Tag: filming locations

Moondance Diner

This morning my mom sent me a link to an awesome new locations website called “Where It’s At – Pop Culture Is All Around You”. And I, of course, became TOTALLY and COMPLETELY engrossed in it for a good hour and a half.   I was so engrossed in it, in fact, that I was late in meeting my dad for our usual morning Starbucks run! Anyway, while perusing the site I happened upon this link about an oft used New York filming location named Moondance Diner. And I almost fell out of my chair when I read that the historic restaurant had been moved clear across the country in late 2008! Apparently, the diner was driven over 2,300 miles -on a flatbed truck, no less – all the way from the island of Manhattan to a tiny town in Wyoming named La Barge (population 493!). At first, I thought the website was mistaken, as I had visited Moondance Diner on my 2007 trip to the Big Apple. How in the heck could an entire restaurant be moved halfway across the country in as little as a year and a half????

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Apparently, the historic diner closed its Manhattan doors in July of 2007 after a real estate development company purchased the land beneath it.  The company planned to demolish the historic restaurant to make room for a high rise condominium complex, but thankfully preservationists stepped in to stop the demolition.  Moondance ended up being donated to the American Diner Museum and was subsequently purchased by Vince and Cheryl Pierce for the bargain price of only $7,500!  The Pierce’s made the incredible decision to relocate the famed diner to their hometown of La Barge, Wyoming.   And I have to say ‘Way to go, Vince and Cheryl!!!’ I am so thankful that the diner, which opened in 1929 and was originally named the Holland Tunnel Diner, is still alive and well for all of us stalkers to visit!

The diner has been featured in numerous productions over the years, most notably as the restaurant where Mary Jane worked in the first Spiderman movie.

On Friends, Monica also worked at Moondance after being fired from her chef job during Season 3. No Friends filming actually took place at the diner, though. While the restaurant’s exterior was used for some set-up shots, the interior was a set that was built on a Warner Brothers soundstage in Burbank.   The interior of Monica’s diner looks nothing like Moondance’s real life interior, though. Nor did the real life waitresses have to wear silly outfits like Monica’s. LOL

Moondance was also featured in the music video for the a-ha song “You Are The One” and in the 1985 movie After Hours. According to the Where It’s At website, the diner was also used in an episode of my fave Sex and the City, but I am not sure which one.   So, I am putting it out there to you, dear readers – does anyone remember which episode of SATC was filmed at Moondance Diner?

Moondance has also had its brush with celebrity. Frank Sinatra used to be a frequent patron, as were many of the New York Yankees. And “Rent” playwright Jonathan Larson even worked at Moondance for a time. I can’t tell you how happy I am that this historic diner was saved from the wrecking ball!!   If I ever find myself in La Barge, Wyoming, I fully plan on stalking it! 🙂

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: Moondance Diner was originally located at 80 6th Avenue in New York. It’s current location is at the corner of Main Street and 6th Avenue in La Barge, Wyoming. You can visit Moondance’s website here.

May 15, 2009
Bob Hope’s Palm Springs House

While in Palm Springs this past weekend, I dragged my boyfriend – ahem, fiance (I swear, I’m never going to get used to saying that!) out to stalk Bob Hope’s former residence, which is located high up on a cliff at the very top of Southridge Drive. I wasn’t so much interested in seeing the home because it had once belonged to Bob Hope, but rather because it was designed by famed architect John Lautner. And I am absolutely obsessed with Lautner homes! Once upon a time, I actually hated his designs – I thought they were just simply too weird. But over the years they have really grown on me.  I love that all of his homes are so incredibly unique and recognizable. One look at a poured concrete wall or a curving roof line and you know immediately if a house was designed by Lautner. It’s no wonder that his homes have been used in countless Hollywood productions over the years including Charlie’s Angels, Diamonds Are Forever, The Big Lebowski, and Lethal Weapon 2.

Not everyone is as big a fan of John Lautner as I am, though. Legend has it that Bob Hope wasn’t exactly happy with the house that Lautner designed for him.   According to this article, Judith Lautner, John’s daughter, states that Bob “made life hell for my father. He destroyed a lot of the thinking. He just stepped in and said ‘No, no, no.’”   Legend also has it that Bob never even spent one night in the home, but instead used it solely for entertaining purposes. The home, which was built in 1979 and was designed to look like the skirts of a volcano, measures 17,531 square feet, has 6 bedrooms and 9.75 bathrooms!

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Unfortunately, Bob’s former home is located in a private, gated community, so I wasn’t able to get very close to it. 🙁 And, judging from the signs pictured above, the neighborhood is not very stalker friendly! When I saw the sign which read “Trespassers will be photographed and may be prosecuted”, I was pretty much outta there!   Bob’s former community is very exclusive and was once also home to actors Steve McQueen and William Holden. Lautner also designed another home – the Elrod House – just down the road from Bob’s, but, unfortunately, I didn’t realize that until after I got home, so I didn’t get any photographs of it! Ugh, I am such a blond sometimes!

Because I couldn’t get very close to the house while stalking it, I had to settle for doing some cyberstalking as soon as I got home. It’s funny, but in aerial images the home actually appears to be rather small, but rumor has it that the open circle cut-out in the roof is so large that a helicopter could actually land there!! I don’t know if that is true or not, but being that the home measures almost 18,000 square feet, it is definitely a possibility! Another rumor floating around about the former Bob Hope residence is that the shape of the pool was loosely based on the comedian’s profile. So cool! You can see another amazing aerial view of the home here.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: Bob Hope’s Palm Springs house is located at 2466 Southridge Drive. The Elrod House is located just a few houses down at 2175 Southridge Drive. Both are in a private, guard-gated community, so DO NOT trespass. If you are into hiking, apparently the nearby Araby Trail offers some great views of both homes.

May 14, 2009
My Day on the Set of Chelsea Lately!

As I mentioned in Monday’s post, this past weekend was a complete whirlwind for me!! But getting engaged wasn’t the only exciting thing that happened. No, the excitement of the weekend for me actually started on Friday when I got to spend a day on the set of my new favorite show, Chelsea Lately!!! A few weeks back while my friend Blaze and I were waiting in line to watch a live taping of Chelsea’s show, one of her Production Assistants came outside to tell us about a new bit that was being added to the show that they needed volunteers for. The new segment involves Chelsea pretending to be a detective who solves weird and obscure mysteries. The P.A. wanted to know if any of us in the audience had any mysteries in our life that needed solving. Now, mind you, Blaze had spent that entire morning while in line complaining about the fact that his agent never sends him out on acting auditions. So, I immediately raised my hand and yelled out, “My friend here has a mystery that needs solving! He needs to know why he never has any auditions!” 🙂 The P.A. really liked Blaze’s “mystery” and took down his information and said she might be calling to book him for a segment. Sure enough, last week he got a call saying they would be filming his mystery on Friday if he was available!!!! And, being the nice guy that he is, Blaze asked the P.A. if I could tag along. She said that while I couldn’t watch the actual taping, I could hang out in Chelsea’s green room all day. So, of course, I did! And, let me tell you, I could not have been more excited!!!! I literally didn’t sleep a wink the night beforehand!!!!! LOL

Blaze and I arrived at the Digital Media Center, where Chelsea Lately is taped, at around 10:30 a.m. on Friday morning and were led immediately to the green room. For those of you not familiar with industry lingo, a “green room” is a sort of waiting room for performers. It’s a place where actors or musicians can hang out and relax before going on stage. Chelsea’s green room is not actually green, but silver, and I could not have been more FLOORED to be seeing it in person!!! I couldn’t help but think about all of Chelsea’s famous guests who had sat in that room at one time or another. The fact that I was now sitting there was mind-boggling to me! I mean, who in the heck am I to be in the green room of the Chelsea Lately show????

Since I knew beforehand that I would not be able to watch the actual taping of Blaze’s segment, the two of us decided to really live it up while waiting in the green room! And, of course, I just had to take pictures of absolutely EVERYTHING! 🙂

Sitting in the make up chair;

modeling with the celeb photographs on the wall;

a super cute pic of Chelsea and Chuy;

the green room door with Michelle Trachtenberg’s name on it (she was the celebrity guest the previous evening);

and just hanging out. 🙂

But my favorite part of the green room had to be Chelsea’s “guest book” – a little book which all of the celebrity guests sign before going on air to be interviewed.

I cannot tell you how much fun I had going through that book and reading all of the messages that celebs had written to Chelsea. Included in the book were messages from Jamie Kennedy, Roselyn Sanchez, Dr. Drew, Jenny McCarthy, Perez Hilton, Khloe Kardashian, Kris Kardashian, Taryn Manning, former Spice Girl Mel B, Vivica A. Fox, and, my personal fave, The Hills’ Lo Bosworth (pictured above).

At one point during the day, frequent round table guest and Chelsea Lately “Staff Homosexual” Guy Branum walked by the green room and I just about died of excitement!!!! I was too scared to talk to him, so Blaze ran outside and asked him to pose for a picture with me. YAY! Guy was super nice in person and actually ventured into the green room quite a few times during the day. 🙂

But the biggest highlight of the day for me was when Chuy, Chelsea’s assistant, visited the green room to introduce himself to everyone. Chuy was dressed up in a little policeman outfit for the segment they were taping and looked absolutely adorable!! Not only did he give me a hug, but he also kissed me on the cheek and I could not have been more excited! He seemed like such an incredibly sweet man! All in all, I had an ABSOLUTE blast spending the day at the Chelsea Lately show!! Ironically enough, though, Chelsea ended up running out of time and wasn’t able to tape Blaze’s segment. But you know what that means, don’t you??? Yes sir, we get to go back another day to do it all over again! YAY! My fingers are crossed that this time I’ll get to meet Chelsea!!!!!! 🙂

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: Chelsea Lately is filmed at the Digital Media Center, which is located at 12312 West Olympic Boulevard in Los Angeles. You can get tickets to watch a live taping here. You can catch the Chelsea Lately show weeknights at 11 p.m. on E!

May 13, 2009
Brad and Jen’s Honeymoon Hotel

As I mentioned in yesterday’s post, this weekend was a big one for me. The biggest perhaps!   My boyfriend (of over eight and a half years!!) finally popped the question!!!!!!!!!!! 🙂   And I, of course, said yes! This changes things quite a bit for me, as from now on I will no longer be dragging my boyfriend to filming locations all across L.A. I will now be dragging my fiance!! 🙂 LOL My boyfriend realized long ago that if he was going to propose to me it had better be at some sort of filming location.  And, let me tell you, he came through big time!!!!! Although, I was the one who actually discovered the location for him. 🙂 A few weeks ago, while searching for the mansion where Brad and Jen got married, I stumbled upon this article about a little boutique hotel in Palm Springs named the Ingleside Inn. And when I read the words “Jennifer Aniston and Brad Pitt came to the Inn after their media frenzy Malibu wedding” I literally almost hyperventilated right there at my computer! I immediately called my boyfriend and said “WE HAVE TO GO HERE!” LOL

My boyfriend actually already had plans to attend a work event in Palm Springs this past weekend, so he booked us a room at the hotel. And I was FLOORED, ABSOLUTELY FLOORED! Well, that “work event” turned out to be a surprise engagement party for me with all of our closest friends [including Mike, from MovieShotsLA :)] in attendance. My boyfriend proposed about 45 minutes before the surprise party right there in Villa 4 of the Ingleside Inn. It was a pretty magical experience. 🙂

The Ingleside Inn was first built as a private residence in 1922 by heirs to the Pierce Arrow Motor Car Company fortune. In 1939, the residence was purchased by Palm Springs’ first councilwoman, Ruth Hardy, who turned the 2.5 acre property into an exclusive inn and private club.  Rumor has it that she would interview guests before their stay to make sure they were worthy of vacationing at her Inn. 🙂   In 1975, after Ruth passed away, the Inn was purchased by New York native Mel Haber, who still owns and runs the property to this day. In fact, on Friday night while eating dinner at the Inn’s onsite restaurant, Melvyn’s, I had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Haber who confirmed for me that Brad and Jen did in fact spend three nights at the Inn immediately following their wedding. 🙂 🙂 🙂

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The tiny inn is like no other place I have ever visited. It boasts only thirty rooms – each one different – and, even though it is within walking distance of Downtown Palm Springs, is completely secluded. It is quiet, peaceful, and intimate.   When we checked in, a bellman escorted us to our room and gave us a real key – not one of those plastic key-cards that most hotels use. The air conditioning had been turned on prior to our arrival, so that our “villa” would be nice and cool for us upon entering. Our bed had been turned down, there was a mint on each of the pillows, and a fruit basket was placed on the dresser. Each morning a newspaper was delivered to our door and the fridge was re-stocked daily with complimentary fruit juice, soda, and bottled water. All of the hotel employees knew us by name, knew our room number by heart, and would walk by repeatedly while we were lounging poolside to make sure our every need was being attended to. It was service at its finest!!

The rooms, which are very reasonably priced (almost unbelievably so!), are slightly old-fashioned, but in a good way. While staying there, I really felt as though I had stepped back in time. I must say, though, that if you are at all a fan of hotels like The Standard in West Hollywood (which I’m not), then this is definitely not the place for you.  The Inn is not a spot to party or live it up.  It is the kind of place you go to truly get away from it all. Which is my kind of place! Oh, and did I mention that there is a Starbucks within walking distance? What more could a girl ask for?

My favorite part of the hotel had to be the pool, though, which is open 24 hours. Even though the Inn is only a short block away from Palm Canyon Drive and Downtown Palm Springs, while laying by the pool I felt like I was worlds away from civilization. I remember thinking to myself ‘No wonder Brad and Jen came here!’ 🙂 Ingleside Inn is the kind of place where cell phones in common areas are frowned upon, so the pool is like a little secluded haven. It was heaven!

Also heaven was the poolside lunch I ordered from Melvyn’s, the Inn’s fine dining restaurant. Melvyn’s has won countless awards, including “First Place in Fine Dining”, “Most Romantic Restaurant”, and, my personal favorite, “Best Place to Spot Celebrities”. 🙂   Both the restaurant and the Inn have also been featured repeatedly as “One of the Ten Best” on television’s Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous. Melvyn’s also features a Rat Pack style crooner who sings the Standards nightly.

Since the beginning, both Ingleside Inn and Melvyn’s have been celebrity havens. In fact, an entire section of a past issue of People Magazine was devoted to the many celebrity weddings that have taken place at the Inn, which include that of Frank Sinatra and Barbara Marx, Angel’s David Boreanaz and Playboy Playmate Jaime Bergman, and David Ashrow and actress June Allyson who stated “Everyone should be married at Ingleside Inn at least once in their livetime!” LOL    The Inn’s celeb guests include Lance Bass, Bob Hope, Goldie Hawn, Kate Hudson, Greta Garbo, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Maria Shriver, Salvador Dali, Sylvester Stallone, opera singer Lily Pons (who lived at the Inn for over 13 years!!!), John Travolta, Liza Minelli, Cher, Clark Gable, Barry Manilow, Elizabeth Taylor, President Gerald Ford, and John Wayne, just to name a few.

I honestly cannot recommend stalking the Ingleside Inn enough!  It is truly a magical place! All weekend (even before he proposed) my boyfriend kept saying “I’ve found my new favorite Palm Springs hotel!” 🙂 And, thanks to my boyfriend – ahem, my fiance – the Inn is no longer just the place where Brad and Jen spent their honeymoon, but the place where I got engaged. 🙂

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: The Ingleside Inn is located at 200 West Ramon Drive in Palm Springs. Brad and Jen stayed in Room 148 of the hotel (pictured above). My boyfriend proposed to me in Villa 4. 🙂 You can visit the hotel’s website here. Rooms run from $120 to $600 per night.

May 12, 2009
Drew Barrymore’s Wedding Singer House

This is going to be a short post today as I have had a whirlwind weekend (which I promise to write about tomorrow!) and had no time to blog. Anyway, a few weeks ago, Mike, from MovieShotsLA, took me out to stalk a location from one of my favorite romantic comedies of all time – the Drew Barrymore/Adam Sandler flick The Wedding Singer. After doing a bit of cyberstalking, Mike discovered this website which listed the address of Drew Barrymore’s house from the 1998 film. And, let me tell you, I could not have been more excited to go stalk it!

I am happy to report that, aside from the exterior color and the current lack of an awing over the porch area, Drew Barrymore’s Wedding Singer house looks exactly the same today as it did back in 1998 when the movie was filmed.

The home shows up several times in the film, most notably when Robbie Hart (Adam Sandler) spies Julia (Drew Barrymore) through her front window trying on her wedding dress and he mistakenly thinks her excitement in doing so is for her soon-to-be husband Glenn. But, in reality, Julia is smiling because she is practicing introducing herself as Mrs. Robbie Hart. 🙂 Awwww. So cute!

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Julia’s house is a very cute little Craftsman style bungalow and I highly recommend stalking it! And a little bit of movie trivia for you – according to IMDB, The Wedding Singer and the Back to the Future trilogy are the only movies in the history of cinema to ever feature a DeLorean car. So random!

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: Drew Barrymore’s house from The Wedding Singer is located at 43 Sierra Place in Sierra Madre.

May 11, 2009
Hollywood Center Motel

A few weeks ago, Mike, from MovieShotsLA, called me up to ask me if I knew that my latest Hollywood crush, Simon Baker, had one of his earliest acting roles in the 1997 movie L.A. Confidential. And I almost fell out of my chair! Even though I’ve seen that movie about a hundred times, I never realized that SB had acted in it. The then-unknown Mentalist star had the small, but pivotal role of homosexual actor/prostitute Matt Reynolds in the film. That’s him in the above screen capture. I can’t believe how young he looks!!!!

Mike also told me the address of the location where SB’s character meets his untimely demise towards the middle of the movie – Room 203 of the Hollywood Center Motel. So, of course, since I was in the area yesterday, I just had to stalk it. 🙂

In the scene filmed at the Hollywood Center Motel, Hush-Hush magazine editor Sid Hudgeons (Danny DeVito) and Detective Jack Vincennes (Kevin Spacey) set up a sting operation to catch the Los Angeles District Attorney in an illicit rendevous with homosexual prostitute SB.

But, at the last minute, Jack has a change of heart and shows up at the motel early to warn SB of the set-up.

Unfortunately, he is too late, and when he enters the seedy motel room he finds SB’s character dead on the floor. 🙁 Poor Simon!

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Hollywood Center Motel is an odd little place, with what appears to be a large central guesthouse surrounded by small motel rooms. I am guessing that most of the motels’ guests live there full time. Aside from a change in paint color, the Hollywood Center Motel looks pretty much exactly the same today as it did twelve years ago when it appeared onscreen in L.A. Confidential. Unfortunately, other than the fact that it was built in the 20’s, I couldn’t find out much information about the small motel online. And I can’t say that I’d really recommend stalking the place, as it is pretty seedy and run-down. But being that it definitely has that Old Hollywood vibe to it, it’s easy to see why producers chose to use it in their film about a 50’s era Los Angeles.

While I was stalking the motel, the manager happened to be outside sweeping the parking lot, so, of course, I had to ask him what other productions had been filmed on the premises. He looked at me like I was absolutely out of my mind, laughed, and then walked away without saying a word. LOL LOL LOL I am fairly certain, though, that, due to its historic and unique look, the motel has to have been used in other productions besides L.A. Confidential. I am going to have to keep my eyes open for it from now on. 🙂

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: Hollywood Center Motel is located at 6720 West Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood.

May 8, 2009
The “Biggest Loser” Ranch

This past weekend, I dragged my boyfriend out to Calabasas to stalk the King Gillette Ranch, otherwise known as The Biggest Loser Ranch. I found this location thanks to the couple we met while stalking the Adamson House a few weeks back.   Our new friends, who just recently got engaged, have been traipsing all over the Los Angeles area touring wedding locales.   Many of those locales also happen to be filming locations! I swear, if my boyfriend ever gets off his butt and proposes, a whole new stalking world is going to open up for me. 🙂 Anyway, our friends recently toured King Gillette Ranch and immediately called me up to let me know that it is where The Biggest Loser is filmed. And even though I’ve never watched the show, I just had to run right out and stalk it! 🙂 THANKS Nancy and Eric! 🙂

Actually, I did see one brief segment of  The Biggest Loser on Talk Soup a few months back when Joel McHale showed the above clip of trainer Bob Harper absolutely FREAKING OUT at a contestant. LOVE IT!  LOL LOL LOL I think I need to hire that guy to be my trainer!!! 🙂

King Gillette Ranch was originally built by King Camp Gillette (yes, that’s an actual name), the founder of the Gillette Safety Razor Company. King purchased the 588 acre property in 1926 and commissioned famed architect Wallace Neff – who designed Brad and Jen’s famous former home– to built a 26,000 square foot Mediterranean style mansion on the site. When Gillette died in 1932, his widow sold the extensive property to movie director Clarence Brown.   Clarence threw so many elaborate Hollywood parties in the mansion that he ended up building his own private airstrip so that his famous guests could land directly on the property ! LOL In 1952, the Ranch was sold to Bob Hope and his wife, Dolores, who donated the entire 588 acres to the Claretian Order of the Catholic Church. They used the property as a seminary for the next 25 years, until eventually selling it to New Age leader Elizabeth Clare Prophet. Elizabeth planned to use the property as the headquarters for her religious movement, the Church Universal and Triumphant, but faced much government opposition and ended up selling it to Soku University of America in 1986.   The Ranch was finally collaboratively purchased by the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy, California State Parks, Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority, and National Park Service, who opened the property to the public on June 30, 2007.   It is currently a nature and wildlife reserve featuring numerous hiking trails, a former Chumash Indian settlement, walking paths, a man-made lake, and picnic grounds.

And, of course, it’s also a filming location! For the past two years, beginning with Season 4, King Gillette Ranch has been used as the location where contestants vie to become The Biggest Loser. While we were stalking the place, we had the good fortune of  running into one of the Biggest Loser crew members who was busy setting up for Season 8, which begins filming in a few weeks. He was INCREDIBLY nice and pointed out all of the areas featured on the show, including the gym, which, as you can see in the above photograph (which was taken through a closed window! LOL ) was empty at the time;

the pool –

which was flanked by fake flowers!!! LOL;

the production offices;

the “dormitories” where the contestants sleep – which is actually just a section of the main house;

the patio area;

and the Administration Building –

which is used for the filming of the elimination ceremonies. Again, the above photographs were taken through a closed window, so they aren’t the greatest.

Evidence of the filming of The Biggest Loser could be found all over the Ranch, which I, of course, LOVED seeing!    There was a leftover tape marker that was stuck on the ground outside of the elimination room;

wire cords were strung up on all of the buildings;

and those yellow signs that I so love were posted at the entrance gates. 🙂

King Gillette Ranch is a truly beautiful place. It is the perfect spot to spend an afternoon outdoors, go for a long hike, take a bike ride, or just sit back and nature watch.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: King Gillette Ranch is located at 26800 Mulholland Highway in Calabasas. The park is open daily to the public from 8 a.m. to sunset. Dogs are not allowed. Parking costs $5 per day. The Ranch is also available as a wedding or event location.

May 7, 2009
sidebar at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel

Since I am now 100% on Team Speidi, this weekend I just had to drag my boyfriend out to sidebar, the Beverly Hills lounge where the reality TV duo hosted one of their two wedding receptions.  Sidebar, which is spelled with a lowercase “s”, is located inside of the Beverly Wilshire Hotel – aka the Pretty Woman hotel – where many of the wedding festivities took place. Truth be told, I actually wanted to book a room at the Beverly Wilshire the weekend of the Speidi nuptials, but my boyfriend (aka the Grim Cheaper) was having none of that.   LOL

Sidebar lounge is located directly adjacent to the Wolfgang Puck restaurant CUT, which has long been a favorite of the newlyweds and was where they held their rehearsal dinner on Friday, April 24th. In fact, the duo are such huge fans of the restaurant, that back in September of 2008 they were honored by Wolfgang himself, who placed two large photographs of the couple taken by renowned celebrity photographer Martin Scholler at the entrance to his restaurant. CUT actually has several celebrity photographs by Martin lining its walls, including those of Britney Spears, Arnold Schwarzenegger, George Clooney, and Jack Nicholson. But the photographs of Speidi are by far the largest, and most prominently placed, in the entire restaurant. Love it! When the photographs were first unveiled, Spencer said, “It feels better than winning an Academy Award.” LOL LOL LOL I have to say that if my favorite restaurant, POP Champagne Bar, placed a 5′ by 3′ photograph of me on their wall, I’d be pretty floored, too. 🙂 Spencer and Heidi are by no means the restaurant’s only celebrity fans, though. Mark Wahlberg, Courteney Cox, Isla Fisher, Chris O’Donnell, and Avril Lavigne have also all been spotted at the eatery.

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I have to say that I absolutely LOVED sidebar!!!! The staff was SUPER friendly, the champagne was A-MA-ZING, and the food was unbelievable!!!!!  I just about died over their Kobe beef sliders and I don’t even like red meat! LOL Sidebar is very reasonably priced, too, especially for Beverly Hills, which made my boyfriend extremely happy. ; ) With your cocktail order comes a serving of some amazing marinated olives, homemade BBQ potato chips, wasabi peas, and cinnamon/nutmeg almonds – all for free!   I can’t recommend stalking sidebar enough! I am fairly certain it will be a regular stalking spot for me now. 🙂

If you visit sidebar, be sure to check out the Pretty Woman display in the Beverly Wilshire’s lobby.   I make it a point to stop by there everytime I visit the hotel. No matter how many times I see that display window, it never seems to get old. 🙂 On display are several stills from the movie and an early draft of the script, which was originally entitled “Three Thousand” – a reference to the amount Richard Gere pays to have Julia Roberts spend the week with him. 🙂

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: Both CUT and sidebar are located inside of the Beverly Wilshire Hotel, which can be found at 9500 Wilshire Boulevard in Beverly Hills.   Although sidebar is reasonably priced for cocktails, CUT is a higher end restaurant, so, be prepared to pay. 🙂 The Pretty Woman display is located near the women’s restroom, just off the hotel lobby.

May 5, 2009
Church of the Angels

A few weeks ago, my good friend and fellow stalker Kerry, who was a HUGE fan of the show Knots Landing during her high school years, set about to locate the church where the characters Joshua and Cathy got married in the Sixth Season episode of the series entitled “For Better, For Worse”. And it wasn’t long before she found it. That church turned out to be none other than Church of the Angels, a place that is no stranger to the silver screen. So, last weekend I dragged my boyfriend right out to stalk it.

Church of the Angels, which was built in 1889, has the distinction of being Pasadena’s oldest church. The church was built by the widow of one of the first settlers of the Pasadena area, Mrs. Frances E. Campbell Johnston, in memory of her husband, Alexander Robert Campbell Johnston. In 1883, the Campbell-Johnstons, who were natives of Great Britain, purchased 2,000 acres of what is now known as Pasadena and named it San Rafael Ranch.  Alexander passed away only five years later in 1888 and his wife decided to build a church in his honor on their land.     The church was designed by English architect Arthur Edmund Street and was based on Holmbury St. Mary’s Church in Surrey. The cornerstone of the church was laid in place on April 20, 1889 by Frances herself and construction was completed a short six months later on September 29, 1889. Originally named Mission of the Church of the Angels, the Episcopalian church is now simply called Church of the Angels.

When Frances passed away in November of 1893, her sons had a large sundial placed at the front of the church in her memory.

Church of the Angels is an absolutely idyllic place. It honestly looks like it came right out of the pages of a fairy tale. As we walked up to it I felt like I was in the middle of Disney’s Fantasyland – the sun was shining, the sky was bright blue, and (no joke) birds were chirping everywhere. I half expected Snow White to stick her head out of a window and start singing “Someday My Prince Will Come”. LOL It’s really no wonder why the church has been featured in hundreds of productions over the years. It’s a simply magical place.

Practically everywhere you look there is some small, but exquisite detail that adds to the church’s charm. The tiny wooden doors, the sandstone walls, the arched walkways, the three acres of beautifully maintained landscaping.  It’s like no other church I’ve ever seen.

The interior of the church is just as beautiful as the exterior. The first thing you notice upon entering is the amazing stained glass window located behind the altar. The window, which illustrates the resurrection of Jesus, was built in London and, according to the Church of the Angels website, is said to be “one of the finest examples of stained glass in America”. Frances Campbell-Johnston actually commisioned the church to be built facing the West, so that the sun would better radiate through the amazing window.

The church’s walls are made of red pressed brick and the peaked ceiling is made entirely out of redwood, giving the interior the feeling of a medieval castle. The church is actually much smaller than it appears – it can accomodate only 130 patrons – thus creating a very warm, intimate atmosphere.

Along the sides of the church, there are several tiny, little doors built into the brick walls. The doors lead to stairways, offices, and restrooms. As is stated in the Church of the Angels’ informational brochure, the stairways are “steep and narrow. People in 1889 were smaller than we are today.” How cute is that??? 🙂

Church of the Angels has one of the biggest pipe organs I have ever seen!! It was built in 1889 at the Roosevelt Organ Works in New York City and is still in use today.

Amazingly enough, Church of the Angels still looks exactly the same today as it did when Knots Landing was filmed there back in 1985.  You can watch Cathy and Josh’s wedding scene here.

Besides Knots Landing, the church was also featured in the Season 5 episode of Desperate Housewives entitled “The Story of Lucy and Jesse”, as the location of Carlos’ boss, Bradley’s, funeral.

It was also where Ashton Kutcher married Brittany Murphy in Just Married.

  And it was the location of the many funerals in the 1988 movie Heathers. Yes, that’s Shannen Doherty in the above screen capture. 🙂

It was also recently featured in the Season 7 episode of The Office titled “Christening”, as the location where Jim and Pam Halpert (aka John Krasinski and Jenna Fischer) had their baby baptized.

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Church of the Angels was also featured in the Season 9 episode of The X-Files entitled “Hellbound”, the Season 4 episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer entitled “Who Are You”, several episodes of JAG, The West Wing, Lawnmower Man, Mick Jagger’s “God Gave Me Everything I Want” music video, and an episode of TLC’s A Wedding Story.

I HIGHLY recommend stalking Church of the Angels. It is literally one of the most beautiful and unique places I have ever seen! My boyfriend even enjoyed stalking it! I have to say it is one of the very few places he didn’t mind being dragged to. 🙂

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: Church of the Angels is located at 1100 Avenue 64 in Pasadena. You can visit their website here.

May 4, 2009
San Francisco City Hall

I think it’s pretty safe to say that I’ve read just about every biography on my girl Marilyn Monroe that’s ever been published.   So, imagine my surprise when I came across an article the other day which stated that the starlet married her second husband, baseball legend Joe DiMaggio, at San Francisco City Hall. How in the heck did I not know this before???   I grew up in San Francisco for Pete’s sake! City Hall was pretty much right in my own backyard! In fact, I even stalked the place back in October, during my last trip to the City by the Bay. I had yet to blog about it, though, because it was extremely windy the day I was there and I only got out of the car long enough to take one photograph – the one pictured above. Check out my hair! LOL So, the other day, after reading about Marilyn’s San Francisco wedding, I sent my good friend Nat, who lives in the area, on a stalking mission to take photographs of City Hall for me, so that I could finally blog about it. 🙂 Here goes!

San Francisco City Hall was built in 1915 by architect Arthur Brown, Jr., who also designed Coit Tower, the War Memorial Opera House and Pasadena City Hall. The Beaux-Arts style building that stands today is actually San Francisco’s second City Hall. The first, which was built in 1899 and stood at the corner of Grove and Larkin Streets where the public library is now located, was completely destroyed during the 1906 earthquake. Rescue workers were able to salvage the statue that stood atop of the original City Hall’s dome and planned on placing it on the new building. Unfortunately, the statue fell off the back of a flat bed truck while being transported to its new location and was destroyed. LOL LOL LOL How’s that for irony??    The current City Hall measures over 500,000 square feet, takes up two entire city blocks, and cost over $3.5 million to build! Over ten acres of marble were used in the construction. The building’s dome stands at 307.5 feet tall, trumping Washington D.C.’s Capital Building’s dome by 14 inches.

Marilyn Monroe and Joe DiMaggio’s wedding took place on January 14, 1954 in the third floor chambers of Judge Charles S. Perry, who was a close friend of Joe’s. DiMaggio’s other good friend Reno Barsocchini and his former manager Lefty O’Doul were the couple’s only guests. Sadly, the marriage was short-lived. Marilyn filed for divorce only 274 days later. City Hall is also the location where Mayor George Moscone and County Supervisor Harvey Milk were shot to death by Dan White on November 27, 1978.

San Francisco City Hall has been featured in countless movies and television shows over the years. The interior of the building’s rotunda showed up at the very end of Raiders of the Lost Ark, where it stood in for the Washington D.C. building where Indiana Jones agreed to let Marion Ravenwood buy him a drink (pictured above).  City Hall was also used in Bedazzled, The Rock, A View to a Kill, Dirty Harry, Milk, Tucker: The Man and His Dream, The Towering Inferno, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Dharma and Greg (in the “Much Ado During Nothing” episode), Foul Play, and Bicentennial Man, just to name a few!

I highly recommend stalking San Francisco City Hall. It is an absolutely beautiful building and just seeing the dome alone in person is worth a drive by! And, although I didn’t venture inside while I was stalking the place, the first floor area is open to the public. Free tours are also given three times daily, Monday through Friday, at 10 a.m., 12 p.m., and 2 p.m. San Francisco City Guides also offers free interior tours of City Hall every Thursday at 11:00 a.m. You can visit their website for further details.

Big THANK YOU to my surrogate stalker Nat who took all of the above photos. 🙂

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: San Francisco City Hall is located at 1 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place in San Francisco.

May 1, 2009