Jennifer Aniston – Page 2

July 5, 2011July 5, 2011

The “Horrible Bosses” Movie Premiere

Last Thursday afternoon, fellow stalkers Mikey, of the Mike the Fanboy website, Pinky Lovejoy, of the Thinking Pink blog, Scotty, CB, Anushika, and I all headed out to Grauman’s Chinese Theatre in Downtown Hollywood to do some stalking of the world premiere of my girl Jen Aniston’s latest movie Horrible Bosses. As amazing as it may sound, prior to that day, I had never before stalked a movie premiere. While I randomly found myself at the premiere of He’s Just Not That Into You back in February of 2009, I was only able to stick around for about ten minutes or so, and while I attended the premiere of Friday the 13th, also in February of 2009, I actually had tickets to that one and watched the movie from inside the theatre. So this was the first time that I would truly be stalking a premiere, i.e. showing up hours early and standing along the fan barricade on Hollywood Boulevard. Both Pinky and Mikey had warned me that not only were premieres not the greatest place to get photographs with celebrities, but that Grauman’s was the worst, least fan-friendly venue of them all. Because I suffer from eternal optimism, though (it’s something I get from my mom), I headed out there on Thursday afternoon emboldened with extremely high hopes. In fact, Mikey suggested I might want to take some sort of pill to calm my spirits. Winking smile

Adding to my optimism was the fact that I had asked my dad to overnight me his camera for the event (his is far better than mine) and when it arrived, I opened up the box to find the above-pictured note from my mom. Smile See, in my family we just can’t help but be positive!

Because of some obligations I had to take care of in Santa Monica that morning, I could not get to Grauman’s until 3 p.m. on Thursday, but thankfully CB headed out there bright and early at 10:30 a.m. and saved me a spot along the barricade. THANK YOU, CB!!!!! Oddly enough, there were not a whole lot of people there when I first showed up and I couldn’t help buy wonder why Pinky and Mikey had been so negative about the place. Oh, how naïve I was!

I had asked Pinky to bring her super cute dog, Sammy, to the premiere as Jen is a big dog-lover and I figured that if I was going to try to get a picture with the star, I would need all of the help I could get. Which also explains why I was wearing my “Team Aniston” sweatshirt, despite the 90-degree heat. Winking smile

The celebrity arrivals did not begin until 6:30 p.m. and, as always, we all had a FABULOUS time hanging out beforehand. In fact, I enjoyed that portion of the day much more so than I did meeting the various celebs who were in attendance. Needless to say, Pinky has the absolute BEST group of friends!

At around 6 p.m., the professional autograph seekers (aka the “graphers” as Pinky likes to call them) showed up and it was at that point that things started to head south. The crazies also started to show up around that same time, including this guy, who was absolutely convinced that Jen had made him homeless. Um, OK. At one point he got into a VERY heated argument with someone about his claim, although he was, not surprisingly, entirely incoherent. When I heard him yelling, I turned around and saw his “Jen, You Made Me Homeless” sign and asked Mikey, who, due to his height, had better room to maneuver in the fan pit than I did, to snap a pic. Mikey’s response, “Oh, I already did!” LOL Love it!

Anyway, once the graphers showed up, our little group (whom you can see above) got completely squished up against the barricade. Pinky graciously allowed me to share the stool she had brought to stand on, so I had a good vantage point from which to take pictures, but unfortunately the people standing behind me were pressed up so close against me that I literally could not move. Or breathe! At one point I told Mikey that I was fairly certain I had dislocated my hip. It was NOT FUN!

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Jason Sudeikis was the first Horrible Bosses’ star to show up and he came right over to sign autographs and take pictures.

Jason was SUPER nice and spent a LOT of time signing autographs for people and taking photos, but sadly there was a big ol’ shadow across my face on the one that he took with me.

Jason Bateman arrived next and also came over to sign autographs, but he seemed very reluctant about it and was not at all friendly, which shocked me.

Jason signed a fair amount of autographs (not nearly as many as Jason Sudeikis did, though), but flat-out refused to take any pictures. UGH!

Jamie Foxx arrived next and literally JUMPED out of his limo and IMMEDIATELY started walking over to the fan barricade to sign autographs and take photos. How incredibly cool is that??

Because I was so squished up against the barricade, I could not get my camera in position to take a picture, so Pinky took one of the three of us. It didn’t exactly come out (you can just barely see me in the bottom of the frame LOL), but I was floored nevertheless just due to the fact that Jamie had been so darn friendly and nice. There’s something seriously unbalanced in the universe when Oscar-winner Jamie Foxx is taking pictures with fans, but Jason Bateman is refusing them!

Jesse Metcalfe arrived next and Pinky and I went absolutely batsh*t over him, much to Mikey’s dismay. Winking smile We immediately called for Jesse to come over and he yelled back, “I don’t think I can!” and pointed to the countless cars zooming across Hollywood Boulevard in front of him. He didn’t realize that there was a security team in place ready to walk the stars across the street via a nearby crosswalk. When he spotted Jamie Foxx signing autographs, though, I guess he decided to go for it, because the next thing we knew he was running across four lanes of rush-hour traffic right towards us, sans security! LOL

And what a sweetheart Jesse turned out to be!!!! He signed countless autographs and posed for countless photos.

Including one with me! Smile And he even thanked Pinky and I for calling him over. Sigh.

Joey Lawrence showed up next and Pinky started screaming for him (and singing the words to his latest single), but he flat out refused to come over. When he yelled over to us, “I can’t!”, a security guard walked up to him and said she would escort him across the street, but he turned her down. Sad smile

My girl Jen was the last to arrive and, let me tell you, I have never in my life experienced anything like what happened when she got out of her car. It was as if the entire crowd moved forward in a wave and the volume in the area increased about one hundred decibels. The people behind us began to very aggressively push us forward and the barricade we were standing against started to give way and tip forward. There was a massive amount of screaming and, although I tried yelling at the people behind us to stop pushing, not only could they most-definitely not hear me, it was fairly obvious they would not have cared even if they had heard. The barricade kept tinkering farther and father forward and came thisclose to toppling over entirely. One more millimeter and I am fairly certain that our entire little group would have fallen right into the middle of Hollywood Boulevard – and either right on top of Jen or right under several moving cars. It was one of the scarier moments of my life and I was crushed so strongly against the barricade that I could hardly breathe.

I managed to snap a couple of pics of my girl amidst the chaos and while Pinky kept yelling out, “Please take a photo with my friend, she’s your biggest fan!”, the screaming was so loud that Jen did not even hear her. And sadly, in chaos such as that, there was absolutely no way in heck that anyone could have gotten a picture with the star. Such a bummer! I have to say that Jen looked ABSOLUTELY FLAWLESS, though! It is mind-boggling to me that she is 42!!!! Sigh!

Jennifer Aniston signing autographs at Horrible Bosses premiere

You can watch a video that Mikey took of the Jen madness by clicking above. As you can see, Jen had a security team of no less than six people surrounding her at all times and, due to all of the pushing and shoving, they would not let her get within five feet of the fan barricade.

After the celebrity arrivals were over, I was thoroughly beat and pretty much intent on heading straight home. I felt like I had been through a war! LOL But Pinky convinced me to stick around for a couple of hours to try to catch some of the celebs leaving the premiere and I figured since I had already come that far, I may as well stay. And I am so glad that I did as, shortly after the movie ended, we ran into Zachary Levi, from Chuck, who was a complete and total sweetheart! Not to mention a total cutie!

We also saw Oscar Nunez from The Office . . .

. . . and Joey Lawrence, who was sadly not as friendly as I assumed he’d be.

Ioan Gruffudd, from Fantastic Four, also walked by, but he was ABSOLUTELY mobbed. He is standing somewhere in the middle of that mass of people pictured above, so I did not even attempt to get a photograph with him. Pinky, who always gets her man, still had the strength left to brave the masses, though, and did get a picture! What can I say, the girl has got mad skills. We also spotted Trevor Donovan from 90210, but he FLAT-OUT REFUSED to take a picture with us. Pinky and I were the only ones who even approached him, but he still turned us down big time! Ah well. All in all it was a fun night, but I don’t know that I would ever do it again. It was just a bit too crazy and out-of-control for me. Sad smile

You can check out Mike the Fanboy’s write-up of the Horrible Bosses premiere and see some videos he took of the event on his website here.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: Grauman’s Chinese Theatre is located at 6925 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood. You can visit the theatre’s official website here.

June 17, 2011June 17, 2011

Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston’s Honeymoon Suite at the Ingleside Inn

As I mentioned in Monday’s post, I spent my recent birthday weekend in Room 148 of the Ingleside Inn in Palm Springs – the very room where Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston stayed during their mini-honeymoon shortly following their July 29th, 2000 wedding. I first found out about the Ingleside Inn back in April of 2009 thanks to this Jetsetters Magazine article and, as you can imagine, just about died upon hearing that my girl Jen had honeymooned there. Then, shortly thereafter, the Grim Cheaper ended up proposing to me at the Ingleside, so the hotel has always had a very special place in my heart. During that proposal weekend, I, of course, just had to ask Melvyn Haber, the Ingleside’s longtime owner, what room it was that Brad and Jen had stayed in. Before I could even get the question fully out of my mouth, he replied, “Room 148, the Princess Room.” And that right there is just one of the many reason that I fell in love with the hotel! Almost a full decade later, Melvyn STILL knew the exact room where Brad and Jen had stayed right off the top of his head!

Flash forward to a couple of weeks ago. My dad called me up to let me know that he had booked Brad and Jen’s honeymoon suite as a surprise for my upcoming birthday. (He had to tell me about his plans a few weeks early as the GC and I had been thinking about spending my birthday at Disneyland and were thisclose to booking a hotel room there.) I happened to be driving at the time and got so excited upon hearing his news that I literally almost crashed the car! For those who have never visited the Palm Springs area, it gets EXTREMELY hot there during the summer months – we are talking like 115 to 120 degrees hot – so hotels drastically drop their rates from early June through the end of August. Because of this, and the fact that the Ingleside inn is not overly-expensive to begin with, my dad was able to get Brad and Jen’s room for only $200 per night! My birthday just so happened to fall on my mom’s very last day of work ever (she retired this year), so he also booked a suite at the hotel for them, and talked the GC into booking a second night in Brad and Jen’s room so that we could all spend the weekend together. Now mind you, my dad was extremely sick during this time and was in and out of the hospital, so how he managed to come up with such an incredible idea AND do all of the planning without me or my mom’s help – not to mention that he also purchased some FABULOUS gifts for the two of us – is absolutely BEYOND me!! It was one of the best, most exciting weekends of my entire life and I cannot believe he pulled it all off while feeling so incredibly sick! Best. Present. Ever.

When we first arrived at the Ingleside Inn and were checking in at the front desk, I saw the above-pictured “Happy Birthday Lindsay” message displayed on the marquee in the front lobby and just about fell over. So incredibly cool!! The lobby sign is very typical of the personal touches that the Ingleside Inn employs in order to make guests feel at home. Love it!

After checking in, we were handed the above-pictured room key. As you can see, the Ingleside Inn still uses actual brass room keys, not the keycards that are typically found in hotels today. So, as you can imagine, as soon as those keys were handed over, I turned to the GC and said, “OH MY GOD! Jennifer Aniston once held this key in her hand!” Granted, the key quite possibly could have been swapped out for a new one in the decade that has passed since Jen stayed at the Ingleside, but just let me have my fantasy! Winking smile

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I covered the Ingleside Inn’s vast history in the post I wrote about the hotel back in May of 2009, so I won’t go over it again here. But needless to say, the tiny, 30-room inn, which sits on just over 2.5 acres of land, has had quite a celebrated history since it was first founded in 1939. Thanks to its extreme privacy and award-winning service, celebrities have long been drawn to the place like moths to a flame. Just a few of the luminaries who have stayed there over the years include Frank Sinatra, Kate Hudson, Goldie Hawn, Kurt Russell, Greta Garbo, Elizabeth Taylor, Debbie Reynolds, Lance Bass, Donald Trump, Marla Maples, Ava Gardner, Clark Gable, Marlon Brando, Gary Cooper, John Wayne, Bob Hope, John Travolta, David Boreanaz, Joan Collins, Cher, Howard Hughes, and Rita Hayworth. The Ingleside is by no means fancy or extravagant, though. It is a very simple, low-key retreat where people go to truly get away from it all. The Inn is not a party hotel, it is not a place for families, and it is not modern in any way, shape, or form. It is an extremely quiet, private, and relaxing sanctuary; the type of place where an A-List star can lay out by the pool and not worry about being approached by a fan or fellow guest.

Brad and Jen’s honeymoon suite features a wood-burning fireplace, a sitting area, a king-sized bed, two picture windows, and a plasma TV, and while it is extremely nice, it is not overly-luxurious or the type of place one would expect one of the most famous couples in the world to have spent their honeymoon. And that right there is why I LOVE Jen so much! Of course she would choose a simple, laid-back, low-key space to spend her first few days of married life. And while Brad and Jen’s room is a suite, it is by no means the Ingleside’s largest. There are two others that are far bigger than the Princess Room, which led me to wonder how the couple ending up choosing it for their honeymoon.

Besides the fact that Jen has always been a fan of small spaces (the bungalow she rented in Malibu post-divorce measured a scant 1,531 square feet, the home on Blue Jay Way where she lived during the height of her Friends’ success measured only 2,903 square feet, and she is currently selling her 9,105-square-foot Beverly Hills manse as it is reportedly too large for her), as it turns out, the Princess Room is by far the hotel’s most private and secluded suite. It is located towards the very back of the property, far away from the pool and the award-winning Melvyn’s restaurant, but close to the back parking area, which means that Brad and Jen could have parked their car and been inside of their room less than ten steps later. As you can see above, there is also a gate surrounding that particular wing of the hotel, which consists of three rooms, and the actual suite itself is bordered by a large stucco wall.

The Princess Room is one of the few at the hotel that also boasts a completely private patio area, which I absolutely fell in love with while there.

As you can imagine, pretty much all weekend I was saying things like “I just took a shower where Jennifer Aniston once showered!” or “Jennifer Aniston sat on this couch!” or, my personal favorite, “Jennifer Aniston slept here!” My head was literally about to explode the entire time I was there! And poor, poor fellow stalker Owen! I must have sent him about 100 text messages, all saying things like, “I just washed my face where Jennifer Aniston once washed her face!” Smile

My parents stayed in Room 145, aka “Margaret’s Room”, which according to one of the super-nice front desk clerks that we spoke with while there, was one of Arnold Schwarzenegger and Maria Shriver’s favorite suites. The former Governator and his soon-to-be ex-wife stayed at the hotel on an almost monthly basis at one point in time.

My parents’ room boasted a HUMONGOUS semi-private patio (semi-private as it has an opening on the backside that is accessible to the public) that was honestly bigger than most backyards!

All in all, it was an A-MA-ZING weekend and, as you can see above, I was BEYOND sad to check out of what the GC and I had dubbed “our perfect little room”.

Ingleside Inn–Brad and Jen’s honeymoon hotel

You can watch a video about the Ingleside Inn, in which owner Melvyn Haber is interviewed, by clicking above.

Ingleside Inn Palm Springs

And you can watch another video, which shows the Inn’s beautiful grounds, by clicking above.

On a stalking side-note – This Sunday (June 19th), stalking gods Harry Medved and Karie Bible will be signing copies of their new book Location Filming in Los Angeles at Vroman’s Bookstore, which is located at 695 East Colorado Boulevard in Pasadena. They will also be conducting a walking tour of some famous Pasadena movie sites, including locations from Knocked Up, The Prestige, Live Free and Die Hard, and Charlie Chaplin’s The Great Dictator immediately following the signing at 4 p.m.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: The Ingleside Inn is located at 200 West Ramon Road in Palm Springs. Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston spent their honeymoon in the hotel’s Princess Room, aka Room 148. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Maria Shriver frequently stayed in Margaret’s Room, aka Room 145. You can visit the Ingleside Inn’s official website here.

April 11, 2011June 16, 2011

Fred 62 from “Commander in Chief”

Me on Ellen! 🙂

Before I begin today’s blog, I thought I would post a clip of the game I played on The Ellen DeGeneres Show last week. I just have to say here, too, that going to see the show was a FABULOUS experience and I highly recommend doing so if you are in the area. I would also like to thank my friend and fellow stalker, Beth, for inviting me to tag along with her to watched Ellen being filmed. Thank you from the bottom of my heart, Beth! Smile And now, on with the post!

The Grim Cheaper and I recently sat down to watch the 2005 series Commander in Chief in its entirety. The short-lived show about a female president, Mackenzie Allen (aka Geena Davis), sadly only lasted one season with a scant 18 episodes ever being broadcast. I had originally been interested in watching the series because it starred cutie Matt Lanter (aka Liam Court on 90210) as the First Son, Horace Calloway, but, as it turned out, both the GC and I absolutely LOVED it! I am beyond shocked that the show was cancelled after such a short time period. There’s no accounting for taste, I guess. Anyway, while watching one of the episodes, I recognized a location that I had actually stalked almost a decade prior – Fred 62 restaurant in the Los Feliz area of Los Angeles. The GC’s best friend, Chris, had taken us there for a late lunch one afternoon back in 2001 and at the time I had no idea the place was a filming location. So once I saw it pop up on Commander in Chief, I immediately dragged the GC right on out to re-stalk it. And thankfully Fred 62 was just as great as I remembered it.

Fred 62 was originally founded in 1997 by two men named Fred who were both born in the year 1962, hence the name. Nightclub designer Fred Sutherland, who fashioned everything from The Palladium in New York City to Deep in Hollywood, created the look of the diner, while his friend, chef Fred Eric, of Olive, Vida, and Airstream fame, was responsible for the fare. The restaurant became a hit right of the bat and, due to its distinct retro-look, also became an instant favorite with area location scouts. Besides being a filming location, though, Fred’s is also something of a celebrity hot-spot and such stars as Drew Barrymore, Britney Spears, Cameron Diaz, Heather Graham, Shane West, Dax Shepard, Johnny Knoxville, Kristen Bell, Kirstie Alley, Samantha Ronson, Lindsay Lohan, Katy Perry, Russell Brand, Mandy Moore, Kate Bosworth, Naomi Watts, Cam Gigandet, and Ben Stiller have all been spotted there. Ironically enough, as we were leaving Fred 62 we saw Archie Panjabi, who plays investigator Kalinda Sharma on The Good Wife, which is another show the GC and I just recently started watching. She was dining a few doors down from Fred’s at Figaro Bistro and I just about had a heart attack upon spotting her as Kalinda is my favorite character on the series. Smile

The Fred 62 menu is quite extensive and offers a selection of everything from typical diner fare like burgers and hot dogs (with homemade potato chips, no less!) to Japanese entrees like udon and soba noodle soup to Mexican favorites such as tacos and burritos. I opted for the S.W.S. Southwestern Pacific Railroad Salad with chicken fingers (pictured above) and it was OUT OF THIS WORLD! There was literally not one scrap of lettuce or droplet of ranch dressing left on my plate when I got done with it! The GC had a roast beef sandwich which he also devoured. I honestly cannot say enough good things about Fred 62 – great food, fab atmosphere! I loved, loved, loved the place and cannot wait for a re-stalk!

Fred 62 popped up in the Season 1 episode of Commander in Chief titled First Disaster as the supposed Washington, D.C.-area diner where First Daughter Rebecca Calloway (aka Caitlin Wachs) goes on a date with schoolmate Mike Fleming (aka Matt Barr).

As fate would have it, the GC and I ended up sitting in pretty much the exact same spot where Rebecca and Mike sat in the scene.

After finishing their meal, the two get mobbed by a crowd of people while standing on the street just outside of Fred’s and wind up having to be rescued by the Secret Service.

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Fred 62 was also featured in the 2006 flick Friends With Money as the spot where Mike (aka Scott Caan) and Olivia (aka my girl Jen Aniston) go out on a blind date.

Mike and Olivia sat in the second booth in from Fred’s front door while on their date.

The restaurant also popped up a few times in 2009’s Spread, which has honestly got to be one of the WORST movies I have ever seen in my entire life!! I should say “half-seen”, as I turned it off about halfway through. Anyway, it first pops up as the spot where Nikki (aka Ashton Kutcher) grabs breakfast and while doing so meets and becomes obsessed with his waitress, Heather (aka Margarita Levieva).

Nikki later takes his friend Harry (aka Sebastian Stan) to the diner and has him pretend to be his assistant in the hopes that it will make him more attractive to Heather, but he only ends up making a fool of himself and getting a parking ticket, to boot.

Fellow stalker Chas, of the ItsFilmedThere website, let me know that Fred62 also appeared in the Season 1 episode of Charmed titled “That ‘70s Episode” in the scene in which the Charmed Ones – Prue (aka Shannen Doherty), Phoebe (aka Alyssa Milano), and Piper Halliwell (aka Holly Marie Combs) – travel back in time to March 24th, 1975 to visit their deceased mother, Patty (aka Finola Hughes), at the restaurant where she then worked.

In the episode, Prue and Piper sat in the booth closest to Fred’s front door.

And Phoebe got into a fist fight with Nicolas (aka Andrew Jackson) on the sidewalk out in front of Fred’s.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: Fred 62 is located at 1850 North Vermont Avenue in Los Feliz. The restaurant is open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. You can visit Fred’s official website here.

March 2, 2011June 16, 2011

Casa del Mar Hotel from “Just Go With It”

On February 11th – which just so happened to be my girl Jennifer Aniston’s 42nd birthday – I dragged the Grim Cheaper out to see the actress’ latest movie, Just Go With It. Because there are very few JA movies that I have ever actually liked (even though I am a HUGE fan of hers, Office Space and He’s Just Not That Into You are the only two that I can honestly say that I LOVE), I did not have high hopes for the flick. But I am very happy to report that I ended up absolutely LOVING it! Even more amazing was the fact that the GC loved it, too. And even more amazing still was the fact that the GC also recognized a location from it – the Casa del Mar hotel in Santa Monica which was used in the scene in which Katherine (aka Jennifer Aniston) poses as Danny’s (aka Adam Sandler’s) soon-to-be ex-wife and meets his new girlfriend, Palmer (aka Brooklyn Decker), for the first time. So, while we were in Santa Monica this past weekend stalking the blue carpet at the Independent Spirit Awards, I dragged the GC right on over to the Casa del Mar to do a bit of Just Go With It stalking.

Casa del Mar hotel was first opened in 1926 as the luxurious and ultra-exclusive Club Casa del Mar beach club, which catered to Southern California’s elite and featured an indoor, Olympic-sized swimming pool, a private stretch of white, sandy beach, weekly dinner dances, upscale accommodations, and a grand ballroom. Even though it was founded during the heart of America’s Prohibition era, booze apparently flowed freely at the hotel and gambling was a frequent guest pastime. According to local lore, Santa Monica policemen would turn a blind eye to the illegal goings-on at the property and would tip off the club staff members each time there was going to be a raid. During World War II, the US Army took over the building and used it to house American soldiers. Fallen into disrepair, the hotel shuttered its doors shortly after the war ended. Charles E. Dederich purchased the Renaissance Revival-style property shortly thereafter and turned it into a drug rehabilitation facility known as Synanon. In the late 1970’s, the building was purchased by nutrition guru Nathan Pritikin and transformed into the Pritikin Longevity Center, where actor Chris Farley was a one-time guest. The Edward Thomas Hospitality Corporation took over the property in 1998, restored the building to is original 1920’s grandeur, and in 1999 reopened it as the Casa del Mar hotel. It has been going strong ever since.

The hotel currently boasts a Zoltar fortune machine, a la the machine that made Tom Hanks “big” in the movie of the same name, in its lobby area, which I found so incredibly cool!

The Casa del Mar hotel popped up in what was, in my never-to-be-humble opinion, the funniest scene in Just Go With It, in which JA pretends to be a rich, snobby Beverly Hills socialite with a bit of a drinking – and pill – problem. Jen is ABSOLUTELY HILARIOUS in the scene and even had the GC LOL-ing at several points, even though he typically does not find her to be at all amusing.

The Just Go With It scene was filmed in the southern portion of the Casa del Mar lobby, just south of the rear side of the hotel’s main fireplace. The lobby’s furnishings were changed quite a bit for the filming, though.

And I, of course, just had to recreate the scene in which Jen first arrives at the hotel and tells her limo driver that she “shant be long”. Smile

The scene that supposedly takes place just outside of the hotel was shot at a different location, though, and I have not been able to determine exactly where that location is yet.

Just Go With It Trailer – Casa Del Mar Hotel

You can watch the Just Go With It trailer, in which Casa del Mar is featured, by clicking above.

The hotel also popped up in the Season 2 episode of The Mentalist titled “18-5-4” as the supposed San Francisco-area Tidewater Resort where Oliver Simon McDaniel (aka Evan Peters) hid out.

For whatever reason, producers had a fake check-in desk built in front of the hotel’s fireplace for the filming of the episode.

The scene in which Patrick Jane (aka Simon Baker) tells Teresa Lisbon (aka Robin Tunney) that she should have the CBI Headquarters moved to the beach was filmed in the hotel’s Veranda Bar area . . .

. . . which I, unfortunately, could not get a great photograph of due to the brightness of the sun.

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The SUPER nice concierge that we spoke with while we were stalking the hotel also let us know that the Casa del Mar’s Colonnade Ballroom was used in another Jennifer Aniston flick – the 2006 movie Friends With Money, in the scene in which Olivia (aka JA) and her friends attend a benefit for ALS. He also informed us that the ballroom was used in episodes of both Hung and Curb Your Enthusiasm, as well.

As fate would have it, the ballroom just happened to be unlocked while we were stalking the hotel, so I was able to walk in and snap a few pictures of it.

The exterior of the hotel is visible in the scene in 2005’s Be Cool in which wanna-be gansta Raji (aka an absolutely HILARIOUS Vince Vaughn) and Elliot Wilhelm (aka Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson) get into a fight and Raji announces, “I smell you man! I feel your pain!” LOL

Besides being a filming location, the hotel is also something of a celebrity hotspot. Just a few of the stars who have been spotted there in recent years include Lindsay Lohan, Christian Bale, Ryan Phillipe, AnnaLynne McCord, Cameron Diaz, Megan Fox, Gisele Bundchen, Tom Brady, Maria Shriver, Pamela Anderson, Christian Slater, Emma Watson, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Justin Timberlake, Bradley Cooper, Molly Ringwald, Oprah Winfrey, Kevin Bacon, Jessica Alba, Cash Warren, Will Smith, Josh Duhamel, and Renee Zellweger. Sophia Bush and Chad Michael Murray were married at the hotel in 2005 and Miss Britney Spears and then-husband Kevin Federline even lived there for a time while their Malibu mansion was being renovated. I was lucky enough to spot Jen Aniston at the Casa del Mar once – along with Vince Vaughn, Joey Lauren Adams, and Jon Favreau – back in 2006. She was doing press for The Break-Up at the time and the GC and I had randomly stopped by the hotel to grab a cocktail. I was wearing my “Team Aniston” sweatshirt and when Jen saw it she pointed, smiled, and said, “Oh, thank you!” Ever since that day, the GC has referred to Casa del Mar as the “Jen Aniston hotel”. Love it! (The GC took the above photograph of Jen that day on his blackberry, which is why it turned out so poorly. After seeing the picture, I solemnly swore I would NEVER again be caught out and about without my camera and I now carry it with me at all times.)

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: Casa del Mar hotel, from Just Go With It, is located at 1910 Ocean Way in Santa Monica. You can visit the hotel’s official website here.

November 5, 2010June 16, 2011

The Canyon Country Store Where Jennifer Aniston Used to Work

I just recently finished reading Jennifer: The Unauthorized Biography, a FABULOUS book about my girl Jen Aniston written by Sean Smith, a famed British biographer who has also penned bestselling bios about J.K Rowling, Britney Spears, and Justin Timberlake. According to the brief blurb about Smith featured on the book’s first page, the U.K. newspaper The Independent once dubbed the author a “fearless chronicler” and I honestly couldn’t agree with that sentiment more. The guy is a meticulous researcher and, while you wouldn’t think there would be much information about Jen that I didn’t already know, Smith managed to dig up a few factoids that had me spinning with excitement – one of which being that the actress once worked at the Canyon Country Store – a deli/market in Laurel Canyon – for a few months before becoming famous. Smith happened upon the market by chance, actually. At the time she worked there, Jen was living just up the road from the store in a home at the end of Ridgemont Drive and, while venturing up to her former abode while doing research for his book, Smith decided to stop in for a bite to eat at the small grocery store. While there, he happened to ask the owner if Jen had ever frequented the place and was shocked to discover that she had actually once worked there! According to Tommy, the market’s longtime owner, Jen did a little bit of everything at the store – from working the cash register to stocking shelves to making sandwiches at the deli counter. When she started landing jobs in the entertainment industry, she quit working at the market, but would still pop in regularly to buy cigarettes and other essentials. Well, as you can imagine, I just about died upon learning that information and immediately dragged my husband right on out to stalk the place.

The Canyon Country Store has actually been around since the early 1900s. At the time it was known as the Bungalow Inn Lodge and area hunters would congregate there each night to host picnics. The Inn burned down in 1929 and was subsequently rebuilt out of a more substantial brick material. A kitchen was added to the premises a few years later, whereupon food was served to hungry patrons. The property eventually evolved into a grocery store and then finally into the delicatessen/market/fine wine shop/coffee bar that it is today. During the ‘60s, the store became a regular hangout for Jim Morrison and his musician friends, who all lived nearby and would often gather together on the market’s front patio for spontaneous jam sessions. Everyone from Joni Mitchell to Three Dog Night to Frank Zappa has performed live at the market at one time or another. In his famous song “Love Street”, Jim sings of “this store where the creatures meet”. That store is none other than the Canyon Country Store and “Love Street” is actually Rothdale Trail, the street that runs behind the market which Jim and his longtime girlfriend Pamela Courson referred to as “Love Street” because of the many hippies and love children that would walk down it each day.

I had the pleasure of meeting Tommy while we were stalking the Canyon Country Store and, let me tell you, the guy could NOT have been nicer!!! Not only did he take us on our own little private tour of the place, but when I asked if I could snap some photographs, he suggested that I get behind the main counter and pretend to use the cash register like Jen used to do when she worked there! Well, as you can imagine, I just about had a heart attack upon hearing his offer and immediately jumped behind the counter to snap a quick pic. So incredibly cool! He also told us that Jen was an amazingly nice person and that she truly listened when speaking with people, which is a very rare quality indeed!

Tommy also informed us that when Jen was married to Brad Pitt, the two would often stop by to say hi and to grab a bite to eat at Pace Italian Restaurant, which is located directly below the market and is a place I am going to have to stalk in the very near future!

Because so many celebs live in Laurel Canyon, the Country Store is regularly frequented by stars. Sophia Loren, Jessica Biel, and Pamela Anderson have all been spotted there in the past and actress Christina Applegate (pictured above) is apparently a regular.

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And the store is also a filming location! The market was featured at the very beginning of the 1980 horror movie The Fog, although it looked quite different at that time. You can see a photograph of the market as it looked during the ’80s here. The Canyon Country Store has also been featured in the movies Breezy, Rainbow Drive, and the aptly-titled Laurel Canyon – none of which I have ever seen. 🙁

Tommy was also nice enough to walk us down to Jim Morrison and Pamela Courson’s former house, which is located directly behind the Country Store. You can check out some great interior photographs of the home, which is currently for sale for a cool $1,199,000, here.

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I, of course, had to grab a bite to eat while I was stalking the market, which the Grim Cheaper was not too happy about, especially when he discovered that the deli sandwich he ordered was going to cost him $8.99. He later said it was one of the best sandwiches he had ever eaten, though, and had to concede that it was worth every penny. 🙂 I opted for the market’s chicken salad, which was simply AMAZING! Honestly, some of the best chicken salad I’ve ever had in my entire life, and that means a lot coming from me as I am VERY picky about my chicken. I honestly cannot recommend eating at the Canyon Country Store enough – it is FABULOUS!

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: The Canyon Country Store is located at 2108 Laurel Canyon Boulevard in Laurel Canyon. Jim Morrison and Pamela Courson’s former home is located just behind the store at 8021 Rothdell Trail. You can order Sean Smith’s biography of Jennifer Aniston here.

October 15, 2010June 16, 2011

The Glen Capri Inn & Suites from “The Good Girl”

A few weeks ago, I dragged the Grim Cheaper out to stalk the Glen Capri Inn & Suites – a historic and oft-filmed Glendale-area motel that has appeared in over twenty movie and television productions in the past six years alone. I was most interested in stalking the property due to its appearance in the 2002 flick The Good Girl, which starred my girl Jen Aniston. And even though I didn’t like The Good Girl AT ALL (it was just far too dark and depressing for my taste), because JA had filmed there, I was dying to see the motel which was featured in it in person.

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The Glen Capri is famous not only for its vast motion picture history, but for its distinct architectural style, as well. The property was originally built in 1949 by Louis Armet and Eldon Davis, the architectural team who, according to an August 1999 Los Angeles Times article written by Ed Leibowitz, “defined ‘50s Googie architecture” – Googie being the unique mid-century modern-style of design which had its roots in the now-defunct, John Lautner-constructed Googies Coffee Shop. At the time of its grand opening, the Glen Capri Inn & Suites was called simply the Glen Capri Motel. In 2000, the interior of the property underwent an extensive remodel at which point it was given its more upscale-sounding moniker. Fortunately, the exterior of the property was left intact during the recent remodel and looks almost exactly the same today as it did when it was first built over six decades ago. It is thanks to the motel’s historic facade and authentic 60’s neon signage that location scouts have returned to film there time and time again.

Before arriving at the Glen Capri Inn & Suites, I was a little nervous that the place would not be very stalker-friendly and that taking photographs of the premises would be a big no-no. As it turns out, though, I needn’t have worried. The man working at the front desk was very nice and said that we could take all of the pictures that we wanted. AND there was even a “Wall of Fame” located in the main office, with signed headshots of all of the actors who had filmed at the motel on display.

As you can imagine, I just about died when I saw my girl Jen’s autographed picture hanging on the wall. SO INCREDIBLY COOL!

In The Good Girl, the Glen Capri stood in for the Texas-area motel where Justine Last (aka Jennifer Aniston) and Holden Worther (aka Jake Gyllenhaal) conducted their on-going affair.

Both the main office . . .

. . . and Room 8 were used in the flick. I don’t want to give away the ending, but Room 8 also featured significantly in the movie’s climactic finale. On a Good Girl side note – Mike, from MovieShotsLA, recently stalked Retail Rodeo, the discount store where Justine and Holden worked in the movie. You can see pics of it on his site here.

In 2004’s Raising Helen, the Glen Capri stood in for the New York-area motel where Helen Harris (aka Kate Hudson) and Jenny Portman (aka Joan Cusack) catch their underage niece Audrey Davis (aka Hayden Panettiere) on prom night. Audrey’s room was number 205.

In the 2004 teen comedy The Girl Next Door, Matthew Kidman (aka Emile Hirsch) took Danielle (aka Elisha Cuthbert) to the Glen Capri with the hopes of seducing her while there.

Ironically enough, Emile Hirsch returned to the Glen Capri two years later to film a scene for the 2006 drama Alpha Dog. In the flick, the Glen Capri stood in for the Albuquerque motel where Johnny Truelove and his girlfriend Angela Holden (aka Olivia Wilde) hid out after police had discovered the body of Zack Mazursky (aka Anton Yelchin).

In 2007’s Georgia Rule, the Glen Capri stood in for the Hull, Ohio-area motel where Arnold (aka Cary Elwes) stays while in town visiting his wife, Lily (aka Felicity Huffman), and his step-daughter, Rachel Wilcox (aka Lindsay Lohan). In the movie, Arnold stays in Room 206.

Other movies that have filmed at the Glen Capri include The Country Bears, Diamonds & Guns, and Janky Promoters. Episodes of Without a Trace, Parks and Recreation, Cold Case, Saving Grace, Night Stalker, Close to Home, Day Break, Windfall, Lovespring International, Mad Men, and Nip/Tuck have also been shot at the Glen Capri. You can check out the hotel’s very thorough filming page, which chronicles all of the productions that have been filmed on the premises over the past ten years, on its website here. Love it! There are actually several different motels in the Glen Capri chain and the one located at 326 Colorado Street, also in Glendale, has been used for filming, as well. It has appeared in episodes of Life and The Surreal Life and in a 2007 Smash Mouth music video.

On a Jennifer Aniston side note – my good friend and fellow stalker Kerry recently gifted me with the new Jennifer Aniston Perfume and I have to say that it is absolutely DIVINE. It is honestly the best scented perfume that I’ve ever smelled in my entire life! All of the literature written about it says that it has a “beachy” scent, but to me it seems to have more of a floral feel to it and is a bit reminiscent of Michael Kors signature fragrance, which I also love. Jennifer Aniston perfume smells so amazing that I literally cannot stop smelling my wrists when I wear it – I wouldn’t be surprised if I subconsciously gnaw my arm off in the coming weeks. 😉 Because the perfume is only available at Harrods in London (contrary to what Jen reported during her most recent Chelsea Lately appearance, it cannot be shipped outside of the UK), Kerry had to go through hell and high water to get it for me. So, I’ve had to resort to rationing it out in very small portions each day as I simply do not know WHAT I am going to do when I run out. 🙁 I am hoping that by that time it will be available in the US. (Are you listening, Jen?) Anyway, if you live in London or have plans to travel there, I HIGHLY recommend stopping by Harrods to pick up some JA perfume. Take my word for it, you will NOT be disappointed. And a HUGE thank you to Kerry for getting it for me! 🙂

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: Glen Capri Inn & Suites is located at 6700 San Fernando Road in Glendale. You can visit the hotel’s official website here. The Good Girl was filmed in the main office and in Room 8; Raising Helen also used the main office and Room 205; and Georgia Rule was filmed in Room 206.

October 5, 2010June 16, 2011

The Fremont Troll from “10 Things I Hate About You”

Another location that I stalked while visiting the Pacific Northwest this past May was a famous Seattle-area sculpture known as the Fremont Troll, which appeared in a brief scene in the 1999 teen comedy 10 Things I Hate About You. The Troll, which weighs two tons and was built out of wire, ferroconcrete, and rebar steel, lurks under Seattle’s Aurora Bridge and measures eighteen feet tall. It was originally constructed in 1990 over a period of seven weeks by four local artists named Steve Badanes, Will Martin, Donna Walter, and Ross Whitehead. At the time, the area under the bridge had become a haven for drug dealers and other miscreants, so in 1989, with the hopes of cleaning up the space, the Fremont Art Council sponsored a national contest for artists to create a piece of work which would be displayed there permanently. The menacing-looking Troll, which is also known as the Troll Under the Bridge and was inspired by the well-known children’s fairy tale Three Billy Goats Gruff, was the winning design and has since become a Seattle-area icon, so much so that it even has its very own Facebook page!

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I found out about this location from fellow stalker Owen, who somehow managed to track down every single locale which appeared in 10 Things I Hate About You. To be honest, I wasn’t actually all that keen on stalking it, though. It looked a bit odd online and since it had only been featured for a few brief seconds in the movie, I didn’t think it was a very blog-worthy location. As it turns out, though, I couldn’t have been more wrong. The mixed media sculpture, while not necessarily beautiful, is incredibly unique and I am so, so glad that my good friend and fellow stalker Kerry ended up taking me there. If you happen to be in the area, I can’t recommend stalking it enough! My favorite aspects of the Troll are the fact that its left eye consists of an old hubcap and its left hand is clasping an actual Volkswagen Beetle. Not kidding! Apparently, the car once boasted a California license plate and also housed a time capsule filled with Elvis Presley memorabilia, but both had to later be removed due to vandalization of the sculpture.

In 10 Things I Hate About You, the Troll is the site of the scene in which Cameron James (aka Joseph Gordon-Levitt) and Bianca Stratford (aka Larisa Oleynik) discuss how to get her sister, Kat Stratford (aka Julia Stiles), to attend an upcoming party.

And while the Troll also appears in a brief scene with Jennifer Aniston in the movie Love Happens, due to scheduling conflicts the actress never actually set foot in Seattle during the filming. Instead, the rest of the cast and crew traveled there, while a body double stood in for Jennifer and kept her back to the camera during the scene. Her stand-in is pictured in the grey hat in the screen capture above. Ah, the magic of Hollywood!

Big THANK YOU to fellow stalker Owen for finding this location! 🙂

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: The Fremont Troll, from 10 Things I Hate About You and Love Happens, is located on the corner of Troll Avenue North and North 36th Street, directly underneath the north end of Aurora Bridge in the Fremont neighborhood of Seattle, Washington.

September 10, 2010September 9, 2010

Pueblo Bonito Pacifica Holistic Resort & Spa

During our recent Cabo San Lucas honeymoon, the Grim Cheaper and I stayed at the Pueblo Bonito Pacifica Holistic Resort & Spa. And while I knew from looking at the property’s website that it was a beautiful place, at the time I made our reservation I had absolutely NO idea that it was also a celebrity destination AND a filming location! They say that you attract those things to you that you think about the most, and in this case, that was most definitely true! But more on that later.

Before arriving in Cabo, I was a little apprehensive that it might be a somewhat dangerous place. As it turns out, though, I don’t think I’ve ever felt more safe. The city is beautiful, the people are some of the friendliest I’ve ever encountered, and the Cabo way of life is extremely laidback. And while people generally refer to the entire area as being called Cabo San Lucas, it is actually known as Los Cabos and is made up of three different sections which span the southern tip of the Baja Peninsula. The sections include San Jose Del Cabo, The Corridor, and Cabo San Lucas. Long before I had planned our honeymoon, I had heard Jennifer Aniston and Jennifer Love Hewitt describe Cabo as a “sleepy, little fishing town”. As it turns out, though, Jen and Love were not speaking about Cabo San Lucas proper, which is a major party city, but rather about San Jose Del Cabo, which is located about fifteen miles north. Most celebrities choose to stay in one of the many five-star resorts located along The Corridor, the most popular of which are the Esperanza, the One&Only Palmilla, and Las Ventanas Al Paraiso. Because The Corridor hotels are exorbitantly expensive, though, the Grim Cheaper and I chose instead to stay at a resort in Cabo San Lucas, but thankfully it was far removed from the whole party scene.

The 154-room Pueblo Bonito Pacifica Holistic Resort & Spa first opened in 2005 and is located inside of a gated community about five miles north of town. Thanks to the hotel’s strict adults-only policy and its remote location, it is an EXTREMELY quiet destination and has been billed as one of Cabo’s most romantic locales. And let me tell you, the GC and I absolutely LOVED the place. The resort is so quiet that we often looked around and asked ourselves if we were the only two people staying there. It was without a doubt the most relaxing, quiet vacation I have ever been on. In fact, outside of wanting to do a little stalking, neither of us found any reason whatsoever to leave the resort during our entire nine day stay. It was the perfect place to spend our honeymoon and, because it is so reasonably priced, we are already making plans for a return visit. 🙂

Upon first arriving at the resort, the Grim Cheaper and I were greeted with cool, wet towels infused with lavender oil with which to wash our hands.

The lobby, which overlooks the ocean, was also infused with a lavender scent, which made the experience of entering the hotel seem like walking into a spa. Love it!

The Pacifica features two pools, both of which overlook the ocean . . .

. . . and one of which features a swim-up bar.

The property is situated on a beautiful, private beach . . .

. . . where outdoor beds can be rented during the day and for overnight stays. The beds can also be rented for an ultra-romantic dinner under the stars, which we unfortunately didn’t find out about until the very last night we were there. Ugh! I so would have loved to have done that!

Our room was absolutely beautiful . . .

. . . and featured a private balcony . . .

. . . with a stunning view of the ocean and pool area.

And at night the view only got more spectacular. Sigh! Oh, how I wish I was still there!

The Pacifica features four different restaurants and bars, all of which serve up SEPCTACULAR food – especially the nachos, which were some of the best I’ve ever had in my entire life. In fact, I’d book a stay at the hotel just for those nachos – that’s how good they were. Best of all, the Pacifica also offers 24-hour room service, which the Grim Cheaper and I partook of virtually every single night.

Because the resort is so remote and so private, numerous celebrities have checked in there over the years, including John Travolta and Kelly Preston, Lindsay Lohan, Cindy Crawford, Dolph Lundgren, and a bunch of sports stars, including a few Olympic gold medal winners, whose names I didn’t recognize. And, let me tell you, I just about died when I found out that my girl Jen had once visited the hotel’s spa! My Spanish isn’t all that great, so when I was speaking to the woman at the spa, I originally thought she said that Jen had stayed at the hotel on one occasion, but after talking with the concierge it turns out that Jen was only on the premises for a spa appointment. It was still very exciting for me, nonetheless.

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Even more exciting, though, was when one of the Pacifica’s bartenders informed me that all three fantasy dates from Brad Womack’s season of The Bachelor had been filmed at the resort. In the fantasy date episode, which aired on November 5, 2007, Brad flew his top three Bachelorettes – DeAnna Pappas, Jenni Croft, and Bettina Bell – down to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. And not only were all three overnight stays filmed at the resort, but according to this press release, the entire cast and crew also stayed on the premises. ABC.com even sponsored a Bachelor contest, where viewers at home could win their own 4-day, 3-night fantasy vacation at the Pacifica. Sadly, Season 11 of The Bachelor does not seem to be available for purchase anywhere and because I didn’t watch the show that year, I am not sure which parts of the resort were featured in the fantasy date episode. I was able to find the above clip of DeAnna Pappas’ date on YouTube, in which one of the resort’s timeshare villas, named the Montecristo Estates, is briefly shown.

As you can see in the above pictures, which I got off of the Montecristo Estates Website, the entrance, bedroom, and private pool terrace are exact matches to the fantasy suite where DeAnna and Brad spent the night.

Supposedly, the hotel’s main restaurant, Siempre, also appeared on The Bachelor.

I honestly can’t recommend stalking the Pueblo Bonito Pacifica Holistic Resort & Spa enough! My honeymoon was truly one of the best vacations of my life!

On a side note – For those who are planning a trip to the Cabo area, rest assured – the city does have a Starbucks. 🙂

And it looks pretty much like any other Starbucks one might find in America . . .

. . . except that the menu is, of course, in Spanish. So darn cool!

When I asked the baristas to pose for the above photograph, they wrongly assumed that I had never before been to a Starbucks, which prompted them to ask, “Don’t you have a Starbucks where you come from?” LOL LOL LOL Oh, if they only knew!

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: Pueblo Bonito Pacifica Holistic Resort & Spa is located at Cabo Pacifica S/N, 23450 Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. You can visit the hotel’s official website here. The resort is located inside of a gated community and I believe you have to have a dining reservation at one of the Pacifica’s restaurants or at one of the restaurants located inside of its sister hotel, Pueblo Bonito Sunset Beach Resort & Spa, to be admitted entrance.

September 3, 2010September 2, 2010

Esperanza Resort

Another celebrity hot spot that my husband and I stalked while honeymooning in Cabo San Lucas last week was the world-famous Esperanza Resort hotel – a place my girl Jen A. has checked into frequently over the years. The 17-acre property, which is a member of the Leading Hotels of the World, is consistently referred to as Cabo’s most luxurious and exclusive resort. The hotel is made up of only 57 rooms – fifty individual casitas and seven over-sized suites – so it truly offers its guests, many of whom are movie stars, the ultimate in privacy – and service. Just a few of the amenities offered at the resort include a private beach, an award-winning spa with steam caves and waterfalls, an infinity pool overlooking the ocean, a yoga and Pilates studio where the classes are free, an art gallery, loaner iPods, and coconut-milk popsicles which are doled out regularly to those guests lying poolside. Needless to say, the hotel, which is part of the exclusive Auberge Resort chain, has won countless awards over the years, including three of Travel + Leisure Magazine’s 2010 “World’s Best Awards” – #1 Resort, #1 Spa, and #1 Service for their Best in Mexico section. It truly is a remarkable and absolutely beautiful place!

I absolutely fell in love with Esperanza’s The Signature Restaurant, which is pictured above. The restaurant is composed of three different levels of terraces, all of which overlook both the Pacific Ocean and the Sea of Cortez, and is breathtakingly beautiful. I SO wanted to grab dinner there during our stay in Cabo, but the Grim Cheaper was having none of that. 🙁

Esperanza’s extensive celebrity guest list reads like a Who’s Who of Hollywood. Just a few of the stars who have been spotted there include Fergie and Josh Duhamel (the Esperanza was where the famous 2008 picture of Josh D. painting on the beach was taken), Chelsea Handler, Debra Messing, Courteney Cox and David Arquette, Sheryl Crow, Ashley Simpson and Pete Wentz, Jennie Garth, Usher, Owen Wilson, and Will and Jada Pinkett Smith. In 2003, Elizabeth Berkley married Ralph Lauren’s nephew, Greg, at the Esperanza. That same year Gwyneth Paltrow and Chris Martin honeymooned there, as did Katherine Heigl and Josh Kelley in 2007. And according to this Forbes.com article, the Esperanza gifted a free weekend stay to all of the 2002 Academy Award winners.

And as proof that visiting the hotel almost guarantees one a celeb sighting, while we were there my husband and I spotted LeAnn Rimes and Eddie Cibrian, who were in town to celebrate LeAnn’s 28th birthday. To clarify, I should say that I actually spotted the two stars – the Grim Cheaper was absolutely clueless. He had gone to the restroom immediately upon our arrival at the hotel, while I grabbed a seat in the resort’s outdoor lounge. Shortly after I sat down, who should walk into the bar area but LeAnn Rimes followed by Eddie C. I recognized the two of them immediately and just about had a heart attack I was so excited! When the GC returned from the restroom, he told me that he wanted to head down to the beach right away to search for the rocks where Jennifer Aniston recently posed for the ad for her newly released perfume (the rocks were our sole reason for visiting the Esperanza and I will be blogging about them on Monday) and grab a drink afterwards. I started making faces at him to alert him to the fact that we were in the presence of celebrities, but he remained clueless. I finally grabbed some paper out of my purse and wrote the above-pictured note. GC took one look at the note, glanced over towards LeAnn, and then said, “Oh OK. Well, come on, let’s go down to the beach.” LOL Needless to say he was not at all impressed. We stayed at the bar for a few more minutes while I debated about going up to LeAnn and Eddie to ask for a photograph, but I ultimately decided against it. They were on vacation at an ultra-exclusive and ultra-private resort and I felt that it would be inappropriate to bother them. And I was happy enough just to have seen them in person, anyway. 🙂 When we returned from the beach about an hour and a half later, we again spotted LeAnn and Eddie swimming and eating nachos at the resort’s pool. And I have to say that while I’ve never thought LeAnn was especially attractive in photographs, she is absolutely GORGEOUS in person. I’d even go so far as to say that she was luminous. Needless to say, seeing her was one of the highlights of my honeymoon. 🙂

And, of course, the Esperanza is also a filming location! The hotel stood in for the Cabo San Lucas resort where Eddie (aka Ben Stiller) and Lila (aka Malin Ackerman) honeymooned in the 2007 movie The Heartbreak Kid.

On a side note, one of my former acting teachers, Roy Jenkins (pictured above), played the role of Buzz in The Heartbreak Kid. So darn cool!

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: Esperanza: An Auberge Resort is located at Carretera Transpeninsular KM 7 in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. You can visit the hotel’s official website here.

September 2, 2010June 16, 2011

The One&Only Palmilla Resort

The Grim Cheaper and I just returned from our Cabo San Lucas honeymoon this past Tuesday evening and, let me tell you, we couldn’t have been sadder to say good-bye to the place! We had an amazing time in Mexico – relaxing, swimming, sunbathing, and, of course, stalking. And while I have plans to publish a whole slew of posts about our recent wedding day, which of course incorporated some stalking and celebrity elements, I am currently waiting on the official pictures from our photographer, so I am going to have to put those columns on the back burner for now. In the meantime, though, I thought I’d write about one of the locations I stalked while in Cabo San Lucas last week – the One&Only Palmilla Resort, which just so happens to be my girl Jennifer Aniston’s very favorite vacation spot.

The One&Only Palmilla, which is Cabo San Lucas’ oldest resort, was first built in 1956 by Don Abelardo Rodriguez, the son of then-Mexican president Abelardo Luis Rodriguez, and at the time was named simply the Palmilla Hotel. The property originally boasted a scant 15 rooms and was so exclusive that it was only accessible via boat or private plane. The completion of the Mexican Federal Highway in 1973 allowed easier access to the property, which only helped it to grow in popularity. In 1984 the hotel expanded to include 50 rooms, ten years later it added the Jack Nicklaus-designed Palmilla Golf Club, and in 1996 the number of rooms expanded once again to 115. In 2002, the resort shuttered its doors to begin a massive $90 million renovation and expansion project. It re-opened as the One&Only Palmilla Resort in February of 2004 and remains one of the city’s most sought after destinations. The hotel is world-renowned for its service, which includes 24-hour personalized butler service for each guest, fresh fruit delivered daily to each room, twice daily maid service, and aromatherapy turndown service each night.

One&Only Palmilla has won such a staggering number of awards over the past six years that it would be virtually impossible to list them all here. A few of them include: “The Gold List” in January 2010 from Conde Nast Traveler, “World’s Best Hotels” in January 2010 from Travel + Leisure Magazine, and “Best Butler Service in Mexico” in July/August 2010 from Bridal Guide. The place truly is one of a kind. As you can see in the above photographs, there are little hidden hammock alcoves which can be found throughout the Palmilla’s extensive property. Next to the hammock is a sign which informs guests that if they require assistance, such as beverage service or an iPod pre-programmed with relaxation music, they only need push the little button located next to the hammock. Sigh! Now that’s what I call the life! Because of its luxuriousness and exclusivity, the hotel has long been a celebrity magnet. Just a few of the stars who have checked in there over the years include Desi Arnaz, Lucille Ball, Bing Crosby, John Wayne, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Mario Lopez, Demi Moore, Ashton Kutcher, Celine Dion, Mandy Moore, Richard Gere, John Travolta, Dustin Hoffman, and Eva Longoria. Giants quarterback Eli Manning tied the knot there in April of 2008, as did Oliver Hudson (Kate Hudson’s brother) in June of 2006. Kevin Jonas honeymooned there with his new wife Danielle Deleasa in December of 2009 and Christina Aguilera threw her bachelorette party there in 2005. And, as I mentioned above, Jennifer Aniston is a frequent guest. The actress loves the hotel so much, in fact, that she visits it several times a year.

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Palmilla One&Only is an absolutely BEAUTIFUL place and it’s not at all hard to see why Jen loves to vacation there. The property is closed to the public, however, and you must have a lunch or dinner reservation to be allowed past the front gates. I wasn’t aware of that little caveat at the time, though, so when we showed up to stalk the place we were almost turned away. The guard at the guard shack was incredibly nice, though – as were ALL of the One&Only employees – and he asked us to wait a moment while he called one of the hotel’s restaurants to see if we could be seated immediately. Thankfully, Breeze, the One&Only’s outdoor lounge, had room and we were able to dine there. And, let me tell you, the food was ABSOLUTELY incredible! Like honestly, some of the best food I’ve ever had in my life. I, of course, ordered a glass of champagne while there (hey, I was on my honeymoon!) and when the waiter arrived with a bottle of Veuve Clicquot to pour, I thought the Grim Cheaper was going to have a heart attack! After the waiter left, GC tuned to me and said, “From now on, honey, please ask for the house ‘sparking wine’ instead of the ‘champagne’.” LOL Being that Veuve is my favorite, though, I wasn’t complaining. 😉

The hotel is also, of course, a filming location. Heidi Montag and Spencer Pratt held their Mexican wedding ceremony at the resort’s 50-year old chapel in November of 2008. The event was covered exclusively by US Weekly Magazine, but unfortunately I could only find the above-pictured photograph of it online.

And, for whatever reason, The Hills’s cameras failed to record the ceremony. The only part of the wedding ever shown on the series was in the Season 4 episode titled “Mr. and Mrs. Pratt”, in which Spencer and Heidi are shown watching a brief clip of their nuptials taken on a hand-held camera.

The Palmilla’s tiny chapel, which was originally built in 1956, is absolutely adorable in person and plays host to numerous wedding ceremonies each year.

The hotel was also used extensively in the Season 5 episode of Beverly Hills, 90210 titled “Hazardous to your Health”, where it stood in for the Punta Brava-area resort where Dylan McKay (aka Luke Perry) and Valerie Malone (aka Tiffany-Amber-Thiessen) set up a sting to win back Dylan’s stolen fortune.

Due to the recent renovation, though, the hotel looks a bit different now than it did back in 1995 when 90210 was filmed. Guests no longer drive up to the same entrance used by Dylan and Valerie – that area is still there, but it is now a walkway.

And while the shape of the pool is still the same, the area around it has been altered slightly. As you can see in the above photographs, there is now a restaurant located off to the left hand side of the pool and a large “palapa” (the Spanish word for a thatched umbrella) which covers an outdoor bar has also been installed. Thankfully, though, the hotel is still very recognizable from 90210. The real life Los Cabos International Airport was also featured extensively in that episode, but unfortunately I did not take any photographs of it while I was there.

On a side note – Everyone from fellow stalkers to my mom to a high school friend who I haven’t spoken to in over a decade has contacted me today to alert me to the fact that the date is 9-02-10! Yes, it’s officially 90210 day! How I didn’t realize this before is beyond me. I mean, it should be a national holiday or something! When I told my husband (that is SO weird to say!) the significance of today’s date he asked me if Mike, from MovieShotsLA, and I were going to hold a seance or something. And then he begged me not to make a pilgrimage to the 90210 house, as Jack, the owner, “already thinks you’re weird enough!” LOL Anyway, just wanted to wish all of my fellow stalkers a VERY HAPPY 90210 day!

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: The One&Only Palmilla Resort is located at Km 7.5 Carretera Transpeninsular in San Jose Del Cabo, Mexico. The hotel is private and not open to the public, but if you book a reservation for lunch or dinner at one of the property’s three exceptional restaurants you will be granted access. You can visit the hotel’s official website here. Jennifer Aniston rented the One&Only Palmilla’s private, 8,500 square foot Villa Cortez beach house for her recent 41st birthday party this past February. The One&Only chapel, where Spencer and Heidi tied the knot, is located up the steps which lead away from the hotel’s main entrance.