Hanging Out at the Rehearsals for the Golden Globe Awards

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Two Saturdays ago, as the Grim Cheaper and I were heading out to Santa Monica to run some errands, I got a text message from fellow stalker Lavonna reminding me that the Golden Globe Awards were being held the following evening at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills.  Lavonna suggested that I stop by the hotel to see if anything exciting was going on and thankfully the GC didn’t object, so we immediately drove right on over there.  And, let me tell you, it could not have been more exciting!  Had I known what was in store for me that day, I never would have been able to sleep the night before!

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We arrived at the Hilton to pretty much mass chaos.  Both the hotel’s front and back entrances were completely shut down and production trucks and set workers were absolutely EVERYWHERE!

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There were also huge tents set up on the outskirts of the hotel property.  The tent pictured above, which was situated across the street from the hotel in the parking lot of the now-defunct Robinsons-May department store, was for the Fox Searchlight Golden Globes After Party.

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The Beverly Hilton Hotel is actually closed to the public on both the day before and the day of the Golden Globes ceremony and because security around the hotel was extremely tight, I did not think we would be able to get inside.  The stalking gods were DEFINITELY shining on me when we showed up to stalk the place, though, because miraculously – and thanks to a very big connection my dad has at the hotel – we were allowed in!  I literally could NOT believe it!  The farther we ventured inside, the more often I kept turning back to look at the GC, my mouth hanging open in absolute shock.

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Before being allowed inside, I was not sure if there would be all that much to see or if any celebrities would even be on the premises, but, as it turns out, rehearsals for the ceremony were taking place in the hotel’s International Ballroom.  A small section of the Hilton’s lobby had been cordoned off and hotel guests were allowed to stand in that area for meet and greets with all of the celebrities who ventured past.  Well, as you can imagine I just about DIED upon finding that out and parked myself in that area for the next eight hours.  I’m not kidding!  Smile  (Pictured above is the back of Carson Daly, who was the first celeb to walk by after I got there.  He was not at all friendly, though, and did not stop for photos or to sign autographs.)

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As it turns out, the Hilton offers a very special – and very pricey – Golden Globes Package each year, which, besides the rehearsal-meet-and-greet, also includes a two-night stay at the hotel, a Golden Globes gift bag complete with an autograph book, a sit-down breakfast and box lunch the day of the ceremony, and – are you sitting down for this??? – two VIP bleacher seats on the actual Golden Globes’ red carpet!   Oh, what I wouldn’t give to purchase that package!  Because it costs between $3,000 and $3,900, though, I seriously doubt that is ever going to happen!  Pictured above is the room key that Golden Globes Package guests receive upon check-in.  So incredibly cool!  All of the people situated in the meet-and-greet area were Golden Globe Package guests and I spent the entire day hanging out with them, while the GC parked himself in the hotel’s lobby bar to watch the football game on TV.  I cannot tell you how much fun it was to spend the day waiting around to see stars with like-minded, celebrity-obsessed people.  I had an ABSOLUTE BLAST and met some very cool fellow stalkers in the process!

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After Carson Daly, the next celeb to walk by was E! News’ Giuliana Rancic, who was running late for a hair appointment and therefore could not stop to pose for pictures with any of us.  She did seem very friendly, though, and apologized several times for not being able to stop.  After Guiliana, there was a steady stream of celebrities who filtered through the lobby the entire rest of the day.  It was a virtual movie star parade and, as you can imagine, I was in ABSOLUTE HEAVEN!

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Next up was Kelly Osbourne, who is absolutely ADORABLE in person.  I LOVED the little bow she had tied in her hair.  SO INCREDIBLY CUTE!  Kelly is also VERY thin.  I’m talking TEENY, TEENY TINY!  Far smaller than she appears to be on E!’s Fashion Police.

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Kelly stopped to pose and sign autographs with every single person who was there, including me, which I was beyond thrilled about!

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The star I was most excited about seeing, though, was Leighton Meester, whom I absolutely ADORE on Gossip Girl.  I had so badly wanted to get a photograph with Leighton back in October of 2009, when I saw Gossip Girl being filmed while on vacation in New York, but that sadly did not happen.  So I was BEYOND excited when she stopped to pose at the Hilton.  YAY!

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I had read in the January 2011 issue of Allure Magazine, for which Leighton was the cover girl, that the actress was just about as far removed from her Gossip Girl persona Blair Waldorf as one could possibly be.  According to the editors of the beauty mag, not only did Leighton introduce herself to each member of the crew when she arrived for the shoot, but she also thanked each of the crew members individually upon leaving.  And I have to say that my experience with her was much the same.  Leighton was incredibly friendly, warm, personable, and down-to-earth.  She stayed in the lobby a really long time in order to get a photograph with everyone who wanted one.  She was a total and complete sweetheart and, after meeting her, I can honestly say that I love her even more now than I did before.  Some celebrities wind up being a rather large disappointment when you meet or see them in person, but I am very happy to report that that was definitely not the case with Leighton.  Smile

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Not all of the stars who present awards at the Golden Globes actually show up for a rehearsal.  A lot of celebrities have stand-ins who rehearse for them, as was the case with Steve Carell whose stand-in is pictured above.  I love that the stand-ins had to wear their celeb’s name-tag around their neck.  Too funny!

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Other stars who were in attendance that day included Modern Family’s Julie Bowen, who sadly only had time to sign a few autographs as she was running late for a birthday party for one of her son’s friends;

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Olivia Wilde, aka “Thirteen” from House, M.D., who despite having no make-up on looked absolutely stunning;

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Academy Award winner Tilda Swinton, who actually seemed a bit aloof;

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Home and Away and Star Trek star Chris Hemsworth, whose arms were literally the size of both of my thighs put together – I honestly do not think I have ever seen arms that muscular before in my entire life;

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Hailee Steinfeld, whom I absolutely LOVE, mostly because she recently spoke out about getting majorly snubbed by super-diva Lea Michele while on the Paramount lot auditioning for True Grit;

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TRON: Legacy star Garrett Hedlund, who was INCREDIBLY sweet;

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and pop star Justin Bieber, whom I unfortunately did not get a good photograph of because he was ushered out of the lobby at lightning speed by his massive bodyguards.  You can just barely see him in the above picture – he is wearing the white shirt and beaded necklace and is carrying a cell phone in his hand.  Justin was SUPER cute in person, but a lot tinier than I had expected.

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At around 6 p.m., most of my fellow stalkers started to pack up to leave as the only star left who was set to rehearse that day was Megan Fox and none of us were really interested in seeing her.  I actually started to pack up my belongings, as well, but then a thought occurred to me – Brian Austin Green just might be accompanying Megan that night as the two of them seem to do just about everything together and if I could have gotten a photograph of him, but didn’t, I would ALWAYS regret it later.  So, while everyone else went back to their rooms, the GC and I stuck around the lobby.  And I am SO glad we did because about fifteen minutes later who should walk in but comedienne Loni Love, whom I absolutely – pardon the pun – LOVE.  Loni is a frequent round-table guest on fave show Chelsea Lately and she is absolutely HILARIOUS!   As soon as I spotted Loni, I gasped and said loudly to the GC, “OH MY GOD, it’s Loni Love!”  Well, Loni heard me say this and looked over and smiled.  I pointed to her and then to myself and mimed taking a picture with my hands and she IMMEDIATELY walked right on over to snap a photo with me!  Loni was so incredibly nice and had a very warm personality and was easily one of my favorite people I met all day.  It was especially exciting because my dad is also a HUGE fan of hers.

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I also got a picture with Brad Wollack and Sarah Colonna who are also frequent guests on Chelsea Lately and both of whom were VERY nice.

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Then, just as I turned to the GC and said, “I wish Ross Mathews was here!”, who should walk through the lobby doors but Ross himself and I just about had a heart attack!  When Ross saw that we were looking at him, he immediately called us over and spent a good five minutes talking with us about the Golden Globes and which celebs we had seen that day.  Ross is INCREDIBLY down to earth and the whole time we were talking to him, it felt as if we were speaking with an old friend –  a celeb-obsessed old friend, of course.  Smile  Ross is also incredibly bubbly and REALLY funny.  I absolutely love, love, LOVE him.  Even more so now than I did before.   And about three hours after we took the above photograph, Ross happened to walk by the GC and me once again and stopped to say hello and asked if we had seen any other celebs since we had spoken to him last.  SUCH an incredibly nice guy.

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Ross, Sarah, Brad, and Loni were all at the Hilton to rehearse for the LIVE on E! Golden Globes After Show, the set of which is pictured above.

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Then, right at 7 p.m., Megan Fox walked through the doors of the lobby, followed by none other than David Silver himself, Brian Austin Green!  And let me tell you, I could NOT have been more excited!

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And while I let Megan walk right by, I called out to Brian and asked him to take a photograph with me, which he did.  Brian was REALLY nice and when I told him how much I had loved 90210 he thanked me.  It was literally the perfect end to a perfect day!  Sigh!

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After getting my photograph with Brian, the GC and I headed downstairs to the hotel’s legendary Trader Vic’s restaurant – which I will be blogging about later – to grab a bite to eat.   The restaurant was undergoing preparations for the following night’s HBO After Party so I just had to pose celeb-style in front of the backdrop that was being set up.  Smile

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On our way out the door, after spotting director Oliver Stone whom we did not get a photograph of, I posed for a picture in front of the CNN and Inside Edition portions of the Golden Globes’ red carpet.  You can see how blindingly bright the red carpet lights were in the above photographs.  It was about 9 at night when those pictures were taken!

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And I also just had to snap a pic in the back of the hotel, where another red carpet had been set up.  Love it!  All in all, it was a magical day and I can’t wait to do it all again next year!  That is, if I can get past the front door.  Winking smile

Big THANK YOU to fellow stalker Lavonna for reminding me about the Golden Globe Awards and suggesting that I stalk the Beverly Hilton that day!   You rock, my friend!

Until next time, Happy Stalking!  Smile

Stalk It: The Beverly Hilton Hotel, where the Golden Globe Awards are held each year, is located at 9876 Wilshire Boulevard in Beverly Hills.  You can visit the hotel’s official website here.  For more information about the Golden Globes Package, you can contact the hotel directly.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Both the main office .  . .

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Until next time, Happy Stalking!  🙂

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