Month: February 2008

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The Lethal Weapon 2 House

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Since I am constantly dragging my boyfriend on my stalking adventures every single weekend, I decided to finally stalk a place he would enjoy – the house on stilts from Lethal Weapon 2. This is the same house that Mel Gibson attaches to his pick-up truck via cables, drives away, and pulls right down the hill. In real life, the producers built a replica house on a studio lot for Mel to pull down and the real house is still standing on Mulholland Drive in Beverly Hills.

The Lethal Weapon 2 house was designed by John Lautner – the famous architect who also designed Courtney Cox’s House.

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Stalk It: The Garcia House is located at 7436 Mulholland Drive in Hollywood Hills West. If would like to spend the night in a John Lautner home, the Elrod/Lautner home in Palm Springs – which was immortalized in the James Bond movie Diamonds are Forever – is available for rentals. You can learn more about it here.

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The Poise Magazine Office from “13 Going On 30”

First, let me just say how happy I am that Britney apparently survived Starbucks three hour closure today! It’s truly a minor miracle!!

Anyway, on with the post . . .

img_1686.jpg This past December while on vacation in New York, I happened to walk by a building that I immediately recognized as the “Poise” offices from 13 Going On 30. I am not sure if it was the gold-framed revolving door that gave it away, or just the fact that I have seen 13 Going On 30 way too many times, but nevertheless I knew the building was used as Jenna Rink’s office the moment I spotted it. The “Poise” office building was actually built in 1931 and used to house Newsweek Magazine. It is now home to New York Magazine.

The store where Jenna shops in the movie and forgets her credit card is Henri Bendel and it is located just a few blocks away at 712 Fifth Avenue.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: The “Poise” offices are located at 444 Madison Avenue in New York City, between 49th and 50th Streets. Just a half a block down from the office building is the New York Palace Hotel, where much of the TV show Gossip Girl is filmed. On the show, Serena lives at the Palace with her parents and often hangs out in the Gilt bar, which can be found just off the hotel’s courtyard.

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The Bel Air Hotel

img_1923.jpg In honor of the eagerly anticipated issue of New York Magazine that hits newsstands tomorrow, in which Lindsay Lohan recreates Marilyn Monroe’s very last photo shoot, I thought I’d blog about the Hotel Bel-Air. Photographer Bert Stern held both the 1962 Marilyn Monroe photo shoot and the recent Lindsay Lohan shoot at the Hotel Bel-Air. Although you don’t see the hotel in any of the pictures of the LLo or Marilyn shoot (not that you’d notice even if the hotel was pictured in the background!!) the Bel Air is absolutely gorgeous and is definitely a Los Angeles Must See!

img_1911.jpg One of the cool side benefits of being a stalker is all the cool places I discover while I am out and about stalking. My first visit to the Hotel Bel Air was for a stalking outing, but it has quickly become one of my favorite places to have a weekend drink. Hotel Bel Air has long been a haven for the rich and famous, and it’s not very hard to see why. The grounds are absolutely incredible – with huge swan-filled ponds, outdoor fireplaces, large sprawling lawns and tree covered terraces. I can’t think of a more relaxing retreat in Los Angeles – or a better place for stalking! 🙂

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

img_1924.jpg Stalk It: The Hotel Bel Air is located at 701 Stone Canyon Road in Bel Air. You can visit the hotel’s website, and reserve a room, here. The Champagne Bar inside the hotel is a fab spot for celeb stalking, and – with its overstuffed chairs, roaring fireplace and dark wood walls – it’s the perfect place to share a romantic evening. Disregard the sign on the door saying there is a dress-code – they did away with the jacket and tie rule years ago.

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Rain, Rain, Go Away!!

img_2024.jpg I am sad to say that I had a lot more luck last year stalking the 79th Annual Academy Awards than I did this year at the 80th Annual Academy Awards. 🙁 We did have some fun, though! Yesterday morning, bright and early, my boyfriend and I headed to the Kodak Theatre at the Hollywood and Highland Center to check out the preparation for tonight’s big ceremony. The red carpet was as beautiful and awe-inspiring as ever, albeit covered in a huge see-through tarp to keep the rain at bay.

img_2043.jpg While stalking the red carpet, we saw Regis Philbin shooting some pre-Oscar footage. Reg was tiny in person – I am guessing about 5’4″ – and extremely tan! He seemed very friendly, though, chatting and goofing off with the Oscar crew members. After he finished filming a few Oscar segments, Regis walked right through the crowds on Hollywood Boulevard to check out his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. 🙂 If you’re curious, Regis’ star is located almost directly in front of Disney’s Soda Fountain and Studio Store.

More red carpet pics:

img_2031.jpg The rain tarp!

img_2035.jpg Soaking up the rain from the red carpet!

img_2040.jpg Oscar’s humble beginnings!

After Hollywood and Highland, we headed to the Sunset Strip to scope out the many hotels favored by celebs during Oscar weekend. I don’t know if it was the rain, or just some bad luck, but it seemed like no celebs were out and about in Hollywood yesterday. 🙁 We did run into Spike Lee (again!) in the gift shop of the Mondrian Hotel buying some newspapers. Apparently the Mondrian is Spike’s home away from home while he is on the West Coast. As always, the Mondrian Hotel’s staff was extremely friendly and welcoming! I so love that place! We didn’t have any luck at any of the other Strip hotels, though.

img_2048.jpg The biggest bummer of all came when we arrived at the Beverly Hills Hotel and were informed that they were not allowing anyone without a reservation into the hotel! Due to the rain, the “Night Before” party had to be moved inside, at which point they shut down the hotel to non-guests and non-reservation holders! 🙁 New 2008 Oscar Tip: Make dinner reservations at the Polo Lounge before arriving!! Anyway, a good stalker cannot be deterred – so after being turned away at the BH Hotel, we instead headed to Santa Monica, site of the Independent Spirit Awards. We were way too late to witness the Spirit Awards “blue” carpet, but I had read that the after party was being held at Shutters on the Beach Hotel, so (in the pouring rain) we headed there for a drink. Let me just say, they are called “independent” films for a reason – I had no idea who anyone was! lol We did see Juno director Jason Reitman walking around, but that was about it. There were a few people holding Spirit awards mingling in the hotel, but I had no idea who they were. 🙁 Perhaps I need to brush up on my indy films!!

Even though I didn’t have the greatest of luck at the Academy Awards of 2008, there’s always next year! I am already looking forward to the 2009 awards season! 🙂

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

img_2025.jpg Stalk It: The Spirit Awards are held on the beach in Santa Monica each year. Shutters On The Beach Hotel is located at 1 Pico Blvd. in Santa Monica and is a great place to sit and have a drink and appetizers. Shutters is a beautiful beachfront hotel, and if you are planning a trip to LA, I would definitely recommend staying there. Their rooms run about $475 a night and up, though, so it’s definitely going to cost ya to stay there. Shutters’ Restaurant, One Pico, is supposed to be amazing and Jen Aniston just happens to be a regular. 🙂

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This Might Just Be What Finally Puts Britney Over the Edge!!

britney-starbucks.jpg I am sad to report that on Tuesday, February 26th, every single Starbucks store is going to close between the hours of 5:30PM and 8:30PM for an emergency re-training session with CEO Howard Schultz. Whatever is BritBrit going to do if she wants her beverage of choice during those three hours?? For that matter, what am I going to do??? Thank God Sophie Kinsella’s (my very favorite author!!!) new book comes out that day to keep my mind off of my Starbucks withdrawals!!

You can read more on the story here.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

13goingon30-002.jpg Stalk It: Britney’s Starbucks of choice is located at the Malibu Country Mart in Malibu, right on Pacific Coast Highway. You can read a more detailed post about Britter’s fave Starbucks here.

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The Night Before the Night Before Party

img_2017.jpg Last night I dragged my boyfriend to the Regent Beverly Wilshire Hotel to do a little stalking of the “Night Before the Night Before Party” that was being held at Wolfgang Puck’s restaurant Cut located inside the hotel. I must say that aside from seeing Jeffrey Katzenberg (who is teeny tiny!!), the night was pretty much a bust. Apparently the “Night Before the Night Before” party is more for industry types and not celebs, as I didn’t recognize anyone. Supposedly Faith Hill and Tim McGraw were in attendance, but we didn’t spot them. We did grab a couple of drinks and appetizers at TheBLVD bar inside the Regent, and saw a production crew taping a segment for The Ellen DeGeneres Show. Sadly, Ellen was not in attendance. 🙁

After the Regent, we hit up the Beverly Hilton Hotel, where nothing much was going on. All in all, it was a pretty disappointing night from a stalking standpoint. Here’s hoping we have better luck today! 🙂

Until next time, Happy Stalking. 🙂

Stalk It: Cut is located inside the Regent Beverly Wilshire Hotel, which can be found at 9500 Wilshire Boulevard in Beverly Hills. TheBLVD bar is also located inside the Regent, and, while pricey, it serves up some great appetizers and is the perfect spot to people watch. We saw a lot of interesting characters there last night.

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Big Mistake! Big! Huge!

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Those of you planning to stalk the “Night Before the Night Before” party taking place at the Regent Beverly Wilshire Hotel tomorrow night, might also want to check out another famous location just down the street. A few blocks away from the Regent is a little shop that might look familiar to Pretty Woman fans. It is the very same store where Julia Roberts, hoping to purchase a cocktail dress, gets snubbed by a group of snooty saleswomen. Later in the movie, Julia gets her revenge when she returns to the store, laden with shopping bags, and utters her famous line, “You guys work on commission, right? Big mistake! Big! Huge! I have to go shopping now!” In real life the shop is called Boulmiche and it looks pretty much the same as it did in Pretty Woman. If you would like to venture inside the store to do a little shopping yourself, don’t be scared – in real life, the salespeople are very friendly. 🙂 Boulmiche has become something of a celeb magnet as of late – attracting the likes of Jessica Simpson, Halle Berry and Eva Mendes, just to name a few.

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As I mentioned in my last post, the Regent Beverly Wilshire Hotel is famous in and of itself – also from the movie Pretty Woman. It is the hotel where Julia Roberts and Richard Gere spend their six days together. Sadly, though, only the exterior of the Regent was used for filming; the interiors existed only on a Disney sound-stage. While the inside of the hotel is very beautiful and luxurious, I was disappointed when I visited it for the first time. I was really hoping that all of my Hollywood tour books were wrong and that at least part of the lobby had been used in the movie, but sadly that was not the case. Even the elevators were different. Even so, I would highly recommend visiting the Regent, tomorrow night or any other night, as it is truly a beautiful hotel. And you never know who might be hanging around. Last time I was there I saw Jake Gyllenhaal. 🙂

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: The Regent Beverly Wilshire Hotel is located at 9500 Wilshire Boulevard in Beverly Hills. The “Night Before the Night Before Party” is taking place at Wolfgang Puck’s restaurant Cut, located inside the hotel. While Cut will most likely be closed off to the general public tomorrow night, you can always grab a drink in the bar right off the hotel lobby and hope for a star sighting. Boulmiche Boutique is located at 9501 Santa Monica Boulevard, at the corner of Rodeo Drive and Santa Monica Boulevard.

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Oscar Weekend Stalking – Part II

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On Oscar Weekend, after stalking the red carpet, I recommend hotel-hopping your way through Hollywood and Beverly Hills for optimal star viewing! The Chateau Marmont, the Mondrian, the Sunset Tower Hotel, the Regent Beverly Wilshire, and the Beverly Hills Hotel are all prime celebrity viewing locations – and most have extremely friendly staff – except for the Chateau Marmont. The Chateau is a notorious celebrity hangout and was home to Lindsay Lohan for a few years, but the staff there seems to go out of their way to make non-famous guests feel unwelcome. That’s probably why celebs like the place so much. 🙂

The Mondrian, on the other hand, is a great place to star gaze. Last year, while driving on Sunset Boulevard the day before the Oscars, we noticed a huge crowd of paparazzi standing outside the Philippe Starck designed hotel. It turns out Posh Spice was having lunch inside! We went in and, sure enough, there was Victoria Beckham, much taller than I expected and a whole lot better looking. She didn’t have that robotic look in person that she usually has in all her paparazzi photos. She seemed really friendly and was giggling with a friend and hotel security over the pandemonium she had caused outside. We also saw Spike Lee, who is a frequent guest of the Mondrian’s Asia de Cuba restaurant. The Mondrian staff could not have been nicer – the gift shop attendant told us a really long story about Britney Spears, who had just recently shaved her head and had shown up at the hotel in her infamous pink wig, sans credit card, cash or an ID, demanding a room and a free bathing suit! Ah, Britney!

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The final stop on your Oscar tour must be the Beverly Hills Hotel, as every Saturday night before the Oscars, the famous “Night Before” party is held by the hotel’s pool. Without a room, the hotel staff will not allow you to hang out in the lobby when the stars start arriving for the big shindig, but don’t worry – most of them venture into the hotel’s Polo Lounge for a drink beforehand. So just park yourself on a bar-stool and you’re virtually guaranteed a star sighting! Last year, dining among us were Paris Hilton, Reese Witherspoon, Russell Simmons, Elle Macpherson and billionaire Kirk Kerkorian, owner of the MGM Grand Hotel.

A Few Oscar Weekend Stalking Tips:

1. Book your hotels early! Anyone who is anyone will be in town for Oscar Weekend, so hotels book up quickly. I would suggest staying at the Beverly Hills Hotel or the Mondrian. The staff at both are extremely friendly, the restaurants and bars are exceptional, and both hotels are beautiful. If you can’t stay at these hotels, or don’t want to spend the money, be sure to at least visit both on your stalking adventures!

2. Drive around Hollywood and Beverly Hills as much as you can and keep your eyes peeled for paparazzi. If you notice a large group of people standing outside the entrance to a hotel or restaurant, stop and go in! There is most definitely a celeb inside! Paparazzi, on the whole, are not very nice people, but if you smile, they will usually tell you who they are waiting around for.

3. Get your hair or nails done at a ritzy Beverly Hills salon – but be prepared to drop some coins! Everyone gets gussied up for Oscar Weekend, so if you are lucky, you just might be getting your French Manicure next to Jennifer Aniston.

4. Whatever you do, don’t forget your camera!! This is one occasion where you will NOT want to miss out on taking pictures! You just never know who you are going to run into! 🙂

5. Don’t be afraid to ask hotel staff and security about celebs. Most are extremely friendly and love to share their stories.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: While hotel-hopping, be sure to hit up Chateau Marmont (8221 Sunset Blvd.), Sunset Tower Hotel (8358 Sunset Blvd.), The Mondrian Hotel (8440 Sunset Blvd.) and The Beverly Hills Hotel (9641 Sunset Blvd.) – the site of the annual “Night Before” party. This year the “Night Before The Night Before” party is scheduled to take place on Friday, February 22nd, at Wolfgang Puck’s eatery Cut, located inside the Regent Beverly Wilshire Hotel – the very same hotel where Richard Gere wooed Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman. The Regent Beverly Wilshire is located at 9500 Wilshire Boulevard in Beverly Hills.

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On the Red Carpet – Oscar Weekend Stalking, Part I

handlercaticy1h.jpg If you have only one weekend a year to go star stalking in LA, then Oscar Weekend is it! Los Angeles comes alive during the few days before Hollywood’s Golden Boy is given out, and you are virtually guaranteed a star sighting – that is, if you know where to look. So, it’s a good thing you’ve found me. 🙂

handlercait1s8y.jpg Last February, on the Saturday before the Oscars, I dragged my boyfriend to the famed Kodak Theatre at the Hollywood and Highland Center, which is home to the awards ceremony to end all awards ceremonies. The nondescript Hollywood and Highland Mall turns into a virtual sea of red and gold the day before the Oscars – and anyone is allowed to walk right up and witness it all first hand! Although, unfortunately, most of the red carpet is roped off to the general public, there is a small area where the celeb obsessed are allowed to walk right on it. Even though it was covered in plastic at the time, I got goose bumps while standing on it all the same! It was pretty unbelievable to be standing there on the most famous carpet in the world!

handlercahwhwl1.jpg Being the stalker that I am, I even found a part of the carpet where a piece of the plastic had been peeled back, so I just had to step on it. 🙂

jay.jpg After my stroll down the red carpet, we made our way to the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, where media crews were filming Oscar press junkets. While walking around the conference room area of the hotel – hoping for a star sighting – we ran into Jay Manuel from America’s Next Top Model ! Jay was extremely nice, shook my hand, and even posed for a picture.

Stay tuned for Oscar Weekend Stalking – Part II tomorrow! 🙂

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: For Oscar weekend stalking, your first stop should definitely be the Hollywood and Highland Center in downtown Hollywood. The red carpet starts right at the corner of Hollywood Boulevard and Highland Avenue. From Highland, you can make your way down Hollywood Boulevard to the entrance of the Kodak Theatre for more great behind-the-scenes Oscar viewing. After your red carpet adventure, visit the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel (7000 Hollywood Blvd.) and the Hollywood Renaissance Hotel (1755 N. Highland Ave. – also accessible via the third floor of the Hollywood and Highland Center), which both hold star studded press junkets and media events the day before the Oscars.