Tag: movies

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“De Plane, De Plane!”

This weekend my boyfriend and I hung out with Mike, from MovieShotsLA, and his fiance Jen, and we all sat down to watch some Season 3 episodes of the original 90210. I became a bit obsessed with finding the location that stood in for the Paris garden where Brenda takes “Reek” in the episode entitled “Shooting Star/An American In Paris”. I knew, from the Universal Studios tour, that most of the Paris scenes on 90210 were filmed in the Little Europe section of the Universal backlot, but the garden area used in the episode we watched on Saturday was definitely not a backlot. Mike and I figured out that the scenes had to have been shot in one of three places – the Los Angeles County Arboretum in Arcadia, the Huntington Library and Botanical Gardens in Pasadena, or Descanso Gardens in La Canada. I decided if I really wanted to find Brenda’s garden, I was just going to have to hit up all three (I told you I was a bit obsessed!), so yesterday I dragged my boyfriend out to the Arboretum for a little 90210 stalking. Unfortunately, after walking pretty much every square foot of the 127 acre property, I realized that 90210 was not in fact filmed at the Arboretum. But since countless other productions have been filmed there, I still felt it was blog-worthy. 🙂

The Arboretum was originally the private ranch of real estate tycoon Elias Jackson Baldwin, who first purchased the land in 1875. He lived on the property, which at the time was called Rancho Santa Anita, and eventually built a guest home, called the Queen Anne Cottage, to house his many guests. In 1936, the land was purchased by a group of investors led by Harry Chandler, publisher of the LA Times newspaper. That same year Hollywood came a knockin’ on the Arboretum’s door when producers of the film Tarzan Escapes chose to film much of their movie on the vast property. In 1947, the property was purchased by both the State of California and the City of Los Angeles, who turned it into a public arboretum and botanical garden.

Since Tarzan Escapes, literally hundreds upon hundreds of film, television and commercial productions have shot at the Arboretum. The most notable credit on the Arboretum’s resume is the television series Fantasy Island, which showcased Elias Baldwin’s former guest house, the Queen Anne Cottage, each week in its opening credits. The Cottage was none other than the location where Tatoo proclaimed “De plane, de plane!” at the beginning of each episode. The first few episodes of Fantasy Island were actually filmed on location at the Arboretum, but after that a replica of the cottage was built on a soundstage to be used for filming. You can watch the intro to Fantasy Island below

The Queen Anne Cottage was also featured in Meet the Fockers as Ben Stiller’s parents’ home. In Meet the Fockers the Cottage was painted brown and looks very different than it does in real life.

Besides Fantasy Island, the Arboretum shows up in The African Queen, The Road to Singapore, Roots, Wonder Woman, The American President, Anaconda, Bedazzled, Battle of Shaker Heights, Terminator 2, as well as a recent episode of Heroes, where it stood in for the Peruvian jungle. The waterfall and bamboo park area of the Arboretum were also featured in the Destiny’s Child Survivor video (pictured above).

The Arboretum is an absolutely beautiful place to visit, with a very reasonable $7 entrance fee. Even though I was seriously dissapointed that it was not the location used in 90210, I still had a great time spending my day there. The Arboretum features over 127 acres of gardens, ponds, lakes, waterfalls, meandering pathways and forests to explore. I highly recommend stalking it!

Perhaps the best feature of the Arboretum, though, are the hundreds of peacocks that make their home there and walk the property freely. The peacocks are extremely tame (I even saw them eating grapes right out of a little girl’s hand) and walk right next to you, as if exploring the Arboretum themselves. They were so much fun to see!!

Until next time, Happy Stalking!! 🙂

Stalk It: The Los Angeles State and County Arboretum and Botanical Garden is located at 301 N. Baldwin Avenue in Arcadia. The Arboretum is open from 9am to 5pm. Tickets will cost you $7 per person, but you can get in free each third Tuesday of the month.

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Stalking In Pink

Got a challenge the other day from Niki all the way over in Greece to stalk some of the locations from her favorite 80s flick Pretty In Pink. I have to admit that before I got the challenge I had never actually seen the movie, so this week I made a special trip to Blockbuster to rent it. After watching it I was in shock that I had somehow missed seeing this movie during the 80s – Pretty In Pink is pretty much right up my alley and I have no idea why I had never watched it before this week. Better late than never, though, right? Anyway, thanks to Mike over at MovieShotsLA, who located all of the Pretty In Pink locations long ago, I was able to stalk one of the houses from the movie yesterday.

In Pretty In Pink, Molly Ringwald plays Andie, a girl who is literally from the wrong side of the tracks. In the movie, Andie’s tiny home is located directly next to a set of train tracks supposedly in the Chicago area. In reality, her home can be found just outside of L.A., in South Pasadena, right next to the Metro Gold Line tracks. Andie’s train tracks looks much the same today as they did back during the filming of the movie. I was actually pretty surprised to discover that the majority of the filming of Pretty In Pink took place in Los Angeles, as John Hughes usually prefers to film on location in Chicago.

Anyway, I was absolutely amazed to discover that Andie’s house also looks EXACTLY the same today as it did back in 1985 when filming for Pretty In Pink took place. The only major difference I noticed is that there is now much more foliage located in front of the house than there was 23 years ago. Otherwise the home is exactly as it was portrayed onscreen. It is always amazing for me to stalk a location from a movie or television show that was filmed over two decades ago only to find that little to nothing has changed over the years. I’ve never been a big fan of change. : )

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: Andie’s house is located at 1010 Hope Street in South Pasadena. Literally directly around the corner from Andie’s house is Michael Meyer’s house from the original Halloween movie.

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Doc Brown’s House

Back to the Future has always been one of my very favorite movies, so when I found out that the interiors of Doc Brown’s house were filmed at a home in Pasadena, I had to run right out to stalk it. The exteriors of Doc’s house were also filmed at a home in Pasadena, a very famous Craftsman style home named the Gamble House. The Gamble House was built by the famous Greene & Greene architecture firm for the Gamble Family (of Proctor and Gamble). Formerly the Gamble family’s summer home, the Gamble House is now a museum which is open daily to the public. But I’ll save the history of the Gamble House for another post. Being that no filming is allowed to take place on the inside of the Gamble home, producers had to find a similar home to shoot the interiors of Doc’s house. The home they chose is called the Robert R. Blacker Home and it is considered by many to be the finest example of Craftsman architecture ever built by the Greene Brothers.

Built in 1907 for more than $100,000, the Blacker House was originally situated on over seven acres of land and included a seperate garage and a caretaker’s home. Originally built for Robert Rowe Blacker and his wife Nellie, sadly the home and its land was parceled off and sold after their death. While the caretaker’s house and the seven acres of land are now gone, the Blacker House still sits on a significant amount of property and it is absolutely breathtaking to view in person. Besides being featured in Back to the Future, the Blacker House also shows up in a deleted scene from the movie Armageddon, as the location where Bruce Willis says goodbye to his father before going off to save the world. I highly recommend stalking the Blacker House if you are at all a fan of Back to the Future or architecture in general. The house is absolutely striking in person and pictures simply do not do it justice.

On a side note, last summer, while vacationing in San Diego with my family, we stopped in at the Lodge at Torrey Pines for a bite to eat. I could not believe my eyes as we drove up to the resort as the exterior is the spitting image of the Blacker House. The concierge was shocked when I asked him if the hotel was modeled after the Blacker House – he said that no guest he’d ever talked to in the two years he’d been working at the hotel had ever even heard of the Blacker House. Apparently he didn’t realize he was talking to a stalker. 🙂 LOL The Lodge at Torrey Pines is a beautiful hotel and another breathtaking example of Craftsman architecture. Although no movies have been filmed there, I highly recommend stalking the hotel if you find yourself in the area.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: The Gamble House is located at 4 Westmoreland Place in Pasadena. The R. R. Blacker House is located at 1177 Hillcrest Avenue, at the corner of Hillcrest and Wentworth Ave., also in Pasadena. The Lodge at Torrey Pines can be found at 11480 North Torrey Pines Road in La Jolla.

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Stalking the WB!

This past Monday, Mike, from MovieShotsLA, and I took a little stalking field strip to both Warner Brothers Studios and the Paramount Lot. I’ll get to the Paramount tour tomorrow, but today it’s all about the WB. What can I say – the Warner Brothers tour was awesome! It is nothing at all like the Universal Studios back lot tour. The WB tour is far more intimate and personal. A maximum of twelve people is allowed in each tour group, which makes for a far more flexible, personalized tour. The WB tour also lacks the cheesiness that is pretty much ever-present over at Universal. Don’t get me wrong, I had a blast on my Universal birthday tour, but if I had to choose between the two, I’d much prefer stalking the WB. Anyway, Mike and I arrived bright and early at about 8:30AM and I must admit I was as giddy as a schoolgirl! 🙂 Before the tour began, we got to do some shopping in the WB gift shop. The gift shop sells some great souvenirs like t-shirts, key chains, mugs, and even lip gloss, from hit shows like Entourage, Gossip Girl, Gilmore Girls and, my personal fave, Friends.

There is also a lot of movie memorabilia to stalk inside the gift shop, such as Daniel Radcliffe’s costume from the original Harry Potter movie and Will Smith’s outfit from I Am Legend (pictured above).

There is even a Starbucks located right inside the gift shop, so I was in heaven!! Movie memorabilia AND a Starbucks?? What more could a girl ask for? 🙂

After getting our shopping on at the gift shop, we were instructed to move into a small movie theatre where we were shown a short movie about the many productions that have been filmed on the lot. The movie definitely got me pumped up and excited for the tour and I was literally on the edge of my seat ready for the tour to begin. After the 15 minute movie, our tour group boarded a small tram and headed for the famous WB back-lot.

The first movie site stalked on our tour was the location of one of the most well-known screen kisses in cinema history – the famous upsidedown kiss between Spiderman and Mary Jane that took place on a fire escape in the pouring rain. That fire escape is located on the WB’s back-lot in an area that is now called “Spiderman Alley”. 🙂 Apparently the scene was not very fun, or romantic, to film, as Tobey Maguire had to hang upside down for over eight hours, giving him a massive headache, not to mention all the water running up his nose from the fake rain. That kiss was later emulated by Seth and Summer in one of my favorite O.C. scenes ever!

Our next stop on the tour was the exterior set of ER ‘s Cooke County General Hospital. This set was very cool to see as I was a big fan of ER during its first few seasons.

While 95% of the sets for ERare located inside a soundstage, the exterior set includes the hospital’s ambulance entrance, a small portion of the waiting room,

The Jumbo Mart where the doctors eat,

the “L” tracks from the Chicago railway system,

and even George Clooney’s former basketball hoop left over from the days he starred on ER.

Next up our tour guide took us to a small stretch of grass that often doubles for Central Park in Warner Brothers movies and television shows. The patch of lawn is so small, I have no idea how it can possibly double for a park, but it does. The small park was featured on Friends as the place where Phoebe “runs weird” and also as the location of Rory’s “study tree” on the Gilmore Girls.

Next up was Lorelai’s house from Gilmore Girls which looks pretty much exactly as it did during the filming of the show.

In actuality, the entire town of Sleepy Hollow from Gilmore Girls is located on the WB lot, and it, too, looks pretty much exactly as it did during filming. This set is usually called Anytown, USA and has been used in countless productions, most prominently as Hazzard County in the Dukes of Hazzard television series.

Pictured above is Luke’s restaurant from Gilmore Girls,

and the Hazzard County Courthouse from Dukes of Hazzard.

I think I was most excited of all to see the house from one of my fave 80s sitcoms – Growing Pains (pictured above). I used to seriously love me some Kirk Cameron. 🙂 The house looks a bit different now, but it is still pretty recognizable as the Seaver Family home. As we drove up upon the house, our tour guide asked if anyone could still remember the words to the show’s theme song and I am proud to say, I still could. 🙂 You can watch the Growing Pains intro here. Cue theme song – “Show me that smile again, don’t waste another minute on your crying . . .” 🙂

The side of the Seaver house was also used as Lane’s house on Gilmore Girls. Apparently many houses on the WB lot have double, or even triple, fronts so that they can be used for multiple houses at a time.

We also got to see crew members setting up a scene for Ghost Whisperer on the WB’s Paris Street. Ghost Whisperer used to be filmed at Universal Studios, but due to the recent fire, production has since moved to Warner Brothers. Paris Street was also used in the filming of Casablanca, as the location of Rick and Ilsa’s Parisian tryst.

The building pictured above was featured as the location of Rick and Isla’s teary Paris goodbye. Ahhh, we’ll always have Paris! 🙂

Also included in the tour was a walk through of the set of Two and a Half Men– which was VERY cool as I watch that show all the time; an up-close and personal view of many cars used in major motion pictures – ie. the General Lee from the Dukes of Hazzard movie, the Batmobile, and Keanu’s car from the Matrix; a tour of the Warner Brothers Museum which displays numerous costumes and other movie memorabilia from such films as Harry Potter, Fools Gold, The Matrix, and The Dark Knight;and a walk through of the third biggest soundstage in the US which has been used in productions such as Ocean’s 13 and The Perfect Storm. We were not allowed to take any photographs while inside the soundstages or the museum which was a total bummer! 🙁

My favorite part of the tour, hands down, had to be when we got to see the original Central Perk set from Friends. SO COOL! After the final season of Friends, the entire Central Perk set was moved to an empty soundstage preserved for us fans to visit. 🙂 The set pieces are a little tweaked and aren’t set up exactly as they were during filming, but it still looks pretty much as it did on TV. SO COOL!

Mike and I had an absolute blast on the WB tour and I HIGHLY recommend stalking it!!!! No two tours are ever the same, and I am seriously considering doing it again soon. 🙂

BIG THANK YOU to Mike for taking all of the above pictures – would you believe my camera died at the very beginning of the WB tour cause this stalker forgot to charge it the night before. I am such a blond sometimes!!! LOL

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: Warner Brothers Studios is located at 3400 Riverside Drive in Burbank. Tours run every 30 minutes Monday through Friday from 8:20am to 4:00pm. Advance reservations are recommended. Tickets will cost you $45 per person – and I assure you, it is $45 well spent! You can learn more about the tour here.

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License to Stalk!

When I was about ten years old, my favorite movie in the world was License to Drive starring the two Coreys. I bought the movie on VHS and literally watched it every single Friday and Saturday night. I was absolutely obsessed with Mercedes Lane in the movie, a character played by Heather Graham. I wanted nothing more than to have her spectacular long, curly hair, her cute boyfriend Les Anderson, and, especially, her white VW Cabriolet convertible. Six years later, I was still obsessed with Mercedes and I actually did end up getting a white Cabriolet when I turned 16 and I could not have been happier! I didn’t have the long gorgeous hair or the cute boyfriend, but hey, you can’t win ’em all. 😉 Anyway, I’ve always wanted to stalk the houses used in the movie, especially Les Anderson’s (Corey Haim’s) house and for the past few weeks Mike, from MovieShotsLA, and I have made it our mission to find the filming locations from the 80s flick. So I almost fell over on Friday when I received a text message from Mike telling me that he had located Les’ house in the movie! YAY!

I must say that Mike is a true stalking genius and my hat is off to him, yet again! After a few weeks with no luck in locating the Anderson house, Mike noticed that an address for Les and his twin sister is shown quite clearly in the scene when they both receive their driver’s licenses. So Mike Googled the address, and while the one shown on the licenses doesn’t exist in real life, there is in fact a “Dalehurst Drive” in Los Angeles and sure enough, there was the Anderson home, just a few numbers off from the fake address. 🙂 I am starting to realize that, more often than not, producers will show the actual addresses of homes used in productions rather than making up fake ones. All the hours we spent looking for the Anderson house and there it was right under our noses the whole time! LOL

So this weekend, I dragged my boyfriend and my best friend out to do some License to Drive stalking. 🙂 Except for a few minor differences, the house looks pretty much exactly the same today as it did 20 years ago when the movie was filmed. Missing, though, are the front bushes Les drives his Grandfather’s Cadillac through when he sneaks out to go on his date with Mercedes. LOL

I also had to snap some pics of the distinct shaped house located across the street from the Anderson home, just to be sure I was stalking the right place. The neighbor’s house also looks pretty much the same, except for what looks like a small ad-on that must have been done after License to Drive was filmed.

I must say it was VERY COOL to be standing there in front of the Anderson house after countless times of seeing it immortalized on my television screen. I highly recommend stalking the home if you are at all a fan of License to Drive. If you have yet to see the movie, RENT IT! It is a definite 80s classic!! 🙂

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: Les Anderson’s house in the movie is located at 536 Dalehurst Avenue in Los Angeles, near the UCLA campus.

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Lindsay’s Big Adventure

The idea of watching a movie outdoors at night in an LA cemetery might at first seem a little odd to some. And I must admit, it did at first to me, too. But that’s exactly what I did this past Saturday night for a screening of Pee Wee’s Big Adventure at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery. My best friend Kylee, who attended the screening with me, said she just couldn’t wrap her head around celebrities and Pee Wee’s Big Adventure all coming together outdoors at a cemetery. I guess it’s just something you have to see to believe. My acting mentor, Diane Louise Salinger, who played Simone in the 1985 cult classic, invited me and my fellow classmates to the Pee Wee screening, which is shown annually at the legendary cemetery.

The cemetery screenings were started in 2001 by a company called Cinespia, which was founded by set designer and classic movie buff John Wyatt. Each Saturday night during the summer season, Wyatt screens old time movies at Hollywood Forever. The movies are projected onto the walls of the mausoleum where Rudolph Valentino is interred. Tickets are $10 per person, and I must say it is $10 well spent. The atmosphere is fabulous and I can’t think of a better way I could have spent a Saturday night with my best friend. Guests bring wine, beer and food and sit on blankets and beach chairs under (and above) the stars, eating, drinking and watching classic Hollywood movies.

Before arriving at the cemetery last night I really had no idea what to expect. While driving there we got stuck in some major traffic on Santa Monica Boulevard and we were joking that all of the traffic must be for the Pee Wee screening. Turns out it actually was!!!! I had no idea what a humongous following Pee Wee had! The line to enter the cemetery literally wrapped around the block. Because we were attending the screening with Diane, we got the total VIP treatment – VIP parking and the best seats in the house!!! Pictured above are my best friend Kylee and up and coming actor Justin Dray (look for him in an upcoming episode of ICarly) hanging out before the show.

While waiting for the movie to start, I got to meet and talk with Jay Boileau, owner of the Hollywood Forever Cemetery. In 1998 Jay and his partner, Tyler Cassity, of Forever Productions, purchased the cemetery after it had fallen into serious disrepair and bankruptcy. The California government had even stepped in to cease the further sales of cemetery plots. Jay and Tyler painstakingly refurbished the 62-acre property to its former grandeur and have made it what it is today. Countless celebrities are buried at Hollywood Forever Cemetery, including Marion Davies, Cecil B. DeMille, former Columbia Pictures president Harry Cohn, Tyrone Power, Mel Blanc, Lana Clarkson, Estelle Getty, Bugsy Siegel, Johnny Ramone, Rudolph Valentino, Douglas Fairbanks, Peter Lorre, and sisters Norma and Constance Talmadge, among many others. The cemetery has also been featured in countless television and movie productions, including Charmed, The Player, LA Story, Brothers & Sisters, Frasier, Nip/Tuck, Bonfire of the Vanities, Hot Shots!, The Prestige, The Young and the Dead, and Virtuosity.

The highlight of the night for me had to be when, thanks to Diane, I got to meet Pee Wee himself, Paul Ruebens!!!! 🙂 Paul could not have been kinder or more down to earth. I half expected him to be a bit off the wall, like his character, but in reality he was very calm and almost on the shy side. Couldn’t have been a nicer guy! Diane even got him to pose for a photo with me – the only photo he took all night – and I could not have been more excited! 🙂 Also in the photograph is my teacher, Diane, and Elizabeth Daily, who played Dottie in the film.

Before the show, Paul gave a brief introduction, during which he talked about the original premiere of Pee Wee’s Big Adventure back in ’85. I must say it was very cool watching the movie with all of the stars in attendance. Very cool!!! All in all, it was a great night and I highly recommend stalking the cemetery during future summer screenings!! While it may seem strange to be watching movies in a graveyard, after experiencing it for myself, I now actually want to be buried at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery – eternally resting in the heart of Hollywood while forever watching classic movies under and among the stars. 🙂

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: Hollywood Forever Cemetery is located at 6000 Santa Monica Boulevard in Hollywood. The Cinespia screenings are over for Summer 2008, but you can check this website in 2009 for next summer’s schedule. The cemetery is open daily from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. You can purchase a map of the stars’ graves at the flower shop near the cemetery’s main entrance.

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The Sunset Tower Hotel

One of my favorite places to visit in all of LA is the Sunset Tower Hotel, located on the legendary Sunset Strip in Hollywood. The Sunset Tower Hotel was built in 1931 by architect Leland A. Bryant for owner E.M. Fleming. The Art Deco building, which originally functioned as an upscale apartment house, was the very first earthquake proof property to be built in Los Angeles. While the hotel enjoyed some glory years during the hey dey of Hollywood, in the 1980s it fell into serious disrepair and was saved from demolition when it was purchased by London’s St. James Hotel chain. Peter de Savary, owner of the St. James chain, poured $46 million into restoring the Sunset Tower and renamed it the St. James Club. Since that time, the hotel has undergone several more renovations and name changes, until 2005 when it was purchased by New Yorker Jeff Klein, who restored the hotel to its original name and former grandeur.

During the hotel’s glory years numerous celebs called the Sunset Tower home, including Howard Hughes, Ava Gardner, Truman Capote, John Wayne, Jean Harlow, Clark Gable and Carole Lombard, Greta Garbo, Joan Crawford, Errol Flynn, Billie Burke aka Glinda the Good Witch, Mae West, Elizabeth Taylor, Conrad Hilton, gangster Bugsy Siegel – who was eventually evicted for running a gambling center out of his room, Frank Sinatra, Diana Ross, Tim Curry, my fave Marilyn Monroe, and Iggy Pop, who made a habit of jumping into the hotel pool from his apartment window. Today, the Tower is still popular with celebs. The hotel’s restaurant, the Tower Bar, is a favorite of Jen Aniston, who dines there regularly. Tom Cruise, Sean Penn, Posh Spice, Brian Grazer and Barbara Walters have also all been spotted at the Tower Bar grabbing a bite to eat. According to Wikipedia, during her pink-wig-wearing days, Britney Spears tried to book some rooms at the Tower. Hotel owner Jeff Klein reportedly said to the hotel manager “If that piece of trailer trash so much as enters my driveway, you are fired! She can’t come here with all my chic guests, she’ll ruin the place!” LOL Love it! It was during that same time period that the Bel Air Hotel also reportedly refused to rent rooms to BritBrit.

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The hotel’s poolside Terrace Bar, my fave place to grab a drink in all of LA, is also quite popular with the celebs. The first time I visited the Terrace, Kate Bosworth was there with her model boyfriend James Rousseau. I just had to go up to her, too, to tell her how much I loved Win A Date With Tad Hamilton. She ended up signing an autograph for me and seemed genuinely thrilled that I had such good things to say about Win A Date. Kate truly could not have been nicer and I can honestly say she was hands down the kindest out of all the celebs I have ever met. And her boyfriend was a total cutie, too!!!! 🙂 I took the above pic of her with my blackberry, but it didn’t come out very well. LOL

The legendary hotel has also been featured in countless television and movie productions, including The Player, Spinal Tap Goes to 20, Shadow Hours, Freaky Friday, Murder My Sweet, Get Shorty, Wayne’s World II , Strange Days, The Italian Job, and Rich Girls. In The O.C., the hotel stood in for Newport Beach’s Four Seasons Hotel which was owned by Ryan’s rival, Oliver, on the show. Only the exterior of the Tower Hotel was shown in The O.C. For the interior shots of the lobby and Oliver’s penthouse suite, a different hotel was used – one which I am still trying to locate.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: The Sunset Tower Hotel is located at 8358 Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood. I highly recommend stalking the Sunset Tower – the poolside Terrace Bar is a great place to grab a drink while enjoying one of the best views in all of LA.

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"I’d Like to Exchange an Egg . . . "

At the risk of this site becoming strictly a blog about 90210, I just had to do a post about another location from the iconic 90s television show. I finally got Season 2 of the series on DVD and this weekend I spent many hours glued to my television set watching it. And I must admit I got a little obsessed with finding the liquor store from the episode in which Emily Valentine (my least favorite character in 90210 history) convinces the gang to spend their Saturday night at an underground club. In the episode, entitled “U4EA”, Emily tells the gang that they will have to visit a liquor store and “exhange an egg” for directions to the oh-so-secret underground club.

While watching the episode I noticed the numbers “6202” and a sign reading “Pat’s” located above the liquor store doors. I had an inkling that the liquor shop might be located in Van Nuys, near the 90210 studios, so I got to Googling and sure enough, there it was, just a few blocks from where 90210 was produced. So this weekend, I of course dragged my boyfriend out to Pat’s Jr. Market to do some stalking. I was so happy to see that after all these years the liquor store looks almost EXACTLY the same as it did back in the 90210 days.

Even the interior is still completely recognizable from the “U4EA” episode. The poor clerk at the register had no idea what I was talking about when I told him that 90210 had filmed there 17 years ago and I’m pretty sure he thought I was a complete moron when I had my boyfriend snap pics of me inside. LOL Geez, some people just don’t get it, do they?!? 🙂

The “U4EA” episode also featured one of my fave 90210 scenes ever – the scene where Andrea and Steve enter a different liquor store and tell the befuddled clerk that they want to exchange an egg. “Is there something wrong with the egg?” she asks. LOL LOVE IT!

You can watch the full liquor store scene here.

Stalk It: Pat’s liquor store is located at 6202 Kester Avenue in Van Nuys. The former 90210 studios are located just a few blocks away at 15001 Calvert Street.

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Coming Soon to a Bookstore Near You!

Sex and the City author and creater Candace Bushnell’s new novel, One Fifth Avenue, hits bookshelves later this month and what better way for her to promote it than by doing a book signing at the greatest bookstore on the planet – Vroman’s! On Monday, September 29th, at 7PM, Candace will be doing a reading and signing of her new book. I absolutely cannot wait to see the real Carrie Bradshaw live and in person. 🙂 I am hoping she will chat a bit about Sex and the City, as well as her new book. I have attended several readings at Vroman’s in the past and they have all been fabulous, each lasting well over an hour with plenty of time for audience questions. I cannot wait!!

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: Vroman’s is located at 695 E. Colorado Blvd. in Pasadena. The CB event is free and you do not need reservations to attend. I recommend arriving early, though, as Vroman’s events can get pretty packed.

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Armando’s in the Desert

This past weekend, while vacationing in Palm Springs, I dragged my boyfriend and my parents to Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell’s fave Mexican restaurant in the Desert called Armando’s Dakota Bar and Grill. I’ve heard from several friends who live in the Palm Springs area that the Hollywood couple dine at Armando’s every Sunday evening during Palm Springs’ high season. I’ve blogged about Armando’s once before, but at the time had yet to eat at the restaurant. So this weekend I was determined to hit the place up.

Unfortunately, we didn’t spot any celebs while lunching there this past Sunday, but according to our super-friendly waiter Jeffrey, aka “Duke”, anyone who’s anyone has eaten at Armando’s. Besides regulars Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell, who always eat outside on the restaurant’s front patio even though people constantly walk by and gawk at them, Duke also recently served Nikki Hilton who came in to grab a bite to eat, while her sister Paris sat outside in the car the entire time talking on her cell phone. LOL Heiresses are so strange! According to Duke, during the “Season” in Palm Springs, Armando’s turns into celeb central. So if you want to dine next to a celeb, your best bet is to hit up Armando’s during the months of October through February.

Every since discovering Don Antonio’s Restaurant in West LA (much thanks to Speidi!), I have fancied myself something of a Mexican food connoisseur. But I can rarely find a restaurant that is even on the same playing field as my beloved D.A.’s. I must admit, though, that Armando’s was really, really yummy! I would say that it ranks a very close second to Don’s and is the perfect place to get your Margarita on if you can’t make it out to West LA. I highly recommend stalking Armando’s if you ever find yourself in Palm Desert – as much for the food as for the celeb sightings.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: Armando’s Dakota Bar and Grill is located at 73-260 El Paseo in Palm Desert. If you get a chance, also hit up She She, an adorable little boutique across the street at 73-999. I picked up a fab shirt on their “Super Sale Rack” for $9.99 and a super cute Hamsa bracelet for $10.