Rachel Bilson – IAMNOTASTALKER

April 16, 2014April 16, 2014

Kim’s New House from “L!fe Happens”

Once I had tracked down the main house used in L!fe Happens (you can read that post here), as well as Auntie Em’s Kitchen, which also appeared in the flick (you can read that post here), I became more than a little obsessed with finding the cottage that Kim (Krysten Ritter) rented towards the end of the 2011 rom-com. Ironically enough, I didn’t even like L!fe Happens all that much, but it was filmed in L.A. and knowing that there are undiscovered SoCal locations out there just waiting to be unearthed is like kryptonite to this stalker. So, once again, I found myself on the hunt.

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The bungalow only appears in a few brief scenes near the end of L!fe Happens, after (spoiler alert!) Kim decides to move out of the residence she formerly shared with her BFFs Deena (Kate Bosworth) and Laura (Rachel Bilson) and into her her own place.

While Kim is out house-hunting, she is shown driving on a street that – thanks to its broadness, position at the base of a group of mountains and fact that it dead-ends into another road – I figured was most likely located in Eagle Rock.

I was also fairly certain that the street sign that Kim passed in the scene said “Las Flores.”

I also noticed an address number that I believed to be “5120” painted on the curb in front of Kim’s new house. So I started searching all of the 5100 blocks of streets running perpendicular to Las Flores Drive in Eagle Rock. Sure enough, it wasn’t long before I found the right place. As it turns out, the address number is actually “5129,” not “5120.” And they say close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades!

In real life, the picturesque 1911 cottage features three bedrooms, 1 bath, 1,694 square feet, and a 0.17-acre plot of land. It last sold in June 2012 for $565,000.

The home’s actual interior was also used in the filming, as you can see in the screen capture/MLS photograph-comparisons pictured below.

For more stalking fun, be sure to follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Los Angeles magazine online. And you can check out my other blog, The Well-Heeled Diabetic, here

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: Kim’s new house from L!fe Happens is located at 5129 Windermere Avenue in Eagle Rock.

March 7, 2014November 12, 2015

The “L!fe Happens” House

While getting my hair blown out at the Pasadena Blo-Out Lounge (one of my very favorite places) a couple of weeks ago, I caught a portion of the 2011 romantic comedy L!fe Happens, which I had never previously heard of. Thanks to its obvious L.A. locales, the flick piqued my interest. A rom-com filmed in Los Angeles that I didn’t know about? How is that possible? I quickly amended the situation by forcing the Grim Cheaper to watch it on Netflix a few nights later. And while I didn’t particularly love the movie, I did fall into a bit of lust with the unique Craftsman-style home where BFFs Kim (Krysten Ritter), Deena (Kate Bosworth) and Laura (Rachel Bilson) lived in it. Having Geoff Stults in a starring role didn’t hurt, either. This stalker absolutely loves herself some GS! But I’m getting off track.

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The residence took quite a bit of sleuthing to track down. While I originally thought that it was most likely located in Echo Park or Silver Lake, after a lot of digging I ended up finding it just off the I-10 freeway near Western Avenue in the Pico-Union area of Los Angeles.

In real life, the home, which was originally built in 1905, boasts four bedrooms, two baths, 2,263 square feet of living space, and a 0.13-acre plot of land. According to Zillow, it last sold in April 1999 for $150,000, which seems quite a bit low to me. Maybe it was in very poor shape at the time, though. It also appears to be undergoing some sort of renovation currently, as well.

L!fe Happens centers around three friends who live together in what is supposedly Silver Lake. A one night stand (before which, borrowing a storyline from Friends, Kim and Laura battle each other over the last condom in the house) results in Kim becoming pregnant. She decides to raise the baby as a single mom, while still living with her friends, and the movie takes off from there.

On a side-note – L!fe Happens borrowed another storyline from Friends – the “We both do that!” storyline from the Season 1 episode titled “The One with Two Parts: Part 2,” which you can watch below. But, once again, I’m getting off track.

The house is featured prominently throughout L!fe Happens, although it is never mentioned how Kim (a dog-walker/personal assistant), Deena (a struggling writer) and Laura (who flits from job to job) can afford such an amazeballs residence.

While I loved the home’s unique exterior (especially the pentagonal roof!) . . .

. . . what I became most enamored with was its interior . . .

. . . especially the open stairwell.

I mean, could it be any more fabulous?? If I lived there, I would so be displaying books and picture frames on each step. Love, love, love!

While I originally thought that the interior was a set, after looking through these images, in which my beloved stairwell is visible in the background (comparison screen caps of that scene from the movie are pictured below), I now believe that the real life interior of the home was used in the filming. Unfortunately, I could not find any photographs with which to verify that, though. Either way, what I wouldn’t give to see the inside of that place! UPDATE – I just came across this Curbed LA article which features photos of the property and the interior was indeed used in L!fe Happens!

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: The L!fe Happens house is located at 1802 South Oxford Avenue in the Pico-Union area of Los Angeles.

February 15, 2012February 14, 2012

Oliver’s Palm Springs House from “The O.C.”

As I mentioned a few weeks ago, the Grim Cheaper and I have just recently started watching fave series The O.C. over again from the beginning and one location that popped up during the first season that I have been absolutely dying to find and stalk was the supposed-Palm-Springs-area house that belonged to troublemaker Oliver Trask (Taylor Handley) in the episode titled “The Links”. So imagine my surprise when fellow stalker Geoff, of the 90210Locations website, randomly emailed me last week, after seeing my post on Café-Club Fais Do-Do (which stood in for a Tijuana nightclub in one of The O.C.’s early episodes), to let me know that he had tracked down a few of the show’s more elusive locales, one of which was Oliver’s Palm Springs residence! I kid you not! As you can imagine, I was absolutely bowled over by this information and, as I told Geoff, would have run out to stalk the place right then and there had it not been pouring at the time. When the rain finally did subside the following morning, I, of course, rushed right on over to the house to finally stalk it. Yay!

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In “The Links” episode of The O.C., Oliver invites the Newport gang – Ryan Atwood (Ben McKenzie), Seth Cohen (Adam Brody), Marissa Cooper (Mischa Barton), Luke Ward (Chris Carmack), Summer Roberts (Rachel Bilson), and Anna Stern (Samaire Armstrong) – to spend the weekend with him at his parents’ mid-century-modern-style home in Palm Springs, which he states is located “right on PGA West”. And while Geoff originally thought that the property was in Huntington Beach, near the Seacliff Country Club where the group played golf in the episode, he came up completely empty-handed after searching the area. Then, a few months later, while trying to track down a different locale in South Pasadena, he spotted a house on Arroyo Drive that looked vaguely familiar. He was unsure of where he had seen the residence before, but made a note of the address. It was not until a couple of weeks afterwards that he happened to re-watch “The Links” episode of The O.C. and realized that the house that had looked so familiar was Oliver’s. Nicely done, Geoff!

In real life, the 3-bedroom, 3-bath, 3,032-square-foot home, which was originally built in 1959 and sits on almost half an acre of land, is pretty darn spectacular! In fact, the main reason that I wanted to stalk the property so badly, besides the fact that it appeared on The O.C. of course, was that I had fallen in love with its mid-century-style architecture pretty much as soon as it had appeared on my TV screen. And I am very happy to report that, in person, the place did not disappoint.

As you can see above, the residence most definitely does look like a Palm-Springs-area home, so it is not very hard to see why producers chose to use it in “The Links” episode.

The real-life interior of the property, and even some of the real-life furniture – both of which you can see photographs of here – were also used in the episode.

I am fairly certain, though, that the bedrooms where Ryan, Marissa, Seth, and Anna stayed were just sets that were built inside of a soundstage at Raleigh Studios Manhattan Beach where the series was lensed, as they do not seem to match the real-life interior of the house.

Big THANK YOU to fellow stalker Geoff, from the 90210Locations website, for finding this location! Smile

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: Oliver’s Palm Springs house from “The Links” episode of The O.C. is located at 534 Arroyo Drive in South Pasadena.

February 6, 2012February 3, 2012

Café-Club Fais Do-Do from “Crossroads”

One location that I blogged about way back in March of 2009 and had been dying to re-stalk ever since – in order to snap some interior pictures – was Café-Club Fais Do-Do, the supposed New-Orleans-area karaoke bar that appeared in the 2002 movie Crossroads. (For those who did not catch my original post on the place, in the Spring of 2001 I was an extra in Crossroads and spent a full three days filming at the Fais Do-Do – a magical experience that I will never forget.) Because the club is typically only open at night for concerts and events, though, and because the Grim Cheaper has a major aversion to paying any sort of a cover charge, since the filming I had never been able to get back inside. Until last Wednesday afternoon, that is, when I tagged along with fellow stalker Mike, from MovieShotsLA, on a scouting expedition. A couple of months back, Mike actually joined the Location Managers Guild of America under the title of Apprentice and, when I heard that he was in the process of building his portfolio, I immediately (and a bit selfishly) suggested that he visit Café-Club Fais Do-Do – with me accompanying him, of course. Don’t get me wrong – the place is incredibly unique and visually stimulating and I knew that he would not only shoot some incredible photographs of it, but that it would also be a highly useful locale to have in his scouting arsenal. But mostly, I just really wanted to stalk it myself. Winking smile

The Art Deco building which currently houses Café-Club Fais Do-Do was originally constructed in 1930 and is actually comprised of two separate sections – The Club (pictured above) and The Ballroom. In its original incarnation, The Club was a branch of the First Citizens Savings Bank and Trust, which explains the structure’s uniquely rich and ornate interior. Sometime in the 1960s, the bank was converted into a jazz bar/underground club, but thankfully most of its architecturally and historically significant detailing was kept intact. During its years as a jazz club, such musicians as Sam Cooke, Ray Charles, BB King, Pearl Bailey, John Coltrane, and Billy Preston were all said to have hung out there.

The Ballroom (pictured above) was originally constructed as the single-screen Variety Movie Theatre and was where the filming of Crossroads took place. I am unsure of when exactly the Variety ceased showing movies, but in 1990 the entire building was purchased by a new owner who, while still keeping the two distinct areas separate, decided to turn the venues into a nightclub and bar which collectively would be known as Café-Club Fais Do-Do – “Fais Do-Do” meaning “nighty-night” in French. And while this post on the Lon’s Place blog states that The Club area was sold to a new owner in 2010, according the film liaison that we spoke with, the same person who bought the building back in 1990 still owns it to this day.

While we were stalking the Fais Do-Do, I was extremely sad to discover that the huge two-story bar that used to be located in the center of The Ballroom and on which I had sat in Crossroads had since been removed. To me, that bar, which had a dance floor on top of it, was the coolest, most unique aspect of the entire club and I cannot believe the owner did away with it! So incredibly sad.

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In Crossroads, Café-Club Fais Do-Do’s Ballroom was used for the interior of Club Bayou, where Lucy Wagner (Britney Spears), Kit (Zoe Saldana) and Mimi (Taryn Manning) competed in a karaoke contest in order to win money to fix their car which had just broken down.

That’s me in the blue pants standing next to Ben (Anson Mount) in the above screen capture. Smile

The Fais Do-Do dressing room, which you can see a photograph of here, was featured in the scene in which Kit, Mimi and Lucy get ready to go onstage. Sadly, a film crew was using that area at the time that we were stalking the club so we were unable to take any pictures of it.

The GC and I recently started watching fave show The O.C. again from the beginning and, let me tell you, I just about fell off my chair when I spotted Café-Club Fais Do-Do pop up in a Season 1 episode. In “The Escape”, the Fais Do-Do’s Ballroom stood in for “Boom Boom”, the supposed-Tijuana-area club where Marissa Cooper (Mischa Barton) caught Luke Ward (Chris Carmack) cheating on her.

And, while scanning through “The Escape” to make screen captures for this post, I was shocked to discover that the little bar where Marissa almost overdosed on pain pills later in the episode was none other than the Fais Do-Do’s Club! The Club was remodeled in 2010 (as you can see in these photograph on the Lon’s Place blog) and looks a bit different now, but, amazingly enough, the actual bar where Marissa sat still looks exactly the same today as it did when the episode was filmed back in 2003!

After reading my original post on the Fais Do-Do back in 2009, fellow stalker Owen, of the When Write Is Wrong blog, figured out that The Ballroom also stood in for Delloser Hall, the reggae club where Josie Geller (Drew Barrymore) got stoned after inadvertently eating a pot-laced cake, in fave movie Never Been Kissed.

In the extremely odd 2006 film The Gymnast, the Fais Do-Do’s Ballroom was used extensively as the place where Jane Hawkins (Dreya Weber) and Serena (Addie Yungmee) learned aerial fabric acrobatics.

In the flick, you can clearly see the club’s former bar . . .

. . . as well as the dance floor above it.

Café-Club Fais Do-Do’s dressing room also appeared in The Gymnast.

And in one scene, a business card featuring the club’s actual address, fax number, and website was even shown. So incredibly cool!

Fellow stalker Geoff, from the 90210Locations website, also let me know that the Fais Do-Do had appeared in the Season 2 episode of Arrested Development titled “Queen for a Day”. In the episode, the exterior . . .

. . . as well as The Ballroom stood in for The Queen Mary, the bar that Tobias Funke (David Cross) purchased.

The Club was also used in that episode as the restaurant where Byron “Buster” Bluth (Tony Hale) took his new girlfriend, Starla (Mo Collins), out for a milkshake.

And the dressing room stood in for the Hot Cop stripper club, from which Lindsay Bluth Funke (Portia de Rossi) hired strippers to scare her husband into selling The Queen Mary.

Back in February of 2011, while doing research for my post on The Little Door restaurant, I discovered that Café-Club Fais Do-Do’s Club room was used in the Season 2 episode of Entourage titled “The Abyss”, in the scene in which the boys – Vincent Chase (Adrian Grenier), Eric Murphy (Kevin Connolly), Johnny ‘Drama’ Chase (Kevin Dillon), and Turtle (Jerry Ferrara) – gather together to watch Saigon perform.

I was shocked to discover (thanks to the Ron’s Place blog) that in 1994’s Reality Bites, The Club stood in for the bar where “Hey, That’s My Bike!”, Troy Dyer’s (Ethan Hawke’s) band, regularly played. The room was heavily dressed for the filming, though, and is almost unrecognizable in the movie.

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The Fais Do-Do Club was also featured in the Jane’s Addiction video for “Underground”.

As was the dressing room area.

Jane’s Addiction “Underground” Music Video–Filmed at Café-Club Fais Do-Do in Los Angeles

You can watch the “Underground” video by clicking above.

The Club also appeared in the Destiny’s Child “No, No No, Part 1” music video.

Destiny’s Child–”No, No, No Part 1” Music Video Filmed at Café-Club Fais Do-Do in Los Angeles

You can watch the “No, No, No, Part 1” video by clicking above.

This Is 40, the yet-to-be released sequel to 2007’s Knocked Up, also did some filming in Café-Club Fais Do-Do’s Ballroom in 2011. And while the Ron’s Place blog stated that The Big Lebowski and American Gangster were also filmed at the Fais Do-Do, I scanned through both movies while doing research for this post and did not spot the place anywhere.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: Café-Club Fais Do-Do, from Crossroads, is located at 5253 and 5257 West Adams Boulevard in Los Angeles. You can visit the club’s official website here.

June 20, 2011June 20, 2011

The Manhattan Beach Marriott Hotel from “90210”

Another location that the Grim Cheaper and I stopped by a couple of weeks ago while doing some stalking in the South Bay was the Manhattan Beach Marriott, which stood in for the supposed-Beverly-Hills-area hotel where the West Beverly High Senior Prom was held in the Season 3 episode of fave show 90210 titled “The Prom Before the Storm”. I found this location thanks to fellow stalker Geoff, from the 90210Locations website, who was kind enough to put together an entire 90210-themed South Bay stalking list for me as soon as he found out that I was heading down that way. Sadly, due to some major traffic that the GC and I encountered on our way down there (darn you, 405!), we were not able to spend as much time in the area as I had hoped and only managed to hit up a couple of locations, one of which was the prom hotel. Ironically enough, not only had the GC and I actually stayed at the Manhattan Beach Marriott a few years back, but thanks to its appearance in an early episode of The O.C., I had even blogged about it. So the fact that I did not recognize it when it appeared in “The Prom Before the Storm” episode is highly embarrassing! I mean, what kind of a stalker am I??? Winking smile

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Only the exterior of the Manhattan Beach Marriott Hotel was featured in the episode, in the scene in which Liam Court (aka cutie Matt Lanter – sigh!), Annie Wilson (aka Shenae Grimes), Naomi Clark (aka AnnaLynne McCord) and the rest of the West Beverly High gang arrive at their Senior Prom. As you can see in the screen capture located on the bottom right above, producers put up curtains to block the interior of the hotel in the scene as it did not match up with the interior set that they had created at Manhattan Beach Studios where the series is lensed.

That set, which was centered around Silver’s (aka Jessica Stroup’s) half-baked Cirque du Soleil prom theme, is pictured above.

I am very happy to report that the hotel looks exactly the same in person as it did in the episode. Ironically enough, the Manhattan Beach Marriott is eerily similar in appearance to the Universal Sheraton, where Brenda Walsh (aka Shannen Doherty), Dylan McKay (aka Luke Perry), Donna Martin (aka Tori Spelling) and the rest of the original West Bev gang attended the spring dance in the Season 1 episode of Beverly Hills, 90210 aptly titled “Spring Dance”.

The exterior staircase located just east of the hotel’s front entrance also made an appearance in the episode as the spot where Ivy Sullivan (aka Gillian Zinser) caught her then-boyfriend, now-husband Raj Kher (aka Manish Dayal) drinking.

As I mentioned above, the Manhattan Beach Marriott Hotel was also featured in the Season 1 episode of The O.C. titled “The Debut”. In the episode, the interior of the hotel masqueraded as the interior of Newport Beach’s Pelican Hill Country Club where the dance rehearsals for Marissa Cooper (aka Mischa Barton) and Summer Roberts’s (aka Rachel Bilson’s) Debutante Ball were held.

Both the hotel’s Grand Lobby, which as you can see above has changed its color scheme drastically since the episode was filmed;

and the Manhattan Ballroom, which was unfortunately closed when we showed up to stalk the place but which you can see photographs of here, were featured in the episode.

Big THANK YOU to fellow stalker Geoff, from the 90210Locations website, for finding this location!

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: The Manhattan Beach Marriott Hotel, from “The Prom Before the Storm” episode of 90210, is located at 1400 Parkview Avenue in Manhattan Beach. The hotel’s main entrance and the exterior stairwell, which is denoted with a pink arrow in the above aerial view and is located just east of the main entrance, appeared in the episode. In “The Debut” episode of The O.C., the hotel’s front lobby and Manhattan Ballroom were featured. You can visit the Manhattan Beach Marriott’s official website here.

February 9, 2011February 8, 2011

Aroma Coffee & Tea Company in Studio City

As I mentioned in Monday’s post, despite my drama-filled day on Friday, this past weekend actually turned out to be pretty darn nice. It all started with a Saturday morning stalking trip out to Studio City’s Aroma Coffee & Tea Company, which I had read about the previous week while doing some online research on the similarly-named Aroma Bakery & Café on Sunset Boulevard. As it turns out, Aroma Coffee & Tea Company is a big-time celebrity hotspot and since I love all things having to do with coffee and celebrities, I was absolutely DYING to stalk the place! So, bright and early Saturday morning I dragged the Grim Cheaper right on out there. And let me tell you, I pretty much fell in love with the place immediately upon walking through its front doors. The full-service café is actually a former residence which owner Mark Gunsky transformed into a restaurant just about fifteen years ago. And I have to say that the result of his work is quite possibly the most charming little café I have ever visited.

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The quaint little Aroma Coffee & Tea Company is tucked away on Studio City’s bustling Tujunga Avenue and one could easily walk right by it without even realizing it was there.

But that has apparently not been a problem because, as you can see in the above photographs, the place was absolutely JAM-PACKED when we showed up to stalk it. We could hardly get in the door! It is not very hard to see why the shop has become so popular over the years, though.

There literally wasn’t one thing about the café that I didn’t absolutely LOVE – from the adorable little French bistro tables situated on the front sidewalk;

to the charming living room area complete with working fireplace and built-in bookshelves;

to the front porch;

to the quaint backyard;

to Portrait of a Bookstore, the teeny tiny little bookstore/gift shop tucked into the back of the Aroma space, which Yelp recently named “pound for pound, the coolest bookstore in L.A., if not the entire world”. Every aspect of Aroma Coffee & Tea Company was warm and welcoming and I absolutely cannot wait to go back there for a re-stalk! Oh and the coffee was FABULOUS, too! It was just as good as Starbucks and while some people might consider that a jab, in my eyes there is no higher compliment when it comes to coffee!

Just a few of the stars who have been spotted at Aroma Coffee & Tea Company in recent months include Ashley Tisdale, Vanessa Hudgens, Rachel Bilson, Zac Efron, AnnaLynne McCord, Ashley Greene, Kellan Lutz, Vanessa Minnillo, Heather Morris (aka Glee’s Brittany Pierce), and William Shatner. In fact, the place is such a celebrity hotspot that back in November of 2007 TMZ conducted a video feed of the premises which it streamed live on its site! LOL

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: Aroma Coffee & Tea Company is located at 4360 Tujunga Avenue in Studio City. You can visit the restaurant’s official website here.

November 16, 2010November 16, 2010

Little Dom’s Restaurant from “90210”

This past Saturday night, I dragged the Grim Cheaper out to Los Feliz to stalk Little Dom’s – an Italian eatery owned by Warner Ebbink and Brandon Boudet of the Eat Heavy Restaurant Group, the very same team that was responsible for founding the 101 Coffee Shop that I blogged about yesterday. The GC and I had actually breakfasted at the Los Feliz-area establishment once before a couple of years ago, but at the time I had no idea the place was a filming location or a celebrity hotspot, so I, unfortunately, did not take any photographs while there. Well, imagine my surprise when just a few months later the restaurant was featured in a Season 2 episode of fave show 90210. I recognized the place immediately, and, let me tell you, just about fell out of my chair. And then this past September, I just about had a heart attack when the eatery appeared on 90210 yet again. And then, last week, when I came across these November 4th paparazzi photos of the cast of Glee – including Lea Michele, Dianna Agron, Cory Monteith, Amber Riley, Harry Shum Jr., Kevin McHale, Jenna Ushkowitz, Naya Rivera, and Chord Overstreet – dining at the restaurant, I just about died and immediately informed the GC that Little Dom’s was where the two of us would be spending our upcoming Saturday night.

Little Dom’s first opened in January of 2008 on the corner of Hillhurst Avenue and Avocado Street in the heart of Downtown Los Feliz in the space that previously housed the French bistro La Belle Epoque. Warner Ebbink, who so ingeniously designed the 101 Coffee Shop interior, completely gutted the former Epoque property and created the Manhattan-esque decor of his new Italian eatery from scratch. The interior designer/restaurateur searched far and wide, and I mean that literally, for the items that now make up his eclectic establishment. He purchased and then transported the wooden bar, which dates back to the 1930’s, from a former saloon in Eaton, Pennsylvania; he found the authentic leaded-glass windows, which now make up some of the restaurant’s interior walls, at an about-to-be-demolished building in New York City, and the picture of Yosemite National Park which hangs above the bar area was requisitioned from none other than Warner Brothers Studios. As the Eater website so aptly stated in their January 2008 review of the restaurant, “Warner Ebbink is an ace at making an entirely new space feel like it’s been there forever.” I couldn’t agree more! Sitting at the antique bar and looking around at the dimly-lit, tin-ceilinged space, I found it very hard to believe that the place had not been around during the heyday of Hollywood catering to members of the Rat Pack.

Besides the spectacular ambiance, Little Dom’s also serves up some fabulous food! I absolutely gorged myself on the Brussels Sprouts with Shaved Parmesan side dish and the Truffled Chicken Salad with Arugula Sandwich entrée – both of which were divine! And I just about died from excitement when I saw that they featured my very favorite dessert, Affogato – vanilla gelato with a shot of espresso (pictured above) – on the menu! I never actually knew that my favorite dessert had a name, nor had I ever actually seen it featured on a restaurant menu before, but I have been ordering a scoop of vanilla ice cream with a shot of espresso on the side as dessert for just about as long as I can remember. So, the fact that Little Dom’s had it named on their menu was simply amazing to me! The restaurant also breaks down their wine list into three sections – ”Tried and True”, “Your New Best Friend”, and “Go Out on a Limb” – which I thought was just about the cutest thing ever. The eatery’s prices were also extremely, extremely reasonable, which, needless to say, the Grim Cheaper was thrilled about. We both absolutely LOVED the place and cannot wait to go back there for another stalking/culinary adventure.

It should come as no surprise that, in the three short years that it has been in operation, Little Dom’s has become a big time celebrity hot spot. Just a few of the stars who have been spotted there recently include Drew Barrymore, Jason Segel, Katherine Heigl, Josh Kelly, Rachel Bilson, Joe Jonas, Pixie Lott, Conan O’Brien, Ryan Reynolds, Megan Fox, Kate Walsh, Zachary Quinto, Michelle Williams, Spike Jonze, Vince Vaughn, Gisele Bundchen, Ron Livingston and, as I mentioned above, most of the cast of Glee. And while the GC and I, unfortunately, did not spot anyone famous on this most recent trip to the restaurant, we did see actor Michael Cera, who played Paulie Bleeker in the 2007 movie Juno, during our first visit there.

And the place is also a filming location! Little Dom’s appeared in the Season 2 episode of 90210 titled “Women’s Intuition”, in the scene in which Debbie Wilson (aka Lori Loughlin) confronts Sasha (aka Mekia Cox) about what she suspects is her fake pregnancy. That scene was filmed in the booth located closest to the restaurant’s front door.

Little Dom’s was also used in the Season 3 episode of 90210 titled “2021 Vision”, in the scene in which Mr. Cannon (aka Hal Ozsan) “accidentally” bumps into Erin Silver (aka Jessica Stroup).

In the scene, Silver sat in the booth located third in from the restaurant’s front door. That particular booth was, sadly, occupied while I was stalking the place, so I had to settle for taking a photograph in the one directly next to it.

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Silver’s Vespa was parked just outside of the restaurant, on Avocado Street, in the scene. And I just have to say here that I am absolutely hooked on 90210 this year. The series started getting pretty good last season, but I think it is just now finally beginning to hit its stride and I absolutely love it, love it, love it. Especially the brewing romance between Liam Court (aka my latest celebrity crush Matt Lanter) and Annie Wilson (aka Shenae Grimes). Those two are SO darn cute together!!!

Little Dom’s also appeared in the 2010 movie The Kids Are All Right, in the scene in which Nic (aka Annette Bening) and Jules (aka Julianne Moore) discuss the fact that their children’s biological father Paul (aka Mark Ruffalo) is now a part of their lives.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: Little Dom’s restaurant from 90210 is located at 2128 Hillhurst Avenue in Los Feliz. You can visit the restaurant’s official website here.

March 19, 2009March 18, 2009

Helen Twelvetrees’ House

A couple of weeks ago I picked up a book that is quickly shaping up to be my new stalking tome. It’s called Movie Star Homes: The Famous to the Forgotten and it features photographs and addresses of over 350 celebrity homes, most of them from the Golden Age of Hollywood. I have never really been much into the celebs of yesteryear (except for my girl Marilyn), but once I picked up this book I really couldn’t put it down. It wasn’t long before I had about thirty pages dog-eared and was dragging my boyfriend out the door with a whole new set of locations to stalk.

The first location on my list? The former home of a 30’s movie star whom you’ve probably never heard of, but whom I’ve always had a special place in my heart for – Helen Twelvetrees. I’ve never actually seen any of Helen’s movies, nor do I even really know what she looks like. But back when I was about 18, I came home from college one day and announced to my family that I was switching my major from pre-law to theatre because I wanted to become an actress. It was at that moment that my grandfather started calling me Helen Twelvetrees. My grandpa was always making up silly little nicknames for various family members, so I didn’t really think anything of it. For years this went on, with my grandpa saying “Well, if it isn’t Helen Twelvetrees!” every time I walked into a room and me thinking it was a name he had made up for me. It wasn’t until after my grandfather passed away in 2005 that I came across a listing for Helen on IMDB and realized that she had in fact been a real person – not to mention a big time movie star back in the ’30s.

So, when I saw the address of a home Helen lived in during the ’30s in my new stalking book, I just about fell out of my chair. And, of course, I immediately dragged my boyfriend right out to stalk it. So, Grandpa, this ones for you! 🙂 Helen’s former home is a very cute little Mediterranean style dwelling located on a one way street in the Whitley Heights section of Los Angeles. And, as it turns out, the house is currently for sale! While the real estate listing makes no mention of its famous former resident, it does indicate that the 3,000 square foot home, which was built in 1923, has parquet floors, crown moldings, and a hot tub. The asking price is a cool $1,150,000.

My favorite feature of the house, though, is the view of the Hollywood sign from the front yard. Love it! 🙂 You can see interior photos of Helen’s former home on its real estate listing here.

According to my buddy EJ over at The Movieland Directory, Rose McGowen and Rachel Bilson both owned a home located just a few doors down from Helen’s. The house pictured above was first owned by Miss McGowan who sold it to Rachel in November of 2004. Rachel then sold the house just a little over a year later in December of ’05. And it was sold yet again this past January for $1,075,000. I also read on this website that Busy Phillips owned the very same house at one point in time, but I haven’t been able to confirm that. Seems like it’s a pretty lucky house, though, being that several successful actresses have lived in it. I need to get me one of those! 🙂 You can see interior photos of the home here.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: Helen Twelvetrees’ former home is located just off the 101 Freeway at 6851 Iris Circle in Hollywood. Rachel Bilson and Rose McGowan’s former house is just down the road at 6867 Iris Circle.

June 11, 2008February 13, 2009

Alma Mater to the Stars

This weekend, while stalking in the Valley, my boyfriend and I drove by Notre Dame High School in Sherman Oaks. American Idol fans might remember Notre Dame from Season 5, when Katherine McPhee returned to her hometown of Sherman Oaks for a large pep rally held in the gym of her alma mater. Antonio Villaraigosa even showed up for the celebration and declared the day as “Katharine McPhee Day”! Gag me! I, personally, did NOT have McPhever during Season 5 of Idol and was very happy when she didn’t take home the crown. 🙂

Besides Ms. McPhee, Notre Dame is the alma mater to countless celebs, including Rachel Bilson from The OC, director Nick Cassavetes, Kristin Dunst, Maureen Flannigan (from Out of This World), Devon Gummersall and Devon Odessa from My So-Called Life, Staci Keenan from My Two Dads, Jerry Mathers aka the Beave, Dave Navarro and Stephen Perkins from Jane’s Addiction, and Michelle Trachtenberg from Buffy, the Vampire Slayer and Gossip Girl, as well as countless professional football and baseball players. There must be something in the water at Notre Dame, I swear!! It definitely seems like a breeding ground for lots of talented celebrities. 🙂

According to Wikipedia, the softcore porn TV series Love Street shot an episode at Notre Dame High School, which is very surprising as schools are usually pretty choosy about what productions can and cannot film on campus.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: Notre Dame High School is located at 13645 Riverside Drive in Sherman Oaks.