polite stalker, and my most-wanted locations (one of which – Tal Weaver’s house from Beverly Hills, 90210 – I am happy to report has since been found!). You can give the episode a listen here. It’s #54/Modernism Week 1.
Friends often refer to me as a “foamer,” i.e. a person who foams at the mouth over all things Disney. Apparently, I am not a very good one, though, because up until just recently I had no clue that for the past thirteen years the Disney Store has been headquartered at the Royal Laundry Complex, a historic former laundry plant in Pasadena. I was only made aware of the locale and its Disney connection a couple of weeks ago when, while perusing Instagram, I came across an image of an incredible Minnie-Mouse-shaped topiary on fellow stalker Julie’s page. I immediately clicked on the location link at the top of the photo and just about fell over when the map came into view with a pin dropped at 443 South Raymond Avenue in Pasadena. I was further intrigued when I read Julie’s caption, which stated that the site had been featured in the Backstreet Boys’ “As Long As You Love Me” music video. How in the heck did I not know about this place – especially considering I lived in Pasadena for almost two decades and count myself an expert on the city? I, of course, promptly added the location to my To-Stalk list and headed right on over there last weekend while visiting Crown City. Thank you, Julie!
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The Royal Laundry Complex was originally constructed for the Royal Laundry Company in 1927. Designed by Gordon Kaufmann, the prolific architect who also gave us the La Quinta Resort & Club, Santa Anita Park and Greystone Mansion, the property was initially composed of a single Spanish Colonial Revival building (pictured below) situated on the southwest corner of East Bellevue Drive and South Raymond Avenue.
At some point before 1931, the company needed additional space and a large one-story annex was installed along the building’s south side.
While originally designed in a utilitarian style, the structure was remodeled to be more Streamline Moderne in 1939.
That same year, Royal Laundry added a third, drive-up facility in order to accommodate its growing customer base.
It, too, was designed in a Streamline Moderne style.
The marquee signage, which originally boasted neon lettering that spelled out “DRIVE-IN & SAVE,” was added in 1955.
Though the neon has long since been removed and the background lettering painted over, you can still sort of see the wording in my photo below.
After the Royal Laundry Company closed its doors in the 1980s, the complex was left vacant for many years.
It was finally sold to Lee Group Inc. in 1995 and underwent an extensive $8-million renovation that was completed in 2005. The Disney Store leased the complex that same year and transformed it into their worldwide headquarters.
The company hired Clive Wilkinson Architects to redesign the interior of the sprawling 72,500-square-foot facility prior to moving in.
Of the highly innovative and unique space, the Clive Wilkinson website says, “The existing brick-walled structure inspired the creation of brick-like elements for the interior, which allude to the playful building block habits of children. A 20-person ‘Block Conference Room’ is formed on two sides by foam block walls. When the foam modules are disassembled, they become the seating system for 200-person company meetings. A modular honeycomb structure, conceived as a flexible means of managing Disney sample product display, forms a second conference room.” You can check out some interior photographs of the 260-person facility here.
In September 2014, the Royal Laundry Complex, which is on the National Register of Historic Places, was sold to the Swig Co. for $26.1 million. At the time, the Disney Store still had a little over 3 years left on its 13-year lease, so the company remained in place. The lease did just expire at the beginning of this month, though, and, from what I’ve read, it does not appear that it was renewed. I am unsure of what that means for the future of the complex – or its Minnie Mouse topiary.
Sadly, not much of the topiary can be seen from the street.
You can just make out the top of Minnie’s shrubberied ears in my images above and below.
The Backstreet Boys descended upon the Royal Laundry Complex on June 15th, 1997 to shoot their “As Long As You Love Me” music video. Though AJ, Nick, Kevin, Brian, and Howie D. had already taken Europe by storm by that time, the group was just on the cusp of becoming famous stateside and Tiger Beat magazine was on hand to report on the shoot. Prior to coming across Julie’s Instagram post, I had never actually seen the “As Long As You Love Me” video (while I am familiar with their music, the Backstreet Boys hit just a little bit after my time) and I wound up absolutely loving it! And slightly obsessing! I’ve literally seen it like thirty times now. I cannot stop watching. It is such a great video (that chair dance!), especially considering the fact that it was made over two decades ago! The song is fabulous, too. I haven’t been able to get it out of my head for like three weeks straight.
“As Long As You Love Me” mainly makes use of Royal Laundry’s interior, but the exterior is shown for a brief moment at the very end.
Interestingly, Backstreet Boy Brian Littrell met his future wife, Leighanne Wallace, during the filming. She played model “Donna” in the video. (That’s her below.) The two apparently hit it off while on set, started dating, and eventually tied the knot on September 2nd, 2000. They are still married today. The “As Long As You Love Me” video shoot took place relatively early on in Brian’s career, before he hit superstardom, so the fact that they are still together is incredible – and incredibly cute.
You can watch the full “As Long As You Love Me” video by clicking below. (Be prepared to have the song stuck in your head for the foreseeable future!)
Stalk It: The Royal Laundry Complex, from the Backstreet Boys’ “As Long As You Love Me” music video, is located at 443 South Raymond Avenue in Pasadena.
As I mentioned in Monday’s post, the Grim Cheaper and I are moving this week. (Hopefully we won’t have any moments like this!) So blog posts will likely be few and far between over the next couple of weeks until we get settled. Hopefully I’ll be back up and running sooner rather than later, though!
I would like to wish all of my fellow stalkers a very merry Christmas filled with family, friends, food, and joyous festivities. I will be taking the next week off to spend with the Grim Cheaper and my family and will resume regular posting starting Wednesday, January 3. See you then!
The December 2017 issue of Los Angeles magazine hit newsstands last week, featuring an article by yours truly. The blurb, which can be found on page 93, is a detailed itinerary for a tour of twenty L.A.-area film locales. If you can’t get your hands on a copy, don’t worry – the article can also be found online here. Enjoy!
I would like to wish a very happy Thanksgiving to all of my fellow stalkers. I hope everyone has a hearty, safe and blessed holiday. Like last year, I will be cooking tonight’s meal with my mom and am really looking forward to the endeavor, as well as the festivities of the rest of week (like getting our Christmas tree tomorrow). I will be back on Monday with a whole new post, so I’ll “see” ya then.
When not stalking or shopping, you can typically find me perusing fashion and beauty blogs. There are several I frequent daily including Gal Meets Glam, Atlantic-Pacific, Merrick’s Art, Cupcakes and Cashmere, and Hello Gorgeous. The latter was founded by Angela Lanter, wife of fave actor Matt Lanter. I started reading her site because of the Matt connection (obvs), but it didn’t take long for Angela to seriously grow on me and become one of my favorite online personalities. Her blog is worthy of a visit for the Halloween make-up tutorials alone (this one is my favorite), but she posts fabulous fashion, cosmetics, lifestyle and décor tips no matter what time of year. (Her beauty room is honestly the stuff dreams are made of!) Up until just recently, the Hello Gorgeous home page featured a photograph of Angela in front of an extremely picturesque wall dotted with pink and red lipstick marks. I was, of course, immediately taken with the colorful backdrop and set out to locate it. One quick Google search of the terms “wall,” “pink lips,” and “Los Angeles,” led me to this Los Angeles magazine article titled “Where to Find L.A.’s Most Instagrammed Walls IRL.” The blurb cataloged 9 of the city’s most photogenic backdrops, Number 7 being the “The Hello Lips Wall” at Carrera Café. Though a cursory internet search showed me the mural had long since been covered over with a new painting (the Beverly Grove coffee shop regularly changes up its exterior art), I became utterly intrigued with the place for a different reason.
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Google “Carrera Café” and, along with shots of the ubiquitous lips wall, your screen will be inundated with photos of lattes with perfect re-creations of celebrity images imprinted into the foam. One look at this pic of a frothy Leonardo DiCaprio had me absolutely smitten and I added the address of the coffee shop to the very top of my To-Stalk List. Though I wasn’t planning on traveling to L.A. for a couple of weeks, I set right out to determine which star would be donning my drink. After scouring pictures of Leo, actor Jeremy Renner, and cutie crooner Michael Bublé, I eventually settled on the image below, which was taken by fashion photographer Evaan Kheraj. At that point, I could hardly wait to head out to the café and when I finally did, the visit did not disappoint.
Carrera Café is able to create its latte masterpieces thanks to a machine known as the Ripple Maker. That’s it below.
The innovative and ingenious device is capable of etching any image or design onto the top of a frothy espresso drink. Oh, if only it was sold for home use!
The way the Ripple Maker works is quite simple. In order for the magic to occur, customers must download the Coffee Ripples app on their smartphones. Then, when in range of a café that utilizes the machine, they can upload an image of their choice to the app and crop and customize it to their liking. Hitting the “Ripple It” button sends the photo to the Ripple Maker and assigns the customer an order number. Patrons give that number to the cashier upon arrival and order an espresso drink of their choosing. (The Ripple Maker can even create images on top of iced drinks, which I was thrilled to learn as I am not a huge fan of hot coffee. In this case, though, I opted for a hot latte as I did not realize until later that iced versions were available.) The customer then pays for their drink at the register and the barista pulls the espresso and mixes the coffee confection, after which the cup is put underneath the Ripple Maker and voila, the uploaded image is stamped onto the foam topping!
Just a little bit excited to be drinking a Michael Bublé latte!
Best-looking java I’ve ever had!
The Grim Cheaper was not at all impressed with my image of choice, though, and ran his fingers right through the top of it as soon as I was done taking photos! Perhaps I was a bit too gleeful over my creation.
Opened in late 2016, Carrera Café, which is named for the white and grey marble that forms its countertops, is an absolutely adorable little spot.
I was especially enamored of the bubble gum pink payphone.
Considering its charming décor, it is no surprise that the place has popped up onscreen. In the Season 7 episode of Vanderpump Rules titled “Tom and Tommer,” which aired in 2019, Lala Kent and Scheana Shay meet up at Carrera Café where they discuss Scheana’s tumultuous relationship with the rest of the Sur girls.
Besides espresso specialties, the café also serves a variety of sandwiches, salads, vegetable side dishes, and pastries.
The GC and I decided to grab a bite to eat while there, opting for the Il Tacchino sandwich, which consisted of roasted turkey breast, provolone cheese, iceberg lettuce, heirloom tomatoes, Dijon mustard, and mayonnaise. It was honestly one of the best sandwiches I’ve ever had!
At the time that we visited, Carrera Café’s exterior wall was covered with a mural advertising ABC’s new show The Mayor. I have to say that I much prefer the pink lips painting. I really wish I had gotten to see it in person.
Otherwise though, our visit could not have been more perfect and I cannot wait to go back – which means I better get busy choosing the next celebrity image I am going to use to decorate my drink!
