Britney Spears – Page 3 – IAMNOTASTALKER

July 9, 2009December 6, 2013

The Fairmont Miramar Santa Monica

I don’t know about you all, but for the past few Sunday nights I have been absolutely glued to my television set watching Season 2 of the Ryan Seacrest produced Denise Richards: It’s Complicated. And while I admit that the girl is an absolute train wreck and that her laugh is like fingernails on a chalkboard, for some incredibly odd reason I just can’t stop watching! LOL So, since I was in the area recently, I just had to stalk the hotel Denise moved into at the beginning of this season.

Wanting a “fresh start” after the past “difficult year”, Denise decided to sell her Hidden Hills home and move closer to her daughters’ school and her “work” – whatever that means. I didn’t realize Denise had a full time job. LOL Anyway, until her former home sells, the Richards Family, including Denise, her father Irv (no, that’s not a typo, that’s actually his name!), and daughters Lola and Sam, are calling the Fairmont Miramar Hotel & Bungalows in Santa Monica home. The hotel shows up quite often on this season of Denise’s reality show, especially the bungalow area where her family lives . . .

. . . and the hotel’s onsite fitness center, where she works out daily with her trainer/sometimes date Ray.

The Fairmont Miramar Hotel & Bungalows was originally the private home of John P. Jones, a former Nevada senator and one of the founders of the City of Santa Monica. John built a mansion on the site in 1889 and dubbed his property “Miramar” which means “view of the sea” in Spanish. In 1912, the Jones Family sold their home to King C. Gillette, founder of the razor company of the same name and the King Gillette Ranch where TV’s The Biggest Loser is filmed. Nine years later, in 1921, Gillette sold the property to hotel entreprenuer Gilbert Stevenson, who turned it into an upscale seaside resort. In 1924, to make room for more guests, Stevenson added a large brick building to the property and also, sadly, had the original Jones’ mansion torn down just a few years later. In 1959, the hotel added yet another tower. Forty years later, the current owner, investment group Maritz, Wolffe & Co. purchased the hotel, started a $16 million renovation process, and brought in the Fairmont Hotels and Resorts company to manage the property. All these years later it is still a truly beautiful place and I highly recommend stalking it! 🙂

Denise Richards is not the first celeb to check into the Miramar. Over the years numermous stars have stayed there, including Cary Grant, Greta Garbo (who lived at the hotel for close to three years), Doris Day, JFK and Jackie O., Eleanor Roosevelt, Charles Lindbergh, my girl Marilyn Monroe, Rosa Parks, Denzel Washington, Quincy Jones, Hugh Hefner, Anthony Hopkins, Arnold Schwarznegger, Steven Spielburg, Shaquille O’Neal, and Hilary Swank, just to name a few.

The hotel has been featured in countless movie and television productions over the years. In the Season 5 episode of Entourage entitled “First Class Jerk”, the Miramar stood in for a Hawaiian resort where Vinnie and the boys hung out.

The large Moreton Bay Fig Tree which stands at the entrance to the Miramar and quite closely resembles a banyan tree gives the hotel somewhat of a tropical feel, so it’s no surprise that Entourage producers chose to film there instead of shooting on location in Hawaii. The fig tree was planted way back in 1879 – yes, 1879 – by Senator Jones, the original owner of the propety. It measures a whopping 80 feet high and 120 feet wide!

The hotel also showed up as the location where Anthony Hopkins’ wife carried out her affair in 2007’s Fracture.

It was also the hotel where Helen Mirren and her friends stayed during their L.A. visit in the Disney movie Calendar Girls. Please excuse the horrific YouTube screen captures pictured above! LOL In the 1962 Cary Grant and Doris Day comedy That Touch of Mink, the Miramar was used as a West Indies resort. The hotel has also been featured in Along Came Polly and the television series Simon & Simon.

And last, but definitely not least, the night before her surprise wedding to KFed, Britney Spears threw herself a Bachelorette party in one of the Miramar’s bungalows. KFed partied with his boys, aka “The Pimps” right across the street at Houston’s Restaurant (pictured above). Both, I’m sure, were classy affairs! 😉 At the time, Kevin was living with Britney in her nearby oceanside pad in the 1221 Ocean Avenue condomium complex.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: The Fairmont Miramar Hotel & Bungalows is located at 101 Wilshire Boulevard in Santa Monica. You can visit their website here. Houston’s Restaurant, where KFed held his bachelor party, is located across the street at 202 Wilshire Boulevard.

April 16, 2009December 6, 2013

Paradise Cove

One location I have been wanting to stalk ever since I first moved to L.A. nine years ago – has it really been nine years??? – is Malibu’s Paradise Cove. Countless movies have been filmed at the Cove, but I wanted to stalk it for one reason and one reason only. Back in April of 1999, it was the location where Britney Spears filmed the music video for her hit song “Sometimes”. And I absolutely LOVED that video. I can still remember the first time I watched it on TRL just about ten years ago. And ever since that day I have been dying to see the white pier featured in the video in person. So, this past Saturday, I finally did just that. When I happened to mention to my mom that morning that I was on my way to stalk the Cove and the reason why, she said “Oh Lindsay, when are you going to get over this Britney obsession?” LOL

Paradise Cove, as we know it today, came to be in the early 1950s when a man named Joe Morris purchased two adjacent parcels of land and combined them into 70 beachfront acres complete with a private cove and a beach cafe. In the beginning, the area was a fisherman’s hangout, a place for sea-weary workers to not only launch their boats, but to kick back and grab a drink after a long day on the open water. The Cove gradually turned into a beachfront community, a place for local families, tourists, and celebrities alike to hang out by the sea. In the 70s, Joe sold his land, his beachfront restaurant, and his private cove to the Kissel family, who turned the area into a waterfront mobile home park. Joe’s son Bob was heartbroken over the sale and in 1998, he returned to Paradise Cove and purchased his father’s former restaurant. He renamed it Bob Morris’ Paradise Cove Beach Cafe and remains the owner to this day. The above photograph is of a picture on display at the Beach Cafe of my girl Marilyn Monroe posing on a cliff above the restaurant many moons ago.

Most of the action of Britney’s “Sometimes” video takes place right on the Paradise Cove pier. In the video, while hanging out at her beach house, Britney spies a cute boy playing nearby in the sand. She rushes down to the local pier, where her back-up dancers, dressed all in white, are waiting for her. The group then performs a very “Britney” dance routine (of course, I memorized it!) for the boy. I know, I know, the premise sounds incredibly lame, but – trust me – the video is adorable! You can watch the “Sometimes” video here.

In person, the pier looks exactly the same as how it appeared in Britney’s video. The only difference is that, in real life, there is no “Kenny’s Cove” sign located over the entrance. Apparently the video’s producer, Nigel Dick, thought an entrance sign similar to the one that adorns the Santa Monica pier was needed for decoration. He decided to name the cove after the video’s location scout, Kenny. 🙂 Love it!

Had to do it! 🙂

Paradise Cove has been featured in countless productions over the years. In American Pie 2, the Michigan lake house the boys spend their summer at was actually a facade the producers built on the beach at Paradise Cove just North of Bob Morris’ Paradise Cove Beach Cafe. That’s the Paradise Cove Pier behind the boys in the above screen capture. Producers also built a fake lighthouse on the end of the pier for the production.

In Lethal Weapon 4, Mel Gibson and Rene Russo lived in a trailer/house also located just to the North of the Beach Cafe. Their house was also just a facade built for filming. You can see the Cafe’s exterior just to the right of Mel Gibson in the above screen capture.

The pier is featured twice in Indecent Proposal. It first shows up as the location where Woody Harrelson proposes to Demi Moore in the beginning of the movie. Then, at the very end of the movie, it is where the two reunite.

Other productions filmed at the Cove include Rockford Files (James Garner lived in a trailer on the beach), Gidget, Monster-in-Law (JLo and Michael Vartan explored the Cove’s tide pools in the beginning of the movie), Alias, Charlie’s Angels, X-Men (Spider-Man creator Stan Lee served hot dogs by the sea) and The House of Sand and Fog. The Beach Boys also shot the cover for their Surfin’ Safari album at the Cove (pictured above).

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I HIGHLY recommend stalking the Cove – but be forewarned, it’s not cheap! Parking there costs $25! Yes, you read that right! Which is the very reason it took me nine years to stalk the place. Stealing a term from my friend Mandy, I long ago dubbed my boyfriend the “Grim Cheaper” because the guy just hates spending money. Five years ago, when we went to stalk the Cove for the first time, he took one look at that $25 parking sign and turned the car right around. LOL What we didn’t realize at the time is if you grab a bite to eat at Bob Morris’ Paradise Cove Beach Cafe and spend more than $20, the parking fee drops to $3, which is not bad at all. So, after stalking the Cove this past Saturday we marched right into the cafe and parked ourselves on some bar stools. And while we had a good time and the food was definitely yummy, I think we actually missed the boat on that one. What we didn’t realize is that there is actually a back patio area where you can sip a cocktail while sitting outside under the sun, watching the surf. But the rules for the back patio are pretty confusing because while the cafe provides the outdoor seating, they do not actually own that particular area. So, you can buy a bottle of wine or beer inside the restaurant to take outside, but the bottles have to remain closed until you reach your sandy destination. If you open your beverages before you leave, you will have to finish them inside. Confused? So was I.

Basically, Bob Morris’ Beach Cafe acts as a liquor store and sells full bottles of wine and beer that you can purchase at the bar and then take outside to drink on the back patio area. I SO wish I had known that at the time, as the patio looks like a really fun place to grab a drink, put your toes in the sand, and watch the sun set. Oh well, it looks like I’ll just have to go back to stalk the place again. 🙂

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: Paradise Cove is located at 28128 Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu. You can visit the Paradise Cove website here.

April 7, 2009April 6, 2009

The “If U Seek Amy” House

A few weeks ago, Miss Britney Spears debuted her new video for the third single off her Circus album, the controversially titled “If U Seek Amy”. So, of course, I just had to watch! I was actually pretty excited about this video, as many critics were proclaiming that the old Britney was finally back. I was hoping for something along the lines of the Britney videos of old featuring adorable outfits, cute hairdos, and choreographed pop dances that high school girls everywhere (and – who am I kidding – I) would be copying. But, alas, that was not to be. I guess I just have to face the cold, hard truth – the old Britney will never be back. 🙁 The “If U Seek Amy” video is downright terrible. In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a more lame music video in my life. But, since I was in the area this weekend, I figured I may as well stalk the house where it was filmed. 🙂

The “If U Seek Amy” house was incredibly easy to find thanks to this article which stated that the video was filmed in Pacific Palisades and several paparazzi photos taken the day of the filming which clearly showed an address number of 14966 (pictured above).

Interestingly enough, though, the final “6” of the house number doesn’t appear in the actual music video (pictured above). It must have been removed in the editing room after filming was completed to ward off stalkers like me. LOL Nice try, Britney, but don’t you know the paparazzi document your every move? 🙂

It appears that both the interior and the exterior of the colonial style home were used in the filming of Britney’s new video. The interiors were used for the wild party scenes where a scantily clad Britney (wearing a pair of super cute pink high heels) dances with a group of friends. The exterior of the home is featured at the end of the video, where BritBrit – this time dressed up like a 50’s housewife – walks out of her white-picket fenced house with her husband and two children to serve the paparazzi some apple pie.

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It’s easy to see why producers chose to use the Pacific Palisades home, as it looks like the typical American dream house, complete with a white picket fence and gabled windows. It’s just the type of place you’d expect to find Britney’s 50’s housewife character living. You can watch the (incredibly lame) “If You Seek Amy” video here.

On a side note I have one more thing to say about the “If U Seek Amy” video – Holy roots, Batman! I think Britney really should have visited the salon to get her roots did before filming this thing!! I mean, I don’t let mine get even half that bad, and unlike BritBrit, I don’t have a stylist on the payroll!! Her roots were so distracting in the video that I pretty much couldn’t focus on anything else – which actually might have been a good thing! LOL

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: The house from Britney’s “If U Seek Amy” video is located at 14966 La Cumbre Drive in Pacific Palisades.

March 31, 2009March 30, 2009

The Belasco Theatre

During my three day stint as an extra in the Britney Spears movie Crossroads, I happened to make friends with a few of the crew members. The entire cast and crew of the movie was EXTREMELY nice and, as tends to happen on long shoots, I got to know the people I was working with quite well. As I was saying goodbye to my new friends on my last day of being a Crossroads extra, one of the cameramen invited me to watch the following day’s shoot which was taking place at an old theatre in Downtown Los Angeles. It was going to be the very last day of filming on Crossroads and since the cameraman knew what a huge BritBrit fan I was, he invited me to spend the day on the set.

Getting to watch the final day of the filming of Crossroads was an incredible experience for me. Filming took place at a beautiful old theatre named the Belasco. Just being in that space was an amazing opportunity – let alone being there to watch Britney Spears perform. 🙂 The scene being filmed on that final day was the Hollywood singing contest that Britney and her friends compete in at the very end of the movie. Basically, for the entire twelve hours that I spent on the set that day, I got to sit around and watch Britney Spears sing live both “I’m Not A Girl, Not Yet A Woman” and “Overprotected”. Most of the filming that day was done without any extras in attendance – and because of the way the cameras were positioned, I was allowed to sit on the steps leading up to the stage and watch what pretty much amounted to my very own private Britney Spears concert. I’m not kidding – it was absolutely A-MA-ZING!!! And, once again, I was literally pinching myself the whole time. I could NOT believe I was actually sitting there, an audience of one, less than two feet from my idol, watching her perform two unreleased songs live and in person. For me, it was a once in a lifetime! I half expected to wake up at any moment in my bed at home – the whole experience having been just a dream. I mean things like that just don’t happen in real life! And even though I don’t still adore Britney as I once did, I will always cherish my memories from that day. You can watch part of the scene that was filmed at the Belasco Theatre here.

The Belasco Theatre was built in 1926 by theatre producers David and Edward Belasco. The Spanish Baroque style theatre was originally a live performance venue. Its premiere show? Gentlemen Prefer Blondes – a play written by Anita Loos which would later become a movie musical starring my girl Marilyn. 🙂 Over the years, after falling upon hard times and closing its doors for a period, the Belasco was used as both an exotic movie house and a church. The building was just recently sold last year and was completely restored to its original grandeur by its new owner. At this time it’s unclear what is being done with the historic theatre, but some online reports speculate that it might become a nightclub.

Besides Crossroads, other productions that have filmed at the historic Belasco Theatre include Swordfish (where it was used as John Travolta’s lair – pictured above), The Prestige, Memoirs of a Geisha, Being John Malkovich, Midnight Frolics, and the television series Fastlane.

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The Belasco Theatre is incredible beautiful inside, but, sadly, it is currently closed to the public. I can’t really recommend stalking the exterior of the theatre, either, as it is fairly non-descript. You could easily drive right by without even noticing it. But if you ever have the opportunity to see the interior in person, I highly recommend it! In the meantime, you can cyberstalk the interior here.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: The Belasco Theatre is located at 1050 South Hill Street in Downtown Los Angeles.

March 30, 2009April 6, 2009

Cafe-Club Fais Do-Do

Back before she was going shoeless in public restrooms and flashing her privates to anyone with a camera, I was majorly obsessed with pop princess Britney Spears. The hair, the cute little outfits, her music – I absolutely loved everything about the girl! I attended her 2001 Live From Las Vegas concert event, I learned the steps to “Oops! . . . I Did It Again“ and performed a mini-Britney concert with some of my sixth grade students back when I was a substitute teacher, and I dressed up like her every chance I got. The above photo is from a Christmas costume party back in 2000 when I dressed up like Britney and made my good friend Ty dress up like Justin Timberlake. He’s such a big guy, though, that everyone thought he was supposed to be Britney Spears security. LOL

So, in Spring of 2001, when a co-worker of mine told me that her good friend was responsible for casting the extras in all of Britney’s music videos, I almost died on the spot! I begged her to pass my phone number on to her friend in the hopes that maybe someday she’d hire me as an extra and I’d get to see my idol in person. Well, not three days later I got a call from the friend asking if I wanted to do background work in the Britney Spears MOVIE that was currently filming. I’ll never forget standing there screaming “Oh my god! Oh my god! Oh my god!” into the phone, and the friend saying – a bit nervously – “OK, you can’t do that once you get to the set!” LOL So, bright and early the next morning I set out for a three day shoot on the set of the Britney Spears movie. And I really could not have been more excited!

Britney’s movie was originally entitled What Are Friends For and the scene being filmed was the karaoke contest scene where BritBrit and her friends sang Joan Jett’s famous “I Love Rock N’ Roll” in the fictional Club Bayou, which was supposedly located in New Orleans. In reality, though, the club where Britney performed is named Cafe-Club Fais Do-Do and is located just off the 10 Freeway in Los Angeles. Even though quite a bit of Crossroads was actually filmed in Louisiana, the karaoke scene was filmed in L.A. Go figure. You can see the exterior of the fictional Club Bayou which is shown in the movie and the exterior of the real club where filming took place above.

The filming of the karaoke scene took three long days to complete, but, of course, I was loving every minute of it! I think it is pretty much safe to say, though, that no other extra was quite as excited to be there as I was. 🙂 During the three day shoot I made friends with a few of the background actors and they all teased me incessantly over my love for BritBrit. LOL Needless to say they weren’t big fans of hers. 🙂 (Pictured above are my group of extra friends hanging out on the set – I’m the one in the middle. This was long before I cut my hair and dyed it blond, so I look a bit different today.) If I remember correctly, there were about 75-100 extras hired for the karaoke scene and right before filming began one of the assistant directors gave us each an exact place to stand during the scene and told us what we were to be doing. As I was getting my instructions, a very thin blond woman came up to me and introduced herself. She told me that she LOVED my outfit and that she wanted me to be sitting front and center during Britney’s performance. She led me over to the bar area, just a few feet away from where Britney would be performing, and sat me next to an actor wearing a blue shirt. Well, it turns out that the thin blond woman was Crossroads director Tamra Davis and the actor she sat me next to was Britney’s love interest in the film, Anson Mount!!!!

Needless to say I was THRILLED!!! Not only was I sitting thisclose to Britney while she was performing onstage, but I was also right next to the movie’s lead actor! Ironically, the outfit that director Tamra Davis so loved wasn’t what I had originally intended to wear that morning. (A little known fact – 95% of the time movie and TV extras wear their own clothes during filming.) All Crossroads extras were told to wear New Orlean’s style club attire to the shoot. And on the morning of my first day on the set I had put on something entirely different. But my mom stopped me as I had one foot out the door and said “You don’t look very New Orleansy. Why don’t you wear that cute halter top you got in Hawaii with your blue capris.” Well, of course, I argued with her as I thought the shirt and pants she was talking about didn’t really match, but in the end she won out. And, as luck would have it, had I not worn that outfit I never would have gotten noticed by Tamra Davis. The moral of the story? Ladies – always listen to your mother! 🙂 As a result of my mother’s foresite, not only did I have a front row seat for Britney, but I also got considerable screen-time in the movie. 🙂 (That’s me next to Anson Mount in the above screen capture.)

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When I first saw Crossroads I just about died as you can see me quite a bit in the karaoke scene. Being that I was such a HUGE fan of Britney, it was pretty darn cool that I shared my big screen debut with her. 🙂

And let me tell you, filming that scene was quite an experience. For pretty much three days straight I sat around watching Britney perform “I Love Rock N’ Roll” on a stage that was about two feet away from me! I was literally pinching myself the whole time thinking “I’m getting paid for this????” You have to remember that this was at the height of Britney’s career – she still had that cutesy, good girl image, “Oops! . . . I Did It Again” was multi-platinum, and she and Justin Timberlake were madly in love. I mean, do you know how many 13 year old girls would have died to have been in my shoes! I was 24 at the time, but that’s besides the point. LOL 🙂 The highlight of the filming for me was when Britney Spears, Pop Princess!!!! actually started a conversation with me! I am amazed I was even able to get any words out to talk to her. LOL During one of the many breaks from filming, BritBrit walked right up to me with a big smile on her face and asked me what I was doing with my drink. I had actually been sticking my finger in the drink I was holding playing with the fake ice in my glass. In movies and television, whenever anyone is drinking, the ice in their glass isn’t real – fake ice made out of a gelatin formula is used. Real ice has a tendency to clink against glasses, thereby making noise and disrupting filming. So clear jello-like cubes are used instead – and, boy, are they fun to play with! When I told Britney this, she started laughing hysterically and said “Oh mah gawd, you’re so funny!” Apparently, she thought this was the funniest thing she had heard in a long time. LOL It really wasn’t all that funny, but I was on cloud nine, nonetheless. Britney Spears thought I was funny!!!! 🙂 BritBrit was very nice, fairly quiet, and extremely down to earth. It almost seemed as if she had no idea how truly famous she really was. She also spoke with a very heavy Southern accent, which I wasn’t expecting. And I have to say that while she seemed very sweet and SUPER cute in person, it was quite obvious that she’s not the sharpest knife in the drawer. 🙂

For me, being an extra in Crossroads was an AMAZING experience. It was truly everything I hoped it would be. I’m am so lucky it was my first movie experience, as it was such a good one. And while the actual movie didn’t turn out that great, I will always look back on my time working on it with fondness.

You can watch the entire “I Love Rock N’ Roll” scene here.

I can’t really recommend stopping by Cafe-Club Fais Do-Do for a drink as the only time I ever visited it was while we were filming. Since I’m not really a clubbin’ kind of girl, I’ve never been back to check it out. But if you’re into that kind of thing, it seems like a pretty cool place to grab a drink. The Fais Do-Do (which means “Nighty-Night” in French) building was originally constructed in 1930 and at the time housed the First Citizens Savings Bank and Trust. The club, which definitely has a New Orlean’s vibe to it, has remained a popular nighttime hotspot since its opening in 1990.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: Cafe-Club Fais Do-Do is located at 5257 W. Adams Boulevard in Los Angeles. You can visit their website here.

October 28, 2008September 29, 2017

The House Where Britney Spears and Kevin Federline Got Married

Happy, Happy, Happy Halloween, everybody! As I have mentioned many times before, Halloween is my favorite holiday, so today I thought I’d post some pics of one of my favorite Halloweens ever – the year my boyfriend and I dressed up like Britney Spears and Kevin Federline.

This was back in 2005, the same year that Britters wore the now famous “I Have the Golden Ticket” tank top over her pregnant belly to the Willy Wonka premiere. Of course, I became totally obsessed with that tank top and got to scouring Ebay, where I found an exact replica and also some urban loungewear (yes, it’s actually called that!) a la KFed’s wedding ensemble. And voila – a costume was born. 🙂 For my pregnancy “bump” I just stuck a semi-blown up beach ball under my shirt. And it was so realistic that a lady in the bar I was at on Halloween night actually yelled at me for drinking while pregnant. LOL!!!! 🙂

Today I decided to stalk the house where Miss Spears and Mr. Federline tied the knot back on September 18, 2004. I realize that tying this location in with my Haunted Hollywood theme is a bit of a stretch, but I can justify it by saying that the union of Britney Jean Spears and Kevin Earl Federline was downright scary. 🙂 After watching BritBrit and Kevin interact with each other on their Chaotic reality TV series, I absolutely could not believe that two such complete morons managed to find each other. It’s almost as if they were tailor-made for each other. I’m actually really surprised the marriage didn’t last!! Anyway, I decided I just HAD to stalk the home where their marriage took place.

On September 18, 2004 Britney and Kevin invited 25 of their closest friends and family members to an impromptu wedding ceremony at the Studio City home of their wedding planner, Alyson Fox. The couple had planned on getting married at Bacara Resort and Spa in Santa Barbara, but due to the media frenzy surrounding the event, they decided to celebrate their union at this modest home in Studio City a few weeks earlier than expected. Stalking this location proved to be a tough one, though, as the only info I had on the house was the owner’s name and the general location. But thanks to master stalker E.J. over at the Movieland Directory, who offered me his help, I was able to located the address of the house and yesterday I ran right out to stalk it. 🙂 Thanks, E.J.! (The above scan was taken from the 2004 issue of People Magazine that covered BritBrit and KFed’s union.)

The home where Brit and KFed got married is a super cute, very picturesque, but also very normal looking house. Not at all the type of place I’d envision the pop princess tying the knot. But I also could have never pictured her walking into a gas station bathroom sans shoes – so go figure! Anyway, after doing some cyber-stalking yesterday, I discovered that Brit’s wedding house is currently for sale! For a mere $1,999,950, you can have the priveledge of owning the home where this blessed ceremony took place. 🙂 You can see interior pics of the home here.

Until next time, Happy Stalking and Happy Halloween! 🙂

Stalk It: Britney and Kevin’s wedding house is located at 4053 Farmdale Avenue in Studio City.

July 4, 2008February 13, 2009

The Millennium Biltmore Hotel

One of my favorite places to visit in all of LA is the Millennium Biltmore Hotel, located in Downtown Los Angeles. The hotel is also a favorite of film producers and it has been used in more productions than I can blog about. The hotel was built in 1923 and at the time was simply called The Biltmore. The building is absolutely gorgeous inside and out and definitely looks like it came out of a different era. Besides being a popular filming location, the hotel has played host to the Academy Awards on eight separate occasions between the years of 1931 and 1942. The hallway on the way to the hotel pool has many framed photographs of old time Hollywood celebrities who stayed at the Biltmore.

Movie buffs will probably most easily recognize the Biltmore from the first Beverly Hills Cop movie where it was used as the hotel where Eddie Murphy sets up camp during his stay in Beverly Hills. Molly Ringwald’s prom from Pretty in Pink was held in the hotel’s Crystal Ballroom, a room which was also used in Rocky III, The Sting, Ghostbusters, Alien Nation and The Fabulous Baker Boys. The Biltmore’s indoor art deco style pool was the pool where Ryan Phillipe and Reese Witherspoon take a midnight dip in the movie Cruel Intentions. The pool was also used in Bugsy and The Fan.

The movie Bachelor Party also filmed extensively at the Biltmore where it was used as the location of Tom Hanks’ wild bachelor party. And yes, they really did put a live donkey in the hotel’s elevator during the filming! Both Bachelor Party and Beverly Hills Cop were filmed in the Biltmore’s former lobby. Currently that room is a part of the hotel’s Smeraldi’s restaurant and is used for high tea and dinner. Today, the lobby is located in the hotel’s former Music Room, which was used in 1960 by JFK as the location of his official campaign headquarters. The Music Room’s ornate glass and wrought-iron ceiling (pictured below next to the “Stalk It” paragraph) was the model for the dining room ceiling of the ship in The Poseidon Adventure.

Alfred Hitchcock used the Biltmore’s 11 story high back staircase for the vertigo sequences in his 1958 movie of the same name. Hang over the ledge of the staircase on the 11th floor and you might catch a bit of vertigo yourself! In all, over 300 productions have been filmed at the hotel, including Species, The Nutty Professor, Independence Day, Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion, True Lies, The American President, In the Line of Fire, Mother, and the short lived TV show Vanished. Britney Spear’s Overprotected video was filmed in a large hallway just off the lobby of the hotel. You can watch that video here. Once you’ve visited the Biltmore, you will recognize it popping up all over the big and small screens.

The Gallery Bar is one of my favorite spots at the Biltmore. It is dark and quiet and definitely evokes an aura of Old Time Hollywood. The Bar was most recently used in National Treasure 2: Book of Secrets as the location of Abigal’s date at the beginning of the movie. But the Gallery Bar’s main claim to fame is its signature drink – the Black Dhalia Martini, named for one of LA’s most famous unsolved murder cases. Actress Elizabeth Short, whose nickname was the Black Dhalia, walked out the Biltmore Hotel doors on January 9, 1947 at approximately 6:30pm. She was never seen again. Her mutilated body was found six days later in an abandoned field. The last person to ever see the Black Dhalia alive was the Biltmore doorman who tipped his hat to her as she walked south down Olive Avenue. Although garnering widespread media attention and public fascination that exists even to this day, the case has yet to be solved.

The last time I stayed at the Biltmore, there were FIVE separate productions being filmed in and around the hotel – a car commercial, a fitness water commercial, the TV shows Alias and Standoff, and the pilot episode of Capitol Law with Joshua Jackson. I was especially excited to see Josh because Pacey was always my favorite Dawson’s Creek character. I so heart Josh! The grainy photo to the left is one I snapped of him during filming. 🙂

Until next time, Happy Stalking!

Stalk It: The Millennium Biltmore Hotel is located in Downtown Los Angeles at 506 South Grand Avenue. I highly recommend staying there if you find yourself in the LA area. The rooms are exquisite and extremely reasonable. Be sure to ask the hotel’s concierge about the Biltmore’s filming history – they usually have some great stories to share and they will also give you a print out of every single production ever filmed at the hotel.

June 10, 2008February 27, 2009

Britney’s Cure for a Bad Hair Day!

This weekend, before our Vitello’s dinner, my boyfriend had the idea to stalk the Tarzana salon where Britney Spears shaved herself bald in February of last year. Apparently, at around 7pm on the night of February 16th, after the salon was already closed for the night, Britney along with one of her bodyguards entered the shop and asked Esther Tognozzi to give her a buzz cut. When Esther refused, Britney took matters into her own hands and shaved her head bald.

Later that week Esther and her husband put BritBrit’s hair up for sale on eBay for a cool $1.2 million! They were also going to throw in the half empty can of Red Bull Britters was drinking during the hair cut, her blue Bic lighter and the electric razor she used to shear herself. I am not sure what happened, but the listing was taken down off of Ebay before the hair was ever sold. The website Esther started – www.buybritneyshair.com – has also been taken down. Maybe Esther just couldn’t bear to part with such an iconic piece of history. For the time being, whatever happened to Britney’s hair will, I guess, remain a mystery.

Esther’s Haircutting Salon is a tiny little place set way back on Ventura Boulevard. How Britney chose this tiny little salon to shave herself bald is beyond me. I sooooo wanted to go inside and talk to Esther herself but my boyfriend flat out refused and said he’d leave me there if I did so. LOL I guess I’ll have to go back to Esther’s on my own to do some further stalking.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: Esther’s Haricutting Studio is located at 18360 Ventura Boulevard in Tarazana. It is set back a bit from the road, so be sure to keep your eyes peeled. You can visit the salon’s website here.

February 24, 2008February 13, 2009

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

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! 🙂

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.

January 28, 2008August 6, 2018

Britney Spears’ Former Santa Monica Condo

Got a comment from Kayli today, who challenged me to find Britney Spears’ house. Since Britney’s current home is located far from public view in a gated community, I thought I’d instead blog about a past residence of Ms. Spears. While Brit did not call this condo home during any of her recent mental breakdowns, it is the very spot where she lived when her romance with Kevin Federline blossomed.

Long before there was a Sean Preston or a Jayden James, Britney Spears lived in an ocean front condominium in Santa Monica, California. Before her marriage to KFed, the two spent a lot of quality time at the 1221 Ocean Condominiums – most of it outside on her balcony smoking cigarettes.

I found this location thanks to my boyfriend, who used to work in Santa Monica. Everyday he’d drive by this building and wonder why hundreds of men with cameras would be standing outside, until it finally dawned on him who lived there.

Britney Spears still owns this condo, and rumor has it that her brother Bryan Spears currently lives there.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: Britney Spears’ Santa Monica condo is located at 1221 Ocean Avenue. Just down the street, at 202 Wilshire Blvd., is Houston’s Restaurant, where KFed’s bachelor party was held before he married BritBrit. After their respective bachelor/bachelorette parties, KFed and Britney spent the night at the Fairmont Miramar Hotel at 101 Wilshire Blvd. In the movie Fracture, the Fairmont Miramar served as the hotel where Anthony Hopkins’ wife had her affair.