The Hills Filming Locations – Page 3

April 26, 2009April 30, 2009

Speidi’s Wedding

Well, it finally happened! Yesterday was the big day! The reality TV event of the season! What I’m sure was for some fans the wedding of the century! I, of course, am talking about the nuptials of Spencer Pratt and Heidi Montag that took place yesterday at around 5 p.m. in Pasadena. And, I, of course, was on the scene to stalk the whole thing! 🙂 My boyfriend and I arrived at Westminster Presbyterian Church at around 12:30 yesterday afternoon. The original plan was to snap a few photos of the wedding set-up, leave, and then come back at around 4 p.m.to take some more pics. Well, what’s that quote about the best laid plans of mice and men? 🙂 I took one look at the absolute pandemonium that was already in place at 12:30 and that was it for me! I was not going anywhere! LOL So, yes, I stood out on the sidewalk in front of that church from 12:30 p.m. to 6:45 p.m. yesterday watching the incredible media shitstorm that Speidi had created. And, let me tell you, I loved EVERY SINGLE MINUTE OF IT! 🙂

I actually have to say that “shitstorm” doesn’t even begin to describe what was taking place yesterday! The wedding was originally scheduled to begin at 4 p.m. and three and a half hours prior to that there were already about forty photographers and paparazzi lining the street. The entire city block surrounding the church had virtually been shut down and there were at least 50 policemen and another 50 private security guards on duty. It was absolute insanity! Honestly, it was bigger than any film shoot I’ve ever witnessed. When we first arrived at the church, Heidi and Spencer were already inside getting ready and their Rolls Royce Phantom was parked right outside (pictured above).

From the outside, it looked as if a film shoot was taking place, complete with a ginormous lighting truck set up shining bright lights through the church windows. Being that the whole event was being taped for The Hills, I guess in a sense a film shoot was taking place. But standing outside watching everything, I almost forgot it was a real life wedding that I was there to see. 🙂

The security for the wedding was INTENSE! Every single guest had to show their drivers license upon entering the church, sign photo releases, and have their photographs taken. There were also metal detectors set up inside of the church, which I am pretty sure were there to ensure that no guests brought cameras inside.

Early in the afternoon, Heidi’s real father stepped outside the church in full cowboy regalia to make a phone call. LOL

Lauren and Audrina were some of the first guests to arrive. Lauren arrived at around 2 p.m. and Audrina at around 2:30. All of The Hills stars were shuttled in through a back entrance so we didn’t get to see any of them until after the ceremony was over. 🙁 The only Hills stars who did make an appearance prior to the wedding were Brody Jenner and his girlfriend Jayde Nicole, who were dropped off right in front of the church. Unfortunately neither of them waved or even looked up at the photographers or fans who were screaming their names. 🙁

And then things got really exciting!! All of a sudden I noticed all of the security guards and policemen looking up at the sky. It turns out that Spencer had hired a plane to write both “Spencer Loves Heidi” and “Heidi’s #1 Hit On iTunes” in the sky.

Next thing I know, out walks the man himself, Spencer Pratt, to see the skywriting for himself! 🙂 YAY! Spencer was actually shorter than I thought he would be, maybe about 5’7″, and better looking than he appears on TV. As soon as Spencer walked out, the crowd went absolutely NUTS. And he was extremely friendly, waving and smiling for the cameras. He actually seemed a lot different in person than the guy he portrays on TV. That ever-present chip that seems to reside on his shoulder whenever cameras are rolling didn’t appear to be there yesterday. He actually didn’t seem like a jerk at all. I can’t tell you how excited I was to see Spencer in person!!!! I even yelled out “Congratulations” and he said back “Thank you!” LOL

By the time Spencer had come outside, the skywriting had all but disappeared and one of the young girls standing across the street told him she had taken pictures of the writing. So, Spencer walked across the street to take a look at her photos and then posed for a picture with her and her friends, which I thought was so sweet. NO ONE else from The Hills did anything even remotely close to this yesterday, in fact most of them wouldn’t even wave to the fans, so that’s really when my opinion of Spencer started to change.

The next “celeb” to arrive was Perez Hilton, who pretty much looked like he just rolled right out of bed for the event. He was actually wearing khaki pants and a hoodie!! underneath a blazer. What a complete and total douchebag! I cannot even believe he got invited to the wedding! I so should have been invited instead! 🙂

Next up was Justin Bobby, who arrived solo. And Justin Bobby’s outfit pretty much made Perez Hilton look like a fashion model!!! Justin actually showed up in what can best be described as pirate pants! I’m not kidding! They were calf length and completely frayed at the bottom. Coupled with his black combat boots, the guy looked like he had come directly off the set of Pirates of the Caribbean. WHAT A MORON! I couldn’t zoom in close enough to get a good pic of his pants, but you can kind of see them in the above photo.

Next up was Heidi’s boss, Brent Bolthouse, who is literally about five feet tall, and Brody’s BFF Frankie Delgado.

And then, up walked “Stacey the Bartender”, and all of the fans in attendance pretty much gasped all at once. LOL After the drama she caused between Spencer and Heidi this season on The Hills we could not figure out WHY in the heck she would be invited! It is at this point that I should mention that most of the fans in attendance were 13 year old girls. Why is it always me and the 13 year old girls? LOL

Even though the ceremony was scheduled to begin at 4 p.m., it didn’t actually start until right around 5. You can see Heidi’s real dad entering the church in his cowboy style tuxedo right before the ceremony began. LOL

These two idiots didn’t show up to the church until about 5:15 (over an hour and fifteen minutes late!) and, because the ceremony had already started, weren’t allowed inside! LOL LOL LOL What a couple of douchebags! If you were lucky enough to have scored an invite to Spencer and Heidi’s wedding, wouldn’t you have MADE SURE you arrived there on time??

Speidi’s wedding ceremony only lasted about thirty minutes or so. During that time everyone pretty much just hung around, waiting with bated breath for the two to make their appearance. Earlier in the day I had made friends with an event photographer who was on hand to cover the Speidi wedding, so the two of us just chatted while the ceremony was taking place. She was incredibly nice and told me about all sorts of adventures she has had being a celeb photographer. Then next thing we knew, hordes of policemen started walking across the street, I guess as a means of crowd control. They told us to take all the photographs we wanted, but to please not run across the street when Spencer and Heidi exited the church. By this time there were so many people there it was almost unbelievable! There had to be over 100 paparazzi on the scene and easily over 300 fans. Paparazzi were literally climbing the roofs of nearby apartment buildings to get good shots. LOL

The first guest to leave the church after the ceremony was over was Lauren Conrad, aka LC. It seemed as if she left the place pretty much as soon as she could. It was a real bummer, too, as she kept her head down upon exiting the church and would not even wave or smile to the paparazzi or the fans that were there. I thought that was a pretty crappy thing to do, especially being that all of the fans on site were little kids. I can’t say I was surprised, though, as I didn’t get a very good impression of her when I watched The Hills being filmed back in August.

Right after Lauren left, all of the wedding guests filed out of the church and made their way to the front entrance for the bouquet toss;

including Heidi’s dad in his classy tux! LOL 🙂

While the normal guests filed out of the church’s side doors, all of The Hills stars came out of the front entrance, including Heidi’s mom Darlene (who is super tiny in person!) and her sister, and maid-of-honor, Holly;

Brody Jenner and girlfriend Jayde Nicole;

Frankie Delgado and Spencer’s grandma, aka “Nana”;

Audrina;

Spencer’s sister, and Heidi’s lone bridesmaid, Stephanie Pratt;

and my fave Kristin Cavallari, who looked AMAZING and who was also very friendly to the paparazzi and fans :). I can’t tell you how excited I will be if the rumors are true and Kristin really is joining The Hills once Lauren leaves. 🙂

At this point there were SO many people lined up outside the church that Brent Bolthouse actually started taking pictures of us all with his cell phone. LOL

And then came the moment we had been waiting all day for! Out walked the newlyweds – Mr. and Mrs. Spencer Pratt! Heidi looked absolutely beautiful. I loved her dress – it looked like frosting. 🙂

Then, of course, the couple kissed for us. 🙂

And, finally, Heidi tossed her bouquet, which was caught by Kristin Cavallari. Incidentally, all of the female stars of The Hills were strategically placed right in front of Heidi so that one of them would be sure to catch it. 🙂

Speidi then said hello to all of the fans in attendance and Heidi blew everyone a kiss.

Then, after saying goodbye to everyone,

the newlyweds made off in their Rolls Royce.

After Speidi left, Lo, Audrina, Kristin, and Stephanie hung around and chatted for a bit.

And, then, next thing we knew, there were Spencer and Heidi pulling up in their Rolls once again to say hi to all the fans, which I thought was SUPER sweet! A bunch of little girls ran up to take pics with the newlyweds, but unfortunately the paparazzi immediately swarmed the car, so no one could get photos of anything. I guess one of the little girls was getting pushed out of the way by the paps, and Spencer yelled out “Hey, come on you guys! She’s a little girl! Be careful!!!” See, what I mean, he’s a nice guy! 🙂 After that, Speidi took off once again and the guests and paparazzi pretty much dispersed.

Here’s a pic of Holly’s bridesmaid dress, which came from BCBG and was really, really pretty. 🙂

And there you have it – the whole event from start to finish from a stalker’s point of view. 🙂 I have to admit that, thanks to yesterdays festivities, my opinion of Spencer Pratt, and consequently his new wife Heidi, has completely changed. I love these two now. 🙂 Sure, people are going to say OF COURSE Spencer came outside and posed for the paps and the fans because he is a publicity hound. But that’s really not the impression I got. He seemed like a genuinely nice guy. I mean, he walked across the street and posed for photos with his fans when no one else from the show would. At one point fans were BEGGING Heidi’s sister, Holly, who is an absolute nobody, to come across the street to take pictures, but she refused. I have a soft spot in my heart for any celeb who is nice to their fans, especially their little girl admirers. Because once upon a time I was that little girl and I can’t even imagine how excited I would have been had I had the chance to meet my favorite star and he was nice to me! From what I observed yesterday, Spencer did not come off as the arrogant douchebag that he portrays himself to be on The Hills. I honestly think that in real life he is a nice guy, who realized very early on that the more outrageous he and Heidi acted, the more money they could cash in on. And now I think the two of them are laughing all the way to the bank. So, you know what, more power to ’em! 🙂 And I thank them sincerely for being so media friendly and announcing to the world exactly when and where their wedding would be taking place so that I could be a part of it, as it was an experience I will never forget! 🙂

Big THANK YOU to my boyfriend who acted as my paparazzi for the day and took all of the above photos! Yes, he actually stood out there with me for the entire six hours! My own father wouldn’t even do that for me, so I guess I really have to hold on to this one. 🙂

Side note – I will not be writing a new blog for Monday, since this one took me pretty much all day to write. 🙂 But I’ll be back on Tuesday with some more stalking!

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: Spencer and Heidi’s wedding church is Westminster Presbyterian Church located at 1757 North Lake Avenue in Pasadena.

April 25, 2009April 27, 2009

Spencer and Heidi’s Big Day!

UPDATE: Be sure to check out my full write up of the event with a ton of pictures here.

Well, it’s official! The reality TV couple that everyone loves to hate tied the knot at a Pasadena church earlier today . And, of course, I was there to stalk it!!!! 🙂 I have to say it was A-MA-ZING to be there and surprisingly enough, I think I am now on Team Spencer! I can’t quite believe it myself, but he seemed like a really nice guy in the little that I saw of him. Is it possible his douchebag routine is put on solely for the cameras??? Anyway, I promise to do a full write-up on the whole event tomorrow, but for now enjoy the following pictures. 🙂

Mr. and Mrs. Spencer Pratt 🙂

Spencer and Heidi kissing in front of Westminster Presbyterian Church.

Tossing the bouquet . . .

. . . which was caught by my fave Kristin Cavallari, who looked STUNNING!

The newlyweds make their getaway in a black Rolls Phantom.

Lauren Conrad taking off about 15 seconds after the ceremony ended.

Brody Jenner arriving with girlfriend Jayde Nicole.

Even “Stacey the Bartender” was in attendance! LOL

Holly Montag in her bridesmaid dress – which was actually really pretty.

Stephanie Pratt, Lo Bosworth, Audrina Patridge, and Kristin Cavallari have a post-ceremony chat in front of the church.

I promise a full run-down on the Speidi nuptials tomorrow. 🙂

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: Spencer and Heidi’s wedding ceremony took place at Westminster Presbyterian Church, located at 1757 North Lake Avenue in Pasadena.

April 10, 2009April 27, 2009

Spencer and Heidi’s Wedding!

UPDATE: They actually did it (again)! Check out pictures from Saturday’s wedding here.

My favorite reality TV duo, better known as Heidi and Spencer, have caused a media shitstorm yet again by announcing that they will be tying the knot – for real this time – in two short weeks right in my hometown of Pasadena. 🙂 Early in the week, I actually got a tip that Speidi would be at the Westminster Presbyterian Church (which I’ve blogged about in the past) this past Wednesday and, of course, went right out to stalk the place. But unfortunately the normally camera friendly duo stayed inside the church the whole time they were there and I didn’t get to see them. I did get to chat with quite a few paparazzi on the scene, though, one of whom actually gave me his phone number as he said it seemed I had more information than he did. He actually told me to call him next time I had a tip! 🙂 LOL Anyway, I had a feeling that Speidi might be visiting the church for reasons relating to their wedding and now it sounds like my hunch might just be correct. (I took the above photos of Westminster Presbyterian back in June when the movie Valkyrie was being filmed there.)

Earlier this evening E! News reported that my two favorite douchebags will be marrying on Saturday, April 25th, in a “sunset” ceremony at an “undisclosed Pasadena location”. Now I am not sure if Speidi’s wedding will actually take place at Westminster Presbyterian, but I do know that the church is going to figure in the ceremony in some form or another. Quite possibly, a pastor from the church will be officiating the nuptials, but they will take place elsewhere. Either way, I’ll give you one guess as to where I’m going to be on April 25th right around sunset. 🙂

According to E!, the reception is taking place on a rooftop somewhere in Pasadena. Well, the only wedding locale with a rooftop in the Pasadena area that I know of is the Pasadena Museum of California Art. So that’s my best guess as to where the reception is going to take place. Now, don’t quote me on any of this, as I am simply going on quite a few large hunches. Only time will tell whether those hunches prove to be correct, but my fingers are sure crossed. 🙂

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: Westminster Presbyterian Church is located at 1757 North Lake Avenue in Pasadena. The Pasadena Museum of California Art is located at 490 East Union Street, also in Pasadena.

April 2, 2009April 1, 2009

Vibiana

A couple of weeks ago, while spending the weekend at the Hilton Checkers Hotel, I stumbled upon a filming location I had been meaning to stalk for quite some time – a former cathedral named Vibiana located in Downtown Los Angeles. While walking back to the hotel after grabbing a Starbucks :), I saw what looked like a wedding being set up outside of a church. And I just about fell over when a woman stopped me and said “Are you here for Vibiana?” It was at that point that I realized I wasn’t standing outside of a church at all, but a filming location that had appeared on my fave show The Hills. I had actually found Vibiana’s location a few weeks back, but had yet to stalk it for some odd reason. So, I was pretty much jumping up and down with excitement when I realized what I had stumbled upon. The woman who had stopped me was extremely amused at my thrill over seeing Vibiana in person and was nice enough to let me step inside to take a peek at the former church and snap some photos.

The Cathedral of Saint Vibiana was built in 1876 by Ezra F. Kyson, the very same architect who designed the Pico House. The Baroque style church could seat 1200 parishioners, which at the time was one tenth of the city’s population. For many years St. Vibiana’s enjoyed the prestige of being the mother church cathedral parish of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles. Sadly, the building was badly damaged during 1994’s Northridge Earthquake, and since the archdiocese had since outgrown the structure, they set their sights on demolishing it to build something bigger. Thankfully, preservationists stepped in and literally stopped the wrecking ball mid-swing. After a time consuming and much heated debate between the city, the archdiocese, and preservationists, the city decided to give the archdiocese a larger piece of land in exchange for the damaged church. In 1999, the city sold the property to real estate developer Tom Gilmore, who spent the next seven years and over $8 million restoring the building to its former grandeur. Today, the former cathedral is used as an events venue, hosting everything from weddings to corporate parties. In February of 2008, former American Idol Katharine McPhee held her wedding reception at Vibiana.

And, of course, there’s also the filming! 🙂 Vibiana’s showed up in two Season 3 episodes of The Hills. In the first episode, entitled “Stress and the City”, Teen Vogue intern Whitney Port is delegated the task of choosing a venue for the upcoming Young Hollywood Party. Whitney chooses the former cathedral and suggests running a long carpet down the aisle to be used as the fashion show runway and setting up photo booths in the confessionals. The following episode, entitled “Young Hollywood”, centers around Lauren and Whitney setting up for and running the Young Hollywood Party. Since the name of the church was written right across the screen in both episodes, finding this location was a snap. 🙂

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The former church also showed up very briefly in a controversial scene in the pilot episode of the David Duchovny series Californication. Only the interiors of Vibiana were used for that scene, though. The exteriors were filmed about ten miles away at Hollywood Forever Cemetery.

I highly recommend stalking Vibiana as it is absolutely gorgeous inside! I would so love to have a wedding there! Although the property is not currently open to the public, you can stalk the exterior and maybe someone will be nice enough to let you take a peek inside. You can also cyberstalk the building here. If you are interested in hosting an event at the former church, you can contact the events coordinator here.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: Vibiana is located at 210 South Main Street in Downtown Los Angeles.

March 6, 2009March 20, 2009

Lauren Conrad’s New Condo

Last week I heard the tragic news that Lauren Conrad confirmed that this season of her reality show The Hills would, in fact, be the last. Oh, Lauren, say it ain’t so!!! I get depressed enough when a season ends – how on earth am I going to feel knowing there will never again be a new Hills episode for me to look forward to?? Waaaaa! My fingers are crossed that at least Spencer and Heidi will be given their own show, because, let’s face it, The City just isn’t cutting it as a satisfactory Hills replacement. In other Hills news, Lauren Conrad and best pal Lo Bosworth recently moved out of the Hollywood house LC purchased back in January of ’08 and into a rented condominium in the Westwood area of Los Angeles. So, of course, last weekend I dragged my boyfriend right out to stalk their new place. 🙂

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One of my very favorite movie lines was said by Denise Richards (I know – yuck!) in the 2001 comedy Good Advice. In the movie, while trying to convince boyfriend Charlie Sheen to let her move into his upscale New York apartment building with him, Denise says “I’m ready to have a doorman in my life.” LOL Well, apparently LC was also ready for a doorman – according to the H’wood Party Girl website Lauren “wanted more security and being in a building with a doorman will allow her that.” Apparently Lauren was sick and tired of tour buses driving by her home ten plus times a day and random fans scaling her front wall and ringing her doorbell at all hours of the night. Hmmm, I wonder how these people got her address. 😉 LOL

Not only does Lauren’s new building have a 24-hour doorman, but it also features valet parking, a swimming pool and sun deck, a tennis court, a banquet room, and a fitness center. The twenty story building has only 65 units which range in price from $1.5 million to $3 million. Supposedly, Lauren is paying $15,000 per month to rent her new condo. To offset that hefty new rental cost, Lauren is currently renting out her Hollywood house for the bargain price of $11,000 a month! LOL How cool would it be to have LC as your landlord, though?? Keep your eyes peeled for LC’s new pad to be showing up in the fifth, and final, season of The Hills which premieres Monday, March 30th, at 10 pm. You can see interior pics of another unit currently for sale in Lauren’s building here.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: Lauren Conrad’s new condominium is located in the prestigious Wilshire House building located at 10601 Wilshire Boulevard in Westwood. You can visit the Wilshire House website here.

January 10, 2009February 13, 2009

Whitney’s NYC Pad

I don’t know about you all, but I have been glued to my television set the past two Monday nights watching Whitney Port’s new Hills spinoff entitled The City. I must admit that the show has been quite lackluster and nowhere near as enthralling as The Hills, but I just can’t help myself. I have to tune in! 🙂 I am hoping that like wine, the show will get better with age. And it looks like I am not the only one holding out hope – apparently Page Six Magazine is calling Whitney the new Carrie Bradshaw. I don’t know about that one. I mean don’t they know that I want to be the new Carrie Bradshaw? 🙂 LOL

Anyway, reader Virginie just posted a comment on my site with a link to this Curbed article about Whitney Port’s new New York digs. LOVE IT! Thanks Virginie! 🙂 While I was in New York this past December I kept saying to my boyfriend that I wished The City had premiered before our trip so that I could stalk where Whitney was living. Turns out, I needn’t have worried. Someone stalked it for me! 🙂 And they did a very good job of it, too! Apparently the building shown on The City as Whitney’s pad, is not really where she lives at all. Nice try, MTV, but you can’t fool us stalkers! 🙂 Whitney’s real apartment building is called The Elektra and is located in Gramercy Park. The Elektra boasts an upscale lobby, state of the art gym, and a sky deck complete with chaise lounges, sweeping views of NYC, and a misting shower. 🙂 Can’t wait to go to New York again so I can stalk this building for myself!

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: Whitney is currently living in the Elektra located at 290 Third Avenue in NYC. The building used for the exterior shots on The City is located at 325 Fifth Avenue.

December 24, 2008June 16, 2011

Tavern on the Green

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One of my favorite places in New York to grab a drink is a restaurant called Tavern On The Green. So, on Monday night I immediately recognized the Tavern as the location where The Hills Finale Live From NYC was held. Oh, how I wish I could have been there! 🙂 The Tavern has long been a New York institution. In 2007, over 500,000 people dined there, grossing it over $38 million in revenues. According to Wikipedia, it is the second highest grossing independently owned restaurant in the U.S., second only to Tao in Las Vegas!. But the Tavern actually had very humble beginnings. The structure now known as Tavern on the Green was first built in 1870 and served as Central Park’s Sheepfold, a shelter for the many sheep who called the park home. In 1934 New York City’s Commissioner of Parks Robert Moses renovated the building and turned it into a restaurant. Forty years later, in 1974, Warner Leroy, the son of Wizard of Oz producer Mervyn Leroy and Doris Warner (Harry Warner’s daughter), purchased the restaurant and began a $10 million renovation turning the Tavern into the ornate crystal and glass masterpiece it is today.

Tavern on the Green is no stranger to the big or small screen. Besides The Hills Finale Live From NYC (which was filmed in the Crystal Room), the Tavern has also appeared in Ghostbusters (Rick Moranis fights with the “terror dog” outside the restaurant’s Crystal Room), Rich Girls (MTV’s really, really dumb reality show about Tommy Hilfigers’s daughter and her best friend), New York Stories (where Woody Allen shares a meal with his mother), Misery (the site of James Caan’s novel release party), Hitch, Yo! MTV Raps, ElimiDATE, Only When I Laugh, Stella, Crimes and Misdemeanors, The Eddy Duchin Story, Made, Portrait of Jennie, The Out-of-Towners, and Wall Street. And I am about 99.9% positive that Carrie and Big dined in the Tavern’s lantern covered outdoor garden in the Season 2 episode of Sex and the City entitled “The Caste System” (pictured above), but I haven’t been able to confirm that yet. And according to the latest issue of People Magazine, Tavern on the Green is where my girl Jennifer Aniston ate Christmas Eve dinner every year as a child. 🙂

Tavern on the Green is a beautiful place to grab a drink or a bite to eat. Although a few tour books have labeled the restaurant tacky, I would have to disagree. The Tavern’s gaudiness and over-the-top decor are exactly what make it so appealing. Where else, but New York can you dine in a crystal ballroom complete with glass walls, hand-painted and hand-carved ceilings, brass and copper mirrors, walls decorated with 52-foot murals, and thousands upon thousands of twinkle lights? It is one of the most unique, special restaurants I have ever visited in my life. I absolutely LOVE IT! 🙂 And while the Tavern is pricey, it is worth saving your pennies to experience its rare ambience at least once in your life. I absolutely love the Tavern’s small cocktail bar (pictured above), but during the summer months nothing beats its outdoor garden, which is lit by hundreds of colored paper lanterns. It’s absolutely beautiful.

But the most magical time of year at the Tavern is Christmastime. The interior of the restaurant is covered with countless wreaths, ribbons, and candy canes. But it is actually the Tavern’s outside that is the most awe-inspiring.

Coming upon the Tavern from Central Park, it is almost like a beacon in the night. The trees in the front and the back are completely covered in twinkle lights – thousands upon thousands of them. I’ve honestly never seen so many in my life! Tavern on the Green gives Clark Griswold a run for his money! Pictures truly don’t do the light display justice – it must be seen in person to truly be appreciated.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: Tavern on the Green is located at Central Park West at 67th Street. You can visit their website here. Reservations are highly recommended! The bar is first come, first served, but arrive early. It’s standing room only even on weekdays.

November 6, 2008February 13, 2009

Audrina’s New Pad!

I have to admit that I shed a little tear during Monday night’s episode of The Hills as Audrina’s moving truck pulled away from the home she formerly shared with Lauren and Lo. With both Whitney and Audrina seemingly moving on from The Hills, I really hope this doesn’t signal the end of the my favorite reality series. I’d be absolutely devastated!!! I mean I get sad enough on Monday nights at 10:30 when The Hills’ ending credits start rolling, as I know I have to wait a full week before I can watch another episode. It’s sick, really. 🙂 Anyway, after watching Monday’s show, I decided I just had to stalk Audrina’s new pad. Thankfully, finding the location wasn’t too hard. I just called on the usual suspects – fave websites the Real Estalker and Big Time Listings – which both stated that the house was located on Bryn Mawr Drive in the Dell neighborhood of Hollywood. From that point it was just a matter of looking at recently sold homes on that street (there were only two) until I found Audrina’s. 🙂

But when I went to stalk Audrina’s pad in person yesterday there were cops swarming the place! I’m really not sure what the story was, and I didn’t stick around long enough to find out, but my best guess is that some Hills filming was taking place and a neighbor had called the police to complain – about what I am not sure. According to reports it seems that Audrina’s neighbors aren’t too happy that she moved into their normally quiet town. LOL The neighbors are upset about the noise and crowding of their small streets, but honestly had the cops not been there, I never would have had any idea that any filming was taking place. The street was quite and there wasn’t a film truck in site, or any other cars for that matter. Personally I’d love it if The Hills filmed in my neighborhood! I’d be out there watching everyday! 🙂

Audrina’s new house is a very cute, Spanish style home located on a very windy street high up in the Hollywood Hills. The house was just recently built and sits on a minuscule lot – according to Big Time Listings the lot only measures 0.09 of an acre – that’s 3,999 square feet!!! I mean most celebrity homes are bigger than Audrina’s whole property! LOL Ms. Patridge purchased the three bedroom, two and a half bath, 2,100 square foot home for $1,150,000 – which seems to be pretty low budget for a celeb, even for a reality star. 🙂

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: Audrina’s new house is located at 6393 Bryn Mawr Drive in Los Angeles. How I Met Your Mother’s Josh Radnor is next door at 6387 Bryn Mawr.

August 15, 2008March 20, 2009

Watching The Hills Be Filmed!

Got one of the most exciting phone calls of my life on Tuesday! A good friend who has an in at the Project Beach House in Malibu called to invite me to a little shindig being held there yesterday, which would have been exciting news in and of itself. But what she said next almost gave me a heart attack – the event at the beach house was actually being held for a taping of The Hills!!!!! I swear I screamed so loud after hearing the news I am surprised my neighbors didn’t complain! LOL

So yesterday afternoon I headed out to Malibu to party at the Project Beach House. 🙂 In case you don’t read US Magazine, Beverly Hills PR firm Fingerprint Communications’ sponsored Project Beach House joined the ranks of other corporate sponsored celeb party houses in Malibu – ie. the Polaroid Beach House and the Silver Spoon Beach House. The Project Beach House is a $25 million six bedroom home, which was built by Frank Lloyd Wright, and sits on over four acres of land on a bluff overlooking the Pacific Ocean and El Matador State Beach in Malibu. The mansion has huge sprawling lawns, a koi pond, tennis court, pool, and even a helicopter landing pad! Not to mention a great view of Brad and Angie’s Malibu home, which is located right next door, but I’ll save those pics for a future post. 🙂

When we arrived there were huge luxury double size chaise lounges set up (which might as well have been outdoor beds, they were so comfy), models walking around in bathing suits and really high heels, a ton of really cool freebies, a Garnier Fructis facial station, a poolside hair styling station, a DJ spinning records, waitresses walking around serving delicious fresh baked appetizers, and two full bars. Just being at the Project Beach House would have been exciting enough for this stalker – the whole time I was literally thinking “How in the heck am I here??” I mean, who am I to be hanging out at the PROJECT BEACH HOUSE??? 🙂 So cool!

At around 3:30PM, in walked Lauren and Whitney and I just about DIED! You can see them in the above pic – they are on the very left. Lauren was not as thin as I expected her to be, but she was just as cute in person as she seems on TV. I was kinda bummed out, though, as she did not seem very friendly at all. I hardly saw her smile at all during the filming. After they arrived, Whitney and Lauren kind of hung out off to the side of the house waiting for the camera crew to get set up. The Hills is taped with three cameras set up on tripods that are actually set pretty far back from where the action is taking place. I was really surprised at how far away the cameras actually were. I always pictured the cameramen to be using handheld cameras and to kind of be right in the girls’ faces, but they weren’t. Taping of the sound is done wirelessly with the cast wearing wireless mikes, so the sound guy also stands pretty far away from the girls.

I must say that the entire experience was absolutely BIZARRE. I can’t put my finger on what exactly made the taping so surreal, but it was definitely wierd. Prior to the taping, I had always believed that the show was not really a “reality” show. I was convinced it was scripted and heavy influenced by producers. However, that wasn’t actually the case. But while the show is real, it is more of an altered reality, which is, I think, what made the whole experience so strange.

To start off with, producers picked the exact spot where they wanted Lauren and the gang to sit well before Lauren actually arrived. The spot they chose was actually the chaise my friend and I had been sitting on all afternoon and they made us move shortly before Lauren and Whitney arrived. I guess we had chosen the best seats in the house. LOL

To further the altered reality, the premise of the episode is that Lauren and Whitney attend a fashion event for a clothing company called “Tt”. While there was sort of a fashion event/party going on at the beach house, the whole thing was pretty much just set up so that The Hills could be filmed. I seriously doubt there would have been any party going on had The Hills not wanted to film at the Beach House yesterday. One of the party guests actually asked a worker at the house if there was a fashion show scheduled since so many models were walking around. The worker replied “Well, it’s sort of a fake fashion show.” LOL Everyone at the “party” also had to sign releases to be on camera.

Once the camera crew got set up, they let Lauren and Whitney walk on screen. The girls walked to the pool area and went straight to the producer-chosen chaise lounge. And then they pretty much just sat there. And sat there. And sat there. The whole time my friend and I were wondering when they were going to start filming and then we realized that they HAD BEEN filming the whole time! I’ve been on a few movie sets and usually during filming there is some sort of action taking place, SOMETHING is happening, but not in this case. At some points Lauren and Whitney were just kind of looking around the party, not even talking to each other. So in that sense, the show is truly “reality” – Lauren and Whitney really were just sitting and hanging out at a party. I guess I shouldn’t really be surprised at their inaction, as not much else occurs on The Hills besides a lot of sitting around and talking. LOL After about 25 minutes or so, She-Pratt and her new boyfriend came out to the pool to hang out with LC and Whitney. Stephanie was surprisingly really pretty in person – she has amazing blue eyes!

The Hills crew was super laid back and I was floored when I found out that they were allowing pictures to be taken of the filming. At first I was totally trying to take pictures on the down low, as cameras are usually not allowed on most movie and TV sets. But once I realized that it was OK to take pictures, I moved in closer to get some better shots. 🙂 And when I did so, I noticed Audrina standing off to the side of the house. She had apparently been there the whole time, but had to wait for the producer’s go ahead before entering the filming area. SO STRANGE. The same thing occured with Frankie Delgado and his friends. I am not sure what the reasoning on that was. I am guessing that the producers were waiting for things to get boring with Lauren and Whitney before letting other characters enter the scene.

What I was very surprised about, though, was how hands off the producers were. I was convinced they would be yelling “Cut!” and having the stars constantly repeat dialog, but that was not the case. A producer only interfered with filming once, and it was to tell Whitney, who had been laying down on a chaise, to sit up as they couldn’t see her through the camera. The producers also pretty much left the party-goers alone. I thought for sure we would be cordoned off and not allowed to get near the stars or the filming area, but nothing like that occurred. People were walking freely all over the place – in front of the camera, around the stars, etc. That was another thing that made the situation really strange. At one point my friend’s husband was standing right next to LC while she waited in line at the bar – and yes, I swear, she actually waited in line!

I am convinced, though, that some of the partiers were actually paid extras. There were two people, especially, whom the producers kept talking to and moving around, and I know they had to be extras. At certain times, too, the producers would tell partygoers to move around in the background or to go sit on the chaises near Lauren, JUST LIKE on a movie set. I guess there wasn’t enough going on in the background to make the party look realistic enough. More of that altered reality. Producers also asked the Tt models (clad in teeny tiny bathing suits) to play a little “impromptu” soccer game behind LC and friends during filming -and they looked absolutely ridiculous doing so! And not at all realistic.

Another thing I found strange was that while I was absolutely FLOORED to be there and it was one of the most exciting days EVER – I was also completely bored during the filming. As I said before, the cast wasn’t very interesting to watch at all – they pretty much just sat there for about three hours not really doing a whole lot. Audrina and her friends jumped into the pool for a bit and sat around drinking in there, but that was the only real action that took place. LOL I read an article yesterday, though, that said it takes Hills editors FOUR TO SIX WEEKS to sift through enough of the footage of Lauren’s daily life to put together ONE episode. So they must not really be all that exciting. LOL

The whole party had kind of a weird vibe, too. It seemed more like a Hills viewing party than anything else as everyone was literally sitting around JUST watching Lauren and the gang film. It was very obvious that most party-goers were there for the sole purpose of seeing The Hills stars live and in person. Like I said, it was bizarre. I must say, though, that I had a BLAST at the party and just being there would have been excitement enough for me for one day – but seeing The Hills cast in person and watching them film was truly the icing on the cake. I can die a happy woman now! LOL

The Hills new season premieres this Monday night on MTV. I am not sure when the Project Beach House episode will air, but I am guessing in about 6-8 weeks. I CANNOT wait to see it! All in all, the entire cast was there during the shoot, minus Speidi (who I would have loved to have seen!), Lo, and Brody Jenner. Otherwise the rest of the group was present – LC, Stephanie Pratt and what seemed to be her new boyfriend, Audrina and a new guy she was cuddling up with, Audrina’s tattooed sister and her boyfriend, Whitney Port, and Frankie Delgado. And even though the whole thing was a bizarre experience to watch, I still absolutely love The Hills. In fact I think I like it even more now. 🙂

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: Project Beach House is located at 32340 Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu. But sadly yesterday was the final day and the final party (until next summer, of course!) for the Project Beach House. I hear permanent residents are moving into the house next week.

June 14, 2008February 13, 2009

Buy A Set From Laguna Beach!

Fave website Real Estalker just posted news that Lauren Conrad’s parents put their Laguna Beach dream house up for sale for a cool $17.5 million! You may remember that James Conrad built this house during the first season of Laguna Beach: The Real O.C. and LC and Ste-ven traipsed through the house during construction in the pilot episode. L.C. threw a few pool parties/BBQ’s there during subsequent seasons of the show and it was at one of those pools parties that her romance with Jason Wahler blossomed. I have no idea why the Conrad’s would sell this home – it is absolutely amazing!

You can read the entire Real Estalker article here.

Stalk It: The Conrad’s home is located at 29 Vista Del Sol in Laguna Beach. You won’t get past the guardshack located at 32350 Pacific Coast Highway, though, so you’ll just have to settle for views of the house from the road.