Michael Buble – IAMNOTASTALKER

November 8, 2017February 8, 2019

Carrera Café – Where Your Favorite Celebrity Can Be Turned into Latte Art

When not stalking or shopping, you can typically find me perusing fashion and beauty blogs. There are several I frequent daily including Gal Meets Glam, Atlantic-Pacific, Merrick’s Art, Cupcakes and Cashmere, and Hello Gorgeous. The latter was founded by Angela Lanter, wife of fave actor Matt Lanter. I started reading her site because of the Matt connection (obvs), but it didn’t take long for Angela to seriously grow on me and become one of my favorite online personalities. Her blog is worthy of a visit for the Halloween make-up tutorials alone (this one is my favorite), but she posts fabulous fashion, cosmetics, lifestyle and décor tips no matter what time of year. (Her beauty room is honestly the stuff dreams are made of!) Up until just recently, the Hello Gorgeous home page featured a photograph of Angela in front of an extremely picturesque wall dotted with pink and red lipstick marks. I was, of course, immediately taken with the colorful backdrop and set out to locate it. One quick Google search of the terms “wall,” “pink lips,” and “Los Angeles,” led me to this Los Angeles magazine article titled “Where to Find L.A.’s Most Instagrammed Walls IRL.” The blurb cataloged 9 of the city’s most photogenic backdrops, Number 7 being the “The Hello Lips Wall” at Carrera Café. Though a cursory internet search showed me the mural had long since been covered over with a new painting (the Beverly Grove coffee shop regularly changes up its exterior art), I became utterly intrigued with the place for a different reason.

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Google “Carrera Café” and, along with shots of the ubiquitous lips wall, your screen will be inundated with photos of lattes with perfect re-creations of celebrity images imprinted into the foam. One look at this pic of a frothy Leonardo DiCaprio had me absolutely smitten and I added the address of the coffee shop to the very top of my To-Stalk List. Though I wasn’t planning on traveling to L.A. for a couple of weeks, I set right out to determine which star would be donning my drink. After scouring pictures of Leo, actor Jeremy Renner, and cutie crooner Michael Bublé, I eventually settled on the image below, which was taken by fashion photographer Evaan Kheraj. At that point, I could hardly wait to head out to the café and when I finally did, the visit did not disappoint.

Carrera Café is able to create its latte masterpieces thanks to a machine known as the Ripple Maker. That’s it below.

The innovative and ingenious device is capable of etching any image or design onto the top of a frothy espresso drink. Oh, if only it was sold for home use!

The way the Ripple Maker works is quite simple. In order for the magic to occur, customers must download the Coffee Ripples app on their smartphones. Then, when in range of a café that utilizes the machine, they can upload an image of their choice to the app and crop and customize it to their liking. Hitting the “Ripple It” button sends the photo to the Ripple Maker and assigns the customer an order number. Patrons give that number to the cashier upon arrival and order an espresso drink of their choosing. (The Ripple Maker can even create images on top of iced drinks, which I was thrilled to learn as I am not a huge fan of hot coffee. In this case, though, I opted for a hot latte as I did not realize until later that iced versions were available.) The customer then pays for their drink at the register and the barista pulls the espresso and mixes the coffee confection, after which the cup is put underneath the Ripple Maker and voila, the uploaded image is stamped onto the foam topping!

Just a little bit excited to be drinking a Michael Bublé latte!

Best-looking java I’ve ever had!

The Grim Cheaper was not at all impressed with my image of choice, though, and ran his fingers right through the top of it as soon as I was done taking photos! Perhaps I was a bit too gleeful over my creation. Winking smile

Opened in late 2016, Carrera Café, which is named for the white and grey marble that forms its countertops, is an absolutely adorable little spot.

I was especially enamored of the bubble gum pink payphone.

Considering its charming décor, it is no surprise that the place has popped up onscreen. In the Season 7 episode of Vanderpump Rules titled “Tom and Tommer,” which aired in 2019, Lala Kent and Scheana Shay meet up at Carrera Café where they discuss Scheana’s tumultuous relationship with the rest of the Sur girls.

Besides espresso specialties, the café also serves a variety of sandwiches, salads, vegetable side dishes, and pastries.

The GC and I decided to grab a bite to eat while there, opting for the Il Tacchino sandwich, which consisted of roasted turkey breast, provolone cheese, iceberg lettuce, heirloom tomatoes, Dijon mustard, and mayonnaise. It was honestly one of the best sandwiches I’ve ever had!

At the time that we visited, Carrera Café’s exterior wall was covered with a mural advertising ABC’s new show The Mayor. I have to say that I much prefer the pink lips painting. I really wish I had gotten to see it in person.

Otherwise though, our visit could not have been more perfect and I cannot wait to go back – which means I better get busy choosing the next celebrity image I am going to use to decorate my drink!

For more stalking fun, follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Los Angeles magazine and Discover Los Angeles.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: Carrera Café is located at 8251 Melrose Avenue in Beverly Grove. You can visit the eatery’s official website here and you can download the Coffee Ripples app here.

March 22, 2017March 15, 2017

The House from Michael Bublé’s “I Believe in You” Music Video

As my longtime readers know, this stalker loves herself some Michael Bublé. A lesser known fact, being that I don’t talk about it as much, is that I also love me some Derek Hough. So when I found out that the Dancing with the Stars pro was directing, choreographing, and starring in the cutie crooner’s “I Believe in You” music video, I could hardly contain my excitement! A collaboration by two of my favorite stars? Count me in! I anxiously poured through the many Snapchat videos Hough posted of the shoot, which took place in January, and instantly became obsessed with tracking down the house used in the production, because, well, duh!

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My initial thought upon seeing the Cape Cod-style residence in Derek’s snaps was that it was located in Malibu. Something about the size, landscaping and design of the pad just screamed “the ‘Bu” to me. So I spent a while poking around the beachside city, as well as searching location databases for Cape Cod dwellings in the area, but came up with diddly. On a whim, and because I do not like to leave any stone unturned, I next set my sights on the Pasadena Film Calendar, even though I was fairly certain the house wouldn’t be found there. Imagine my surprise when I saw “I Believe in You” noted in the listings! According to the calendar, the video was being shot somewhere on Marengo Avenue. From there, I searched along Marengo via aerial views and found the house rather quickly.

The 6-bedroom, 4-bath, 5,324-square-foot home, which per Zillow was built in 1894, is pretty darn spectacular.

Though situated facing away from the road and behind a huge wall of hedges . . .

. . . it turned out to be much more visible than I was led to believe from my Google Street View viewings.

You can check out some more close-up photos of the exterior of the residence, as well as some interior shots, here.

The “I Believe in You” video, which centers around the lifelong relationship between a couple, was shot in its entirety at the property. Derek used his grandparents, who were married for over 60 years and danced together every morning and every night, as his inspiration for the storyline and concept. He explained to People magazine, “When I heard the song, I just kept picturing my grandparents and this love that lasted for such a long time. I wanted to show a love story that stood the test of time.” You can watch the finished product by clicking below. Warning – have Kleenex handy!

“I Believe in You” made extensive use of both the exterior . . .

. . . and interior of the picturesque home.

A patch of sidewalk out in front of the house also appeared in a couple of scenes.

The area used can be found just south of the residence’s driveway.

The same property also portrayed the home of NSA Director Lieutenant-General Diane Peters (McNally Sagal) in the Season 5 episode of Scandal titled “It’s Hard Out Here for a General.”

On a Michael Bublé side-note – I don’t know how I missed his “Nobody But Me” video, which was released in October of last year, but it’s hilarious! You can watch it by clicking below.

For more stalking fun, follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Los Angeles magazine and Discover Los Angeles.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: The house from Michael Bublé’s “I Believe in You” music video is located at 1504 South Marengo Avenue in Pasadena.

May 1, 2013May 1, 2013

My Weekend with Michael Buble!

This past weekend was an absolute whirlwind – so much so that I am still trying to process the whole thing. It all started a couple of weeks back when I received a phone call from a good friend who informed me that the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, of which he is a member, was going to be hosting “An Evening with Michael Buble” – a special question and answer session and mini-concert with the cutie crooner – on April 28th. He had reserved two tickets for the event and, because he says he can’t hear the name Michael Buble without thinking of me, invited me to be his plus-one. As you can imagine, I was absolutely ESCTATIC over the news! Especially since I had been experiencing a particularly tough week with my dad. Flash forward to last Wednesday evening. I received another phone call from my friend informing me that he had heard (this friend knows absolutely EVERYONE in the business) that Michael would be arriving at LAX that Saturday at 1 a.m. and that if I wanted a photograph with him, going there would be my best bet. So even though I am SO not a night owl (I am typically in my PJs, glass of champagne in hand, by 6 p.m. every night), for MB I rallied! As did the Grim Cheaper – and I am so glad that we did because it turned out to be a magical experience. (And yes, I do realize that I can no longer call myself “not a stalker” now that I have gone to the airport to meet a celebrity! Winking smile )

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When the GC and I arrived at LAX, I was shocked to see that there were about twenty paparazzi and autograph dealers (aka “graphers”) already waiting for Michael. Those who read my site regularly know that I am not AT ALL a fan of the graphers – they are extremely aggressive and typically try to get between 20-30 items signed each, thereby taking up all of a celebrity’s time. (Not to mention, they are obnoxious! A TSA agent walked by at one point and asked who we were waiting for and one of the dealers responded, “Michael Buble – he’s a nobody.” Yeah, that guy’s lucky he didn’t get a fist to the face! Winking smile ) I am not an aggressive person by nature and do not do well in situations involving graphers and paparazzi, so I was fearful that the evening was not going to go well. Come to find out, I never should have worried. Not only is Michael Buble THE NICEST celebrity that I have ever met (Shannen Doherty runs a close second), but the GC was my absolute HERO that night and totally had my back! When MB walked out of the gate area, the graphers and paparazzi, of course, surrounded him and kept shoving photos and Sharpies into his face and hands. I called out to Michael from the sidelines and asked if he would pose for a picture, to which he said, “Sure! Just let me finish signing.” Well, anyone who has ever experienced the graphers knows that there is not ever a “finish” to their autograph seeking. These people carry hundreds upon hundreds of photographs with them at all times. (I’m not joking – some of them even cart around portable filing cabinets filled with celebrity pictures!) Well, MB pretty much signed his life away and it did not appear that the graphers were ever going to stop, so the GC yelled out, “Michael – this girl is a HUGE fan! She flew to Vancouver just to see the grocery store from your video!” (You can read my blog post on the Killarney Market from MB’s “Haven’t Met You Yet” video here.) Michael could not believe that and seemed really excited about it. Just then, his handler stopped him, saying, “OK we are done here. Come on, Michael, we’re leaving.” To which MB said, “Hold on, I need to take a picture with this sweet girl over here.” As you can imagine, I almost died right there on the spot!

My friend took the picture below in which I was telling Michael that he was my number one favorite celebrity. Smile

I was just slightly ecstatic.

The photo below perfectly encapsulates how Michael interacts with his fans. He was SO incredibly friendly, cordial and engaging to everyone who was there – almost unbelievably so. Miss Pinky Lovejoy, of the Thinking Pink blog, likes to describe fan-friendly celebrities as “braid-your-hair nice”, in that they are so accommodating, they’d braid your hair if you asked them to. Well, braid-your-hair nice doesn’t even being to describe Buble. He is more like “take-the-shirt-off-his-back-and-give-it-to-you nice.” The poor guy had been on a flight for over five hours and it was 1 o’clock in the morning (4 a.m. his time) when he arrived at the airport, yet he still stood there for what seemed like forever signing autographs and posing for pictures!

My dad, who (if possible) loves MB even more than I do, had asked if I would try to get a CD and a photograph signed for him. Right after Michael took the picture with me, he signed the CD – both the actual CD and the CD cover, which was so incredibly cool. (I framed it as soon as I got home and the result is below. My dad LOVES it.)

After Michael signed my dad’s CD, he headed outside to wait for his car. In all of the excitement, I had completely forgotten about the photograph that my dad wanted signed. It was a picture that I had taken on December 13th, 2010 at Michael’s Crazy Love concert at the Staples Center (which I blogged about here). The GC and I had surprised my dad with tickets to the concert for his birthday that year and then for Christmas, which was a few weeks later, I framed one of the photos from the night and gave it to him. It’s been hanging in his office ever since. (Ironically enough, that same Christmas my dad gifted me with a framed photograph of MB that he had also taken at the concert! Smile ) Well, as soon as Michael stepped outside of the airport, the graphers and paparazzi went crazy all over again and surrounded him. At that point, Michael’s handler got wise to the fact that these people were not fans and told him not to sign anything else. Michael then said, “OK guys, I’m not signing anymore, but I’ll take all the photos you want.” Well, that started a whole other sh*tstorm, with even the paps jumping in trying to get pictures with the singer and everyone saying, “My picture didn’t come out, can I get another?” In the midst of the chaos, I went up to MB’s handler and asked if he could please sign one more photograph for my dad. The handler emphatically told me, “NO!” He was annoyed – and I don’t blame him in the slightest. The whole thing was absolutely ridiculous! You can kind of see the mayhem below – and me in the back trying to avoid the graphers.

Michael’s car arrived a few minutes later, but he still stayed outside taking photographs with people. When I told the GC how disappointed I was that I couldn’t get my dad’s picture signed (especially because that concert is such a special memory for the two of us), he grabbed it and went right up to Michael and said, “Look, we are actual fans. Her dad loves you and is very sick and would love to have this picture signed.” To which Michael replied, “Oh man, of course!” As I said, the GC was my hero that night! I NEVER would have gotten my dad’s photo signed – and personalized!!! – without him. I told the GC that while I had fallen in love with MB a little bit more than I already was that night, I had fallen in love with my husband A LOT more. Smile On the drive home, while in total disbelief, I said, “Do you realize that I now have photographs with my top four favorite celebs (Michael Buble, Matt Lanter, Kristin Cavallari, and Shannen Doherty)? The GC’s reply? “Great! Can we retire from this now?” LOL Not surprisingly, I did not sleep at all that night and could not believe that I still had Sunday’s “An Evening with Michael Buble” to look forward to!

Flash forward to Sunday. My friend and I showed up about three hours early to “An Evening with Michael Buble” and wound up with fabulous sixth-row seats!

The Q&A portion of the event, which was hosted by Extra’s Terri Seymour, featured Michael Buble, NBC President of Late Night, Specials and Alternative Programming Paul Telegdy, producer Brad Lachman, Michael Buble’s manager Bruce Allen, and producer Bill Bracken.

The panel discussed the taping of Michael’s 2012 NBC Christmas special, Michael Buble: Home for the Holidays. The group shared some great behind-the-scenes stories and a video was shown explaining how the segment in which MB sang with Bing Crosby was made, which was fascinating to watch. And while the entire evening was taped, I am unsure of when or where it will air. If I had to guess, I would say that NBC is planning to sell DVDs of Michael Buble: Home for the Holidays come December and that the Q&A will be included as a special feature, but that is just a hunch.

After the Q&A session, Michael performed three songs from his new album, To Be Loved. He opened with the classic Michael Jackson ballad “Who’s Lovin’ You” and after belting out the long opening “When I” sequence, suddenly cut into “I’ll Be Home for Christmas”. The whole band immediately went silent and MB said, “You should see my musical director’s face right now!” LOL Michael is completely at home on the stage, so incredibly fun to watch and, as usual, absolutely brought down the house. The guy is a perennial performer and I could sit there and watch him sing all night, although I am pretty sure that goes without saying. MB’s set list also included “Young at Heart” and “To Love Somebody” and everyone in the audience was sent home with a To Be Loved CD!

After the show, Michael’s people rushed him outside and through the massive crowd leaving the theatre (which I do not think had been their intention) and even though it was complete chaos, Michael did stop to sign autographs and pose for pictures – including one with me! – as he was being dragged towards his car. The guy is SO flipping nice! <3 <3 <3 The entire weekend was an amazing experience and I am so thankful that I got to be a part of it all. This is one high that I don’t think I’ll ever come down from!

You can find me on Facebook here and on Twitter at @IAMNOTASTALKER. And be sure to check out my other blog, The Well-Heeled Diabetic.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: There is no stalking location for this post.

May 11, 2012May 10, 2012

#Fail!

A couple of weeks ago, I found out, thanks to my friend Marie, that the love of my life, Mr. Michael Buble, would be in town on May 10th to sing at a benefit concert at the Hollywood Palladium. So yesterday morning I headed out to Sunset Boulevard bright and early, armed with the above sign, in the hopes of catching the cutie crooner on his way into the soundcheck. Unfortunately though, he never showed up to the soundcheck and when he arrived for the actual event, he entered through the front door while I waited (breath bated) in the back. As my girl, Miss Pinky Lovejoy, of the Thinking Pink blog, would say, “Fail!” Such a bummer! All I have to show for my efforts (which lasted NINE hours) yesterday is a really bad sunburn. Sad smile If I don’t manage to get a pic with him the next time he is in town, I just might cry!

I did manage to snap the above photograph with the “Buble Band” bus, though, so at least there’s that. Winking smile Anyway, because I was standing outside of the Hollywood Palladium for the entire day yesterday, I did not have time to write a post for today. But I do promise to be back on Monday with a whole new location. I hope all of my fellow stalkers have a fabulous weekend and a fabulous Mother’s Day!

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

July 11, 2011July 11, 2011

Christina Aguilera’s “Extra” Taping at The Grove

Way back on Friday, June 3rd, Mikey, from the Mike the Fanboy website, called me up to inform me that Christina Aguilera would be appearing live that afternoon at The Grove shopping center in Los Angeles to tape a segment for the television series Extra. And even though I have never really been a big fan of the pop singer, because I absolutely LOVED LOVED LOVED me the movie Burlesque, I was simply dying to attend. I am so obsessed with Burlesque, in fact, that a couple of months ago I cut my hair to resemble the wig that Christina wore during the “But I Am a Good Girl” number, which you can watch by clicking above. “The dress is Chanel, the shoes YSL, the bag is Dior, Agent Provocateur.“ Sigh! I LOVE that song! And that hair!

Pinky Lovejoy, from the Thinking Pink blog, had long before informed me that the Extra stage at The Grove was one of the worst venues in L.A. for celebrity photographs, so I knew that my chances of getting one with Christina were slim to none. As I mentioned in Tuesday’s post, though, I am an eternal optimist, so when the Grim Cheaper and I headed out towards the shopping center that Friday afternoon, I was armed with some pretty high hopes.

As you can see in the above photograph, the area surrounding the Extra stage was absolutely JAM PACKED with people when the GC and I arrived on the scene. Because a large portion of The Grove’s courtyard had been partitioned off for the taping, though, I did manage to secure a spot right along the fan barricade and still had pretty high hopes that I might be able to get a picture with the singer.

Christina’s team from The Voice (singers Beverly McClellan, Frenchie Davis, Lily Elise, and Raquel Castro) arrived a couple of minutes before the segment was set to begin and promptly hit the red carpet to film some media interviews.

Mario Lopez arrived next and while I had presumed that he would most certainly pose for photographs, that was sadly not the case. He walked right by the crowd, both on his way in and on his way out, without so much as signing an autograph. Such a bummer!

Just a few seconds later, a huge limo drove right into The Grove’s central courtyard and stopped in front of the fan barricades. Needless to say, the crowd went absolutely wild at this point.

Because Christina is so darn tiny, the limo blocked her almost completely from view as she stepped from the car. But the GC did manage to get a few pics of her by holding his camera above his head.

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As soon as Christina walked onto the stage, all of the fans in attendance moved over to that part of the courtyard to get a better view of the taping. And while the GC and I tried to find a spot in that area, it was just far too crowded for my taste. As you can see, it was so chaotic that the GC could hardly get any photographs of the stage even though he has a high-tech, long-lensed camera.

So I dragged him right on back over towards the rear of the stage where we once again were lucky enough to snag a spot against the barricade.

While Christina spoke with Mario onstage, her Voice team walked over to where the limo was parked and started signing autographs and taking pictures with the fans. We were standing just a bit too far away from them, though, so I was not able to get them to pose with me.

Mario invited The Voice contestants to take to the stage a few minutes later to sing a cappella for the crowd and, oh my lord, were they INCREDIBLE!!!!!!

After the four contestants sang, the segment ended and Christina came walking down the red carpet towards her limo.

And while she sadly did not stop to sign any autographs or take any pictures, she did reach out to touch some of the fans on my side of the barricade (that’s my hand in the above photograph) . . .

. . . and the GC somehow managed to magically snap some pics of Christina grabbing my hand! NICE camera work, GC!!!!

Thankfully, The Voice contestants stuck around to meet some of the fans after Christina’s limo departed. Because I had watched Frenchie Davis on Season 2 of American Idol back in 2003, I really wanted a photograph with her. And I am very happy to report that Frenchie could NOT have been nicer and, even though her publicist was rushing her along and kept telling her that she did not have time to take pics with fans, Frenchie said, “I’m staying until everyone who wants a picture gets one. I’m nothing without my fans!” Love it!

After Christina left, the GC and I headed over to the Whisper Lounge, Michael Buble’s favorite restaurant which I blogged about back in November of last year, to grab a bite to eat. And let me tell you, I just about died when I spotted both Tajari P. Henson and Teri Seymour dining (separately) at tables near the bar. When I saw Teri get up to leave the Lounge, I followed her outside and asked her for a picture and she happily obliged. But the GC was in charge of watching for Tajari to leave and, of course, was not paying attention when she actually did, so I did not get to ask her for a photo. 🙁 Men!!!! Being that he had managed to snap that awesome picture of Christina and me touching hands, though, I could not get too mad at him about it. 😉

Big THANK YOU to Mikey, from the Mike the Fanboy website, for telling me about this event.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: The Grove shopping center is located at 189 The Grove Drive in Los Angeles. Extra films on the premises on a daily basis. You can check out their filming schedule and list of their upcoming celebrity guests here. The Whisper Lounge is located inside of The Grove, in Suite F-90B. You can visit the Whisper Lounge’s official website here.

December 21, 2010December 21, 2010

The Michael Buble “Crazy Love” Concert – A Second Time!

Last Monday night, my mom, my dad, the Grim Cheaper, and I all headed to Staples Center in Downtown Los Angeles to attend the final show of Michael Buble’s “Crazy Love” Tour. And, as you can imagine, I could NOT have been more excited! When I attended the cutie crooner’s concert back in April of this year, the experience was extremely bittersweet for me as my dad, who – if it is at all possible – loves Michael even more than I do, was too sick to attend. Thanks to a hook-up from fellow stalker David, we had absolutely AMAZING seats and although I enjoyed myself immensely while there, I couldn’t help but be distracted by the fact that my dad was not sitting next to me, as he would absolutely died over our proximity to the stage. So, when I found out a couple of weeks ago that MB would be returning to Los Angeles to finish up his tour, I just about had a heart attack and informed the GC that, come hell or high water, we would ALL be attending – my mom, my dad, the GC, and I. You see, after three years of living with pancreatitis – to the point that he was giving himself numerous daily injections of Dilaudid pain medication at home – after over 15 surgeries and one very unsuccessful trip to the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota, and after literally almost missing my wedding due to pain, my dad is finally, FINALLY healthy again! As it turns out, one of his cholesterol medications was causing the pancreatitis, which we only discovered thanks to an extremely astute emergency room doctor at Huntington Hospital in Pasadena, whom we happened to meet by chance after my dad’s pancreatic specialist told my mom, while en route to a West L.A. hospital in the midst of one of my dad’s attacks, that there was “nothing more he could do for him” (not kidding!). My mom immediately turned the car around and drove to Huntington, their local hospital, and the rest is history! My dad is now on his 45th day (and counting) of (relatively) no pain! Halleluiah! The bad news is that, for better or worse, he will forever have pancreatitus and will, therefore, always be subject to pain, but at least now it’s a manageable pain and he can once again live a normal life. So, to celebrate my dad’s newfound good health and his 64th birthday, which was on the 16th of December, the GC and I purchased four tickets to the MB “Crazy Love” show. Because I love surprises, we waited until the day before the concert to tell my dad of our plans and he started bawling upon opening the box and seeing the tickets. Smile One of the best moments of my life, right there.

Thanks to another hook-up from fellow stalker David, I was again able to secure FABULOUS seats to the show – in fact they were the EXACT same seats that we sat in during the previous MB concert! My dad almost died when he saw how close we were to the stage! Thank you, David!

The arena was literally JAM-PACKED with people, so the fact that we were able to get tickets at all, let alone such great ones, was absolutely incredible!

MB’s opening act was, again, Naturally 7 , an acoustic group that specializes in what they call “vocal play” – i.e. they perform without the assistance of instruments, but instead use their voices and bodies to simulate various musical instruments and sounds. And I have to say that they were absolutely A-MA-ZING! If I hadn’t been there, witnessing the whole thing with my own eyes, I would have been CONVINCED that they had instruments onstage with them!

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After Naturally 7 performed for about an hour, the lights went down and it was time for Mr. Buble to come out. He opened up the show with a rousing rendition of “Cry Me A River” and, let me tell you, the crowd went absolutely wild! But no one more so than me and my dad! My dad’s mouth literally hung open – and I am fairly certain that he also teared up a bit – upon seeing Michael step out onto that stage and realizing how very close to him we were. Smile

I can easily say that Monday night’s concert was JUST as fabulous as the one we saw in April, if not more so! Before seeing the show, I was a little worried that it would simply be a carbon copy of the previous concert and that all of Michael’s jokes were, in actuality, scripted and were not as off-the-cuff as they had seemed. But I am VERY happy to report that that was not the case AT ALL! Even though the song list was, for the most part, identical to April’s show, it truly felt as if we were attending a completely different concert, mostly due to the fact that all of Michael’s jokes and monologues were new and spontaneous. He truly plays off and engages the crowd and all of the hilarious stories we heard this time around were different than the ones he told at the previous show. LOVE IT!

And, as I mentioned last time, Buble is FUNNY! Like ABSOLUTELY HILARIOUS! His show is equal parts concert/stand-up comedy act. At one point he introduced his pianist Alan Chang, who has been with him since 2003, by saying, “He is my friend, my pianist, my writing partner, my musical director, and . . . my part-time lover,” and then he broke out into a spontaneous rendition of Stevie Wonder’s 1985 hit “Part-Time Lover”. LOL LOL LOL Michael is also a fabulous impersonator and can speak in just about any accent imaginable, which he did throughout the night. He also did a fabulous impersonation of Elin Nordegren for us, during which he danced across the stage, pretending to wear clogs, while reprimanding Tiger Woods for his lascivious ways. Afterwards he said, “I’m sure she doesn’t really sound like that, but in my head she does.” Winking smile

It is also readily apparent not only how much the guy loves being onstage, but how much he enjoys interacting with his fans. One lady in the front row had a sign stating, “Michael, I’ve been with you for FORTY shows!” Well, Michael took one look at that sign, said “I have GOT to give you a hug!”, immediately jumped down to the floor, and embraced the woman. As you can imagine, I just about died over that one! I mean, is that all it takes to get a hug from Michael Buble? Oh GC, you know what that means! Next year we are going to at least forty of his shows! Winking smile

The most unique aspect of an MB concert, though, is that while there you feel as if you are hanging out with the singer in his living room. Even though there are 14,000 people surrounding you, due to his easy-going and sincere nature, Michael somehow manages to make the whole thing seem intimate and personal.

And his show is FUN! Michael is a barrel of energy and spends the entire two hours sliding across the stage, spinning around, and bouncing up and down. His jubilance is absolutely contagious and he has somehow even managed to make a fan out of the GC, who, prior to April’s concert, could just take or leave the guy.

As was the case last time, Michael was accompanied onstage by nothing more than a microphone, a stool, and his amazing band. There were no histrionics, no big dance numbers, no special effects. It was just a man and his voice and, let me tell you, he ABSOLUTELY BROUGHT DOWN THE HOUSE! He had that audience on its feet for the entire second act of the show! Even my mom and dad were standing and dancing for the last hour! So incredibly cool!

Also, much the same as last time, my favorite segment of the show definitely had to be the big Michael Jackson Tribute/”Twist & Shout” number. Michael introduced the segment by saying he was going to sing a song from the movie that won the 1986 Academy Award for Best Picture – Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. Then he said, “No, I’m just kidding – Ferris Bueller did not actually win the Oscar that year, but it TOTALLY should have!” LOVE IT! LOVE IT! LOVE IT!

At one point during the concert, Michael actually walks through the audience over to the “B-Stage”, which is located on the other side of the venue. While there he sang an absolutely beautiful acoustic version of his hit song “Home” accompanied only by his guitar player. I don’t remember him singing the song in that manner during the April show and it turned out to be one of my favorite performances of the entire evening. Sigh!

Michael ended the show with his new song “Hollywood” while accompanied by Naturally 7 and it was FABULOUS. I absolutely LOVE that song!

He, of course, came back out after “Hollywood” to sing an encore, during which a cloud of confetti burst from the sky setting the stage for “Let It Snow”. Because the Christmas tune is one of my dad’s very favorite Buble songs, we could NOT have been more excited to hear it.

As always, Michael finished his encore with the Leon Russell-penned “Song For You”, which he says he hopes to end every show with for the rest of his life.

All in all, it was an ABSOLUTELY amazing night and the BEST possible present we could have ever given my dad in honor of his newfound good health! Amazingly enough, my mom actually saw the Beatles perform live in concert when she was a teenager and she said that the Michael Buble show was far more exceptional. Talk about a compliment!

A BIG, HUGE THANK YOU to fellow stalker David from both me and my dad for hooking us up with these amazing tickets! You rock, my friend! Smile

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: Sadly, you can’t – last Monday night’s show was the last of Michael Buble’s “Crazy Love” Tour. But you can find out information about the singer’s upcoming appearances on his official website here. And you can follow Tory Class, MB’s Tour Marketing Manager, on Twitter at @ToryonTour here.

November 23, 2010November 23, 2010

The Whisper Lounge – One of Michael Buble’s Favorite L.A. Restaurants

Last week, Michael Buble’s tour marketing manager, Tory Class, who I follow on Twitter (@ToryonTour), sent out a link to a recent interview the cutie crooner had done with The Hollywood Reporter during which he named his five favorite places to hang out in Los Angeles. I, of course, watched the video immediately and just about died when he mentioned the Whisper Restaurant and Lounge at The Grove as one of his favorite area restaurants, being that the Grim Cheaper and I had just dined there a few months prior. I, unfortunately, did not take any photographs of the place at that time, though, so I promptly added the eatery to my ever-growing “To Stalk” list and informed the GC that we would be dining there that very weekend. And we, indeed, did, this past Saturday night. Ironically enough, Michael actually mistakenly referred to the place as the “Viper Lounge” in his interview, but being that there is no such restaurant at The Grove and being that there is only one spot there that has the word “lounge” in its name, I was able to figure out which establishment he was talking about.

The Whisper Restaurant and Lounge, which first opened in January of 2004, is owned and operated by billionaire real estate developer Rick Caruso (no relation to actor David Caruso), the man who was the brains behind both The Grove shopping center and the more recent Americana at Brand in Glendale. The eatery was modeled after the private supper clubs that thrived during the heyday of Hollywood and was designed to resemble a 1940’s speakeasy (hence the “whisper” in the name), with dim lighting, dark wood-paneled walls, large leather booths, an indoor/outdoor canopied patio, and Rat Pack music on the stereo. It’s a very quiet, intimate spot and both the GC and I fell in love with the place immediately. Being that it is on the pricier side, though, I almost fell right off my bar stool when the GC announced that he couldn’t wait to bring my parents back there as he knew that they would also love it and suggested that we do so this upcoming weekend!

In The Hollywood Reporter interview, Michael mentioned that the restaurant serves “the best flat crust pizza ever” and I have to say that I wholeheartedly agree with that sentiment. The GC and I opted for the Wild Mushroom and Truffle version and it was nothing short of A-MA-ZING! The couple dining next to us ordered the Pizza Margherita with prosciutto added to it and, holy schmoley, did it look good. I am going to have to sample that myself on my next visit there. The Grilled Baby Broccoli with Garlic Butter side dish that I ordered was also spectacular – easily the BEST broccoli I have ever eaten in my entire life. I was seriously tempted to lick my plate clean. Winking smile

The service was also impeccable and lacked any sort of the typical L.A. snootiness that is usually found in upscale Hollywood-area restaurants. The bartender was INCREDIBLY nice and, because she had only worked at the Lounge for two months, was not sure if Michael Buble had ever frequented the place, so she sought out a few of the more veteran servers to find out for me, and, sure enough, they confirmed that the singer is a regular patron. So incredibly cool! While we were dining, we also had the pleasure of meeting the Assistant General Manager, a SUPER nice man named Eric Todd, who was very excited to hear that Michael had mentioned the eatery in a recent interview and did not think I was at all weird for stalking the place because of it.

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Apparently, Michael Buble is not the restaurant’s only famous fan. In fact, the place seems to be a veritable celebrity haven. Just a few of the stars who have been spotted there recently include Halle Berry, Kim Kardashian, Kris Kardashian, Bruce Jenner, Spencer Pratt, Heidi Montag, Keanu Reeves, Cameron Diaz, Jennifer Lopez, Leah Rimini, Lauren Conrad, Jessica Simpson, Lara Flynn Boyle, Vivica A. Fox, Nick Lachey, David Spade, Sam Worthington, former Bachelor- contestant Jerry Ferris, and Antonio Sabato, Jr. And while we, unfortunately, did not spot any celebs while dining at the restaurant, we did see actress and former Real World-er Jacinda Barrett and her husband, actor Gabriel Macht, and comic book legend Stan Lee, who was doing a signing at Barnes & Noble, while walking around The Grove earlier in the day.

Michael Buble’s Five Favorite Places in L.A.

You can watch Michael Buble’s Hollywood Reporter interview by clicking above. And for those who are not able to watch, his five favorite Hollywood haunts are as follows: 1. Koi Restaurant, 2. The Chateau Marmont hotel, 3. His house in West Hollywood, 4. The Grove and the Whisper Lounge, and 5. Disneyland! Because I am an absolute Disney freak, I was incredibly excited to hear that last one. Of the park, Michael says, “When I walk in there now and I go through the gates, I’m seven years old. I go right back. I just, I can’t get enough of it.” Love it! And congratulations are also in order here as MB won his very first American Music Award this past Sunday night for Favorite Adult Contemporary Artist! Whoo-hoo!

Justin Bieber’s AMA Speech

On an AMA side note – I just have to say that I absolutely LOVED Justin Bieber’s speech after winning Favorite Pop/Rock Male Artist, in which he acknowledged the King of Pop, saying, “I want to thank Michael Jackson because without Michael Jackson, none of us would be here.” Love it! Then when he called Usher up on stage after winning the Artist of the Year award, I literally got tears in my eyes! (You can watch his Artist of the Year award speech by clicking above). What can I say? I love me some Biebs!

New Kids on the Block and Back Street Boys 2010 AMA’s Performance

I also absolutely LOVED LOVED LOVED the NKOTB/BSB performance! It was – dare I say it – the best performance of the night and, because I’ve had New Kids on the Blocks songs on my iPod for as long as I can remember, so think I am going to have to get myself some tickets for that tour!

On another side note – While doing some stalking in Hollywood this past Saturday morning, the Grim Cheaper and I spotted the above-pictured Tom Cruise look alike in the forecourt of Grauman’s Chinese Theatre and I just about died from excitement! The guy looked SO much like the movie star that it was absolutely UNCANNY. The GC and I both did a double take and for a few brief moments I actually believed he was the real Tom Cruise doing some sort of a press appearance at the legendary Hollywood theatre.

The guy was being absolutely MOBBED by people wanting to take a photograph with him and I have to admit that in the ten-plus years that I have lived in Los Angeles, never once have I paid – or been tempted to pay – to have my picture taken with the faux celebrities or superheroes who make their living on the Boulevard, but I HAD HAD HAD to get my picture taken with Tom. Smile There was absolutely NO way I was going to let that opportunity pass me by.

Until next time, Happy Stalking!

Stalk It: The Whisper Lounge is located inside of The Grove shopping center, near where Farmers Market Place meets Gilmore Lane, across the street from the Wonderland Bakery, in Los Angeles. The restaurant’s exact location is marked with a pink arrow in the above aerial view. You can visit the restaurant’s official website here, its Facebook page here, and you can follow the Lounge on Twitter here. The Whisper Lounge is currently hosting a “Blues Beats, Exquisite Eats” event each Sunday night, with live jazz music and a five-course tasting menu. You can find out more information about “Blues Beats, Exquisite Eats” here.

October 13, 2010October 12, 2010

Eagle Rock Plaza from “Glee” and Michael Buble’s “Crazy Love” Photoshoot

This past Monday morning, Mike, from MovieShotsLA, called me up to ask if I wanted to do some stalking with him in the San Gabriel Valley. As it turns out, Monday was a holiday – although I hadn’t realized it beforehand – and Mike had the day off from work. So, after first loading up on some Starbucks coffee (but of course) the two of us headed right on over to Eagle Rock, where the first item on our stalking agenda – Eagle Rock Plaza mall – was located. I had been dying to stalk the mall ever since May 18th of this year when it appeared in the Season 1 episode of Glee titled “Dream On”, in the scene in which Artie Adams (aka Kevin McHale) starts a flash mob in the middle of a supposed Ohio-area shopping center. My good friend and fellow stalker Kerry’s daughter, Jen – who is a total Gleek – had challenged me to find this location the day after the episode aired and, amazingly enough, it wasn’t too hard to track down at all. I just simply used Google Images to search through interior photographs of Los Angeles-area malls and fairly quickly came upon one of Eagle Rock Plaza, which I recognized immediately. And even though I live only a few miles outside of Eagle Rock, for whatever reason it has taken me this long to get out there to stalk the place. Oh well, better late than never, right? [And yes, I am pretending to dance like Artie in the above picture. ;)]

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In the “Dream On” episode of Glee, Artie visits a local mall with his girlfriend Tina Cohen-Chang (aka Jenna Ushkowitz), and while she is in line buying a hot pretzel, he daydreams about being able to get up out of his wheelchair and dance. He ends up starting a huge flash mob to the 80’s song “Safety Dance” by Men Without Hats.

As it turns out, Eagle Rock Plaza is a very tiny mall and it wasn’t hard at all to track down the exact spot where filming had taken place. Artie’s flash mob scene was shot in the very center of the property, right in between the mall’s two main escalators and directly in front of the Seafood City Supermarket.

You can watch the “Safety Dance” number by clicking above.

While we were there, Mike and I stopped by the Eagle Rock Plaza’s management office to ask about the filming that has taken place there over the years and the woman on duty literally could NOT have been nicer! She spent quite a bit of time chatting with us and filling us in on some of the productions that have been shot on the premises, including the Season 4 episode of The Closer titled “Time Bomb”, in which Brenda Leigh Johnson (aka Kyra Sedgwick) and her fellow members of the L.A.P.D.’s Major Crimes Division investigate a bomb threat at a local mall.

Ironically enough, only the interior of Eagle Rock Plaza appeared in that episode. All of the exterior scenes were filmed at Los Angeles City College, in front of the campus’ Communications Center, which does actually look quite a bit like a mall.

Eagle Rock Plaza was also featured in Avril Lavigne’s music video for the 2002 hit song “Complicated” . . .

. . . which you can watch by clicking above.

One production that shot on location at Eagle Rock Plaza that the management didn’t know about, but that I recognized immediately was Michael Buble’s 2009 behind-the-scenes DVD titled “The Making of Crazy Love”. In the documentary, Michael is shown posing for a photo shoot outside of a Macy’s department store during which he is made to run back and forth through a large parking lot. Michael is a total goofball and EXTREMELY funny during the shoot, announcing to one passerby who drives by, “Welcome to Macy’s!” LOL I can only imagine if I had arrived at the mall on a random day to do some shopping only to find MICHAEL BUBLE standing at the entrance welcoming me! I probably would have had a heart attack right on the spot. But I digress. Anyway, for whatever reason (most likely because MB was so darn funny in the spot – at one point he says, “The next shot is of me shopping at Macy’s . . . finding discounts . . . there is a pillow set that is to die for!” LOL LOL LOL), I have been literally hell-bent on stalking that parking lot ever since watching the DVD late last year. Trouble was, I couldn’t seem to find the darn place anywhere.

Until this past Monday that is, when Mike just happened to drive through the part of the Plaza’s parking lot that is located directly behind Macy’s and I recognized it immediately. YAY! Thank you, Mike!

And I, of course, just had to imitate MB running while I was there. 🙂

You can watch Michael’s absolutely hilarious photo shoot in the Macy’s parking lot by clicking above.

Big THANK YOU to Jen for challenging me to find this location and to Mike, from MovieShotsLA, for taking me there! 🙂

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: Eagle Rock Plaza is located at 2700 Colorado Boulevard in Eagle Rock. You can visit the mall’s official website here. Michael Buble posed for his running photographs in the southwestern portion of the Plaza’s parking lot, directly behind Macy’s department store, in the area depicted with the pink circle in the above aerial view. The “Dream On” episode of Glee was filmed in the center-most point of the mall, in between the property’s two main escalators and directly in front of the Seafood City Supermarket.

October 1, 2010October 1, 2010

The “Valentine’s Day” Floral Shop

This past weekend I dragged my new husband out to stalk the Burbank storefront that stood in for Siena Bouquet & Cafe – the flower shop/coffee bar belonging to Reed Bennett (aka Ashton Kutcher) in the 2010 romantic comedy Valentine’s Day. And even though I didn’t particularly like Valentine’s Day all that much – in my eyes it came off as a very poorly executed Love Actually clone – I did absolutely fall in love with Reed’s floral/coffee shop in the movie, mostly due to the fact that I am an absolute coffee fiend, as anyone who knows me even slightly well can attest to. I mean, what a FABULOUS idea for a store – a florist with a built-in espresso bar! I am of the opinion that there should be a built-in espresso bar in ALL kinds of stores – book shops, hair salons, nail salons, etc. etc. etc. When I was in college, the local laundromat not only had an espresso bar, but a tanning booth AND an arcade! Genius! Needless to say it was the most popular laundromat in the entire area. Half the time I would visit the place just to grab a latte, even if I didn’t have clothes to wash. Not kidding! 😉 But I digress. The other reason I loved Reed’s store so much was because of its colorful and funky decor, which was vaguely reminiscent of the Central Perk set on fave show Friends. So, when Mike, from MovieShotsLA, told me that a friend of his had actually watched some of the flower shop scenes being filmed, I just about died as I had assumed that the interior of the store had just been a set. I immediately added the address of the place to the top of my To-Stalk list and finally made it out there to see it in person this past weekend.

At the time of the filming, the flower shop space was actually vacant, which gave the Valentine’s Day producers the ability to completely take over the premises and extensively dress it in the exact way that they wanted. Since that time, the space has been taken over by an extremely cool vintage clothing store named Playclothes, but I am very happy to report that the exterior still looks much the same in person as it did in the flick.

The interior, however, is another story.

While the flooring, intricately designed ceilings, and wooden double front door have remained the same, the store is unfortunately not very recognizable from the movie. And in real life, there is, of course, no on-site espresso bar. 🙁 The good news, though, is that Playclothes honestly has to be one of the coolest stores I’ve ever had the pleasure of shopping at. I’m not at all into vintage clothing, mind you, but I am into costumes and I have to say that Playclothes had some of the best and most authentic on display that I’ve ever seen in my entire life! The staff there was also incredibly nice and spent a LOT of time answering all of my silly little questions about the filming of Valentine’s Day.

Walking around the vintage clothing shop made me realize that the time to choose this year’s Halloween costume has long since arrived. Unfortunately though, I am currently at a loss. Ideas anyone? The Grim Cheaper and I are always either a famous movie couple or a famous real life celebrity couple and this year I was thinking of dressing up as Sue Sylvester and Mr. Schuester from Glee, but the GC ixnayed that idea real fast! So, I am currently open to ideas. But please don’t suggest anyone from Avatar as I am so not interested in covering myself with blue paint. 😉

The rear entrance to Playclothes, which can be reached off of North Fairview Street, was also used in Valentine’s Day.

On a side note – My main man Michael Buble just released the music video for his new song “Hollywood”, in which he does a SPOT ON imitation of Justin Beiber. I actually thought it was the Biebs in the video when I first watched it. HILARIOUS! Anyway, the video was shot in its entirety on a movie lot and I spent quite a bit of yesterday trying to figure out which lot. After wasting more than a few hours searching, I asked Mike, from MovieShotsLA, if he knew where the video was filmed and, sure enough, he did. Turns out it’s Universal! The video shows off quite a bit of the newly rebuilt New York Street, which I have yet to see , so you all know what that means – I’ll be draggin the Grim Cheaper out to stalk it very soon! 🙂

Big THANK YOU to Mike, from MovieShotsLA, for finding this location! 🙂

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: Playclothes vintage clothing store, aka the floral shop from Valentine’s Day, is located at 3100 West Magnolia Boulevard in Burbank. The back of the store is accessible from North Fairview Street. You can visit the Playclothes website here.

June 29, 2010June 28, 2010

Michael J. Fox’s Childhood Home

My good friend – and fellow stalker – Owen is an absolutely huge and longtime fan of actor Michael J. Fox. In fact, I think it’s safe to say that MJF is Owen’s Jennifer Aniston. So, when I found out that the Canadian-born actor grew up in Burnaby, British Columbia, the very same Vancouver suburb where my man Michael Buble also spent his formative years, I just about died and decided I had to try to track down his childhood home before my trip up to the Pacific Northwest. I immediately emailed Owen and asked him to skim through Michael J. Fox’s autobiography, Lucky Man: A Memoir, which I knew he had a copy of, to see if the actor gave any clues as to where his former abode was located. And, sure enough, he did! I should mention here that celebrity autobiographies and biographies are FABULOUS stalking tools as they almost always dole out the addresses of otherwise unknown stalking locations, but I digress. Anyway, Owen got right down to scanning through the book, which was first published in 2002, and quickly sent me back an email. As it turns out, while MJF didn’t actually disclose the exact location of his childhood abode, he did write a detailed enough description of it that Owen was able to track it down. YAY! Thank you, Owen!

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In his autobiography, Michael J. Fox mentions that during the 1970’s he lived on the second floor of a three-story walk-up building named the Middlegate Apartments, which were located across the street from a “sprawling strip mall with an enormous parking lot perfect for endless hours of street hockey”. And while Googling the terms “Middlegate Apartments” got him nowhere, thanks to this Google Maps posting Owen was able to track down the location of the now-defunct strip mall with the large parking lot where MJF used to play. That strip mall was known as the Middlegate Shopping Centre and it was demolished in 2004 in order to make room for a new, more upscale complex named Highgate Mall. Once Owen had tracked down the former Middlegate Center’s address, it was simply a matter of using aerial maps to see if there was a three-story apartment building located across the street from it. And, sure enough, there was!

As a matter of fact, there were two! And while Owen and I were unable to discern which one of the the two very similar-looking, U-shaped buildings MJF used to call home, after visiting the place in person last month, I can say with 99.9% certainty that it was the one denoted with the blue arrow in the above aerial view.

Michael first moved into the Middlegate Apartments in 1971, at the tender age of ten, following his father’s retirement from the Canadian Army Signal Corps. According to the book, MJF spent quite a bit of time in the building’s “large, if indifferently maintained, outdoor swimming pool”, which, as you can see in the above photograph, has since been filled in with cement. It is because of that now-filled-in pool that I believe Michael lived in the eastern-most of the two buildings. While looking at the location using aerial maps, I had assumed that the two neighboring buildings were part of the same apartment complex, but after seeing the place in person, I now believe that they are actually two separate properties. And since the western-most building does not have a pool, nor does it look like it ever did, I am fairly certain that Michael J. Fox lived in the building located on the east. According to the book, Michael lived at the Middlegate Apartments until 1979 – the year he migrated south to Los Angeles in order to pursue a career in acting. And thank goodness he did, too, because just three short years later he was cast as one of the most iconic characters in television history – Alex P. Keaton on Family Ties.

Sadly, I can’t really recommend stalking MJF’s former building, as it is a fairly depressing place, although I don’t believe it was that way forty years ago when Michael lived there. Today, the building is extremely run-down and has a very bleak air about it. As you can see in the above photograph, even the word “middle” is misspelled on the awing above the front door. I don’t even know what to make of that!!! (At least I think it’s misspelled, being that I’ve never heard of the word “midle”.) And while my original plan was to knock on the manager’s door to see if he or she might know the exact unit where MJF used to live, the place gave off such an unfriendly vibe (I could even hear some tenants yelling at each other through one of the apartment windows) that I decided to abort my mission. Such a bummer, too, as I had so wanted to track down and snap a picture of MJF’s former front door for Owen. 🙁 Note to any celebrities who are currently penning an autobiography – please take a page out of Carol Burnett’s book (pardon the pun) and publish the exact location of your childhood home – including any apartment numbers, if need be! Hmph! Do I honestly have to think of everything? 😉

Big THANK YOU to Owen for finding this location! 🙂

Stalk It: The Middle Gate Apartments, where Michael J. Fox grew up, are located at 6961 Collier Street in Burnaby, British Columbia.