Year: 2007

The “13 Going On 30” Houses

If someone asked me what movie most closely resembles my life, I would have to say 13 Going On 30. I am definitely a child of the 80s, I still dress like a 13 year old most of the time, and I’ve been known to do the Thriller Dance at a few parties, so it’s only natural that I would be slightly obsessed with the movie 13 Going On 30. While most of the filming locations for the movie are located in Manhattan, a few of them can be found right here in LA.

If you are as obsessed with 13 Going On 30 as I am, you’ll remember the scene in the movie when adult Jenna first shows up at Matt’s apartment and says “I don’t know if you’re him, but if you lived on Spruce Street and your favorite shirt is the grey velour one . . .” Well, Jenna and Matt’s houses really can be found on Spruce Street – only they are in South Pasadena, not New Jersey. Jenna’s house has been painted and looks a bit different, but you will recognize them immediately when you see them.

This location was extremely easy to find. I just happened to be getting my nails done one day in South Pasadena and the woman next to me was talking about how her home had been used in a Jennifer Garner movie. I almost flipped out when I heard it was 13 Going On 30 and I begged her to tell me all of the scoop about the filming. She told me that the producers also used the inside of her home – and they even used her real bed and bedding in the scene where Jenna crawls into bed with her parents. She was even nice enough to tell me where her house was and I went to find it just as soon as my nails were dry!

Another 13 Going On 30 location is located just a few blocks away at the intersection of Mission and Meridian at the train tracks. This is the spot where adult Jenna jumps out of Chris Grandy’s taxi cab and rushes to stop Matt’s wedding. This location was easy to figure out – I recognized it the first time I saw the movie.

Me hoping over the center divide like Jenna does in the movie! 🙂

If you turn directly around from this location and look behind you, you will see another filming location – Michael Meyer’s house from the original Halloween movie. The home has definitely been given a face lift and is not nearly as run down as it was back in Michael Meyer’s day, but it is still definitely recognizable.

Until next time, Happy Stalking!

Stalk It: Jenna’s and Matt’s houses are located at 1837 and 1839 Spruce Street, respectively. Spruce Street is just one street north of Huntington Drive in South Pasadena. Once you’ve stalked those houses, just drive north to Mission Street, turn left and drive to Meridian to see the intersection where Jenna ditches Chris Grandy. The Halloween house is located at 1000 Mission Street. After you’re done stalking, grab a coffee or a Fosselman’s ice cream at Buster’s Ice Cream Shop at 1006 Mission St. – all that stalking does work up an appetite!

November 27, 2007
My So-Called Weekend

I know My So-Called Life has been off the air for over 8 years now, but I am still slightly obsessed with it. When one of my co-workers told me that MSCL was filmed at his high school, University High School in West LA, I set out to have a My So-Called Weekend!

University High School, aka Uni High, is located at 11800 Texas Avenue. Although the front of the high school is quite impressive, it was the back staircase that was actually used as Lincoln High in MSCL. Uni High has a pretty impressive filming history – it was also used in Seventh Heaven, Drillbit Taylor, and Lizzie McGuire – just to name a few.

As soon as I came to the bottom of Uni’s back staircase, I immediately recognized it as Angela Chase’s alma mater. You might remember the staircase from the Halloween episode, when Rayanne spent a great deal of time waiting for Angela at the flagpole located at the top of the stairs.

Now it was time to find the Chase Home. I had a hunch the house was located in South Pasadena, as the producers of MSCL were also the producers of thirtysomething – which was filmed primarily in South Pas. I knew that the address number of the MSCL house was 1110, thanks to the website www.mscl.com – which had several pictures of the real home used in the filming. So – armed with a pretty big hunch that the house would be in the same vicinity as the thirtysomething houses – my boyfriend and I drove up and down South Pasadena streets looking at every single home with a 1110 address until we located the house.

Success came pretty quickly when we found the home at 1110 Glendon Way. The home has been painted since MSCL aired and looks a lot different, but it was still exciting to be there, standing in Angela Chase’s footsteps. And I just had to take a picture mimicking that famous screen shot from the end of the pilot episode when Angela is standing in the middle of the street with her new red hair. 🙂

Stalk It: I would recommend visiting Uni High on a weekend because soccer games are held on the campus on weekends, and one is allowed to walk around without being bothered. Uni High is located at 11800 Texas Avenue in West Los Angeles. The Chase Home is located in South Pasadena at 1110 Glendon Way, just off Fair Oaks Avenue. While you are in the neighborhood, stop by the Fair Oaks Pharmacy at 1526 Misson St. for an ice cream Sundae. The Fair Oaks Pharmacy opened in 1915 and is an old time pharmacy with a real soda fountain – and it just happened to be used as a filming location in the movie Mr. Deeds.

November 21, 2007
Never Never Land

Now, even though he has some issues – I do love me some MJ. So I was quite distressed to find out last weekend that MJ’s ranch, Neverland, is in a state of disarray and might be sold and torn down. I just happened to be spending a couple of days in Santa Barbara, so I figured I better go check the place out while I still had the chance. I dragged my poor boyfriend 45 miles north of SB to Santa Ynez to stalk at the famed gates of Neverland Ranch.

Even though it wasn’t the greatest stalking location and there wasn’t much to see – I was still pretty excited to be able to do the Thriller dance right on MJ’s property! 🙂

I thought for sure I’d get to see at least the very tip top of one of the roller coasters, or maybe the roof of the mansion, or at the very minimum the famous golden gates with “Neverland” written across them that the media always shows on newscasts about the pop star. Unfortunately, none of that can be seen from the street. All that is viewable to the public from Figueroa Mountain Road is a guard house and a simple wooden gate.

The guard house does look like it is straight out of Fantasyland, though – exactly like Snow White’s Castle, but with a Direct TV dish on the roof!

Until next time, Happy Stalking!

Stalk It: Neverland Ranch is located at 5225 Figueroa Mountain Road in Los Olivos, CA. It is waaaaaaaay out there in the middle of nowhere and I wouldn’t recommend driving all that way just to see a Disney-esque guard shack. I would suggest instead doing your stalking from home on this one- armed with your laptop and live local search – you get to see a lot more that way!

November 21, 2007
Finding the Shark House!

Well, it may have taken me months, but I finally found the property used as James Woods’ home on the CBS legal drama Shark. Ever since watching the Sharkpilot episode I have been slightly obsessed with Sebastian Stark’s modern style wood and glass abode. In recent months, though, the house had become the bane of my existence – the one filming location I just simply could not find!! I Googled the terms “Shark filming locations” more times that I care to admit, I check and rechecked the Shark IMDB web page, and I even attempted to contact the creator of the “Shark Fan” website – all to no avail!

Usually when searching for filming locations, I can find clues somewhere in the background of a movie or a TV show by spotting a distant street sign or a neighboring house’s address. But freeze-framing my TiVo’d episodes of Shark proved to be no help whatsoever. Listening to the director’s commentary on a DVD can also provide some clues as to a location. But since the first season of Shark had yet to be released on DVD , for this particular endeavor I was on my own. But, like any good stalker, I refused to give up!

My persistence paid off, as one day a light bulb went off in my head! My boss’ house is registered with one of the biggest filming location companies in Southern California. It suddenly dawned on me that the Sharkhouse might just be registered with the same company. After scouring their web-site’s “Modern Properties” section, I found the house! At that point, I simply called my contact at the location company and voila! – he gave me the address – 2315 Live Oaks Meadow Road in the hills of Malibu, California!

The very next day I set out to find the house in person – and how excited I was to find out once I got there that the home was for sale! It is pretty small in person, as far as Malibu homes go, but extremely quiet and private and even more spectacular in person. There are only four other homes on the entire street. My boyfriend snapped some pics of the house as I walked up the driveway to snag a real estate flyer about the property and then we were on our way, this particular stalking adventure a success!

Until next time, Happy Stalking!

Stalk It: The Shark House is located at 2315 Live Oaks Meadow Rd. Take the Pacific Coast Highway to Las Flores Canyon Road and head up toward the mountains for approximately 2.5 miles. Make a left on Live Oaks Meadow Road. The house is three houses down on the right hand side. If you have an extra $2.4 million to burn, you might even be able to call the Shark house your own! And yes, of course, I did try to schedule a viewing of the house to see the interior in person, but the brokerage company wanted me to fill out way too much paperwork, so, as obsessive as I can sometimes be, I this one go. You can see the interior of the home at www.liveoakmeadow.com.

November 19, 2007
Seinfeld’s Apartment

Like most filming locations, the site used as Jerry’s apartment building on the hit TV show Seinfeld, can actually be found in Los Angeles, not Manhattan. It is a nondescript little building that actually does look very reminiscent of New York. I didn’t recognize the building in person, until I looked at it through the viewfinder of my camera, and I practically heard the be-bop-bop of the theme song in my head! During Seinfeld’s day, the awning of the building was green, but today it is a drab brown. In real life, the building is called “The Shelley.” It is fun to visit, as it will bring you right back to the days of Must See TV!

Until next time, Happy Stalking!

Stalk It: Jerry’s building is located at 757 New Hampshire Ave. in Los Angeles. Be careful when visiting – Seinfeld didn’t live in the safest neighborhood!

November 18, 2007
I am in love – and his name is Don Antonio!

Like most everyone who watches, I, too, think Spencer and Heidi from The Hillsare complete douchbags – but I still had to go find the restaurant they seem to visit on every episode – Don Antonio’s. It was easy enough to find with a simple Google search and, with camera in hand, my boyfriend and I ventured out there one Friday night. It is a cute little place, that is usually jam packed with people. I thought at first that the many visitors were all Hillsfans like myself hoping for a Speidi sighting, but now that I have eaten there, I realize that most likely the hordes of people are there for the food and not the celeb sightings. The food at Don Antonio’s is nothing short of INCREDIBLE! The homemade chicken tamales, the special burrito, and the fajitas are my favorites – but no matter what you chose, you cannot go wrong!!! My boyfriend and I now visit Don Antonio’s at least twice a week – alas with no sightings of Spencer and Heidi as of yet. But we did see Anne Ramsay, who played Helen Hunt’s sister on Mad About You, in the bar one night. Upon arriving I always ask if Spencer and Heidi are there eating, but I’ve never had the luck of being there at the same time. According to the ultra-friendly employees, who now know me as “the girl who is always looking for Spencer and Heidi”, they dine at Don Antonio’s at least three times a week, usually around 7PM at night. Hopefully one day I’ll get to see Speidi in the flesh, but until then, I am perfectly happy just enjoying the food at my new favorite restaurant!

Note – And no, according to employees, the “Spencer Steak” on the menu is not named after Spencer from The Hills.

Until next time, Happy Stalking!

Stalk It:Don Antonio’s is located at 11755 W. Pico Blvd. in West Los Angeles, near Overland Ave. There is plenty of street parking most of the time, but on Friday evenings after 7PM, you’ll be lucky to even get a valet spot – and the wait is usually over 45 minutes. Trust me, though – it is well worth it!!! Come for the celeb sightings – stay for the food! The prices are super reasonable, too.

November 18, 2007