Ryden’s House from “Post Grad”

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Another location that I dragged the Grim Cheaper out to stalk while in the San Fernando Valley area this past weekend was the ranch-style house where Ryden Malby (aka Alexis Bledel) and her extremely odd, but extremely loveable family – dad Walter (aka Michael Keaton), mom Carmella (aka Jane Lynch), brother Hunter (aka Bobby Coleman), and crazy Grandma Maureen (aka the always fabulous Carol Burnett) – lived in Post Grad.  I saw the 2009 romantic comedy back when it first came out on DVD early last year and absolutely fell in love with it.  So I, of course, immediately started attempting to track down all of its featured locations, especially the Malby residence, but I am sad to say that I was a complete and total failure at the endeavor.  In my defense, though, it was not entirely my fault as the movie did somewhat lead me astray.

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As you can see above, in one of Post Grad’s early scenes, Ryden is shown being dropped off by a taxi, on the door of which is written “North Hollywood Cab Co.”, so I made the incorrect assumption that the Malby residence was located in that area.  And while I really should have known better, being that movies “cheat” that sort of thing all the time, the home just looked like a North-Hollywood-type residence to me.  So I spent more than a few fruitless hours searching NoHo (as Angelinos are now referring to it) before calling off the hunt.  Enter fellow stalker Chas, of the It’sFilmedThere website, who is pretty much the biggest Gilmore Girls/Alexis Bledel/Lauren Graham fan on the planet and who a few months later had begun his own trek to find the home.  And find it, he did, thanks to a very helpful crew member.  Once Chas told me of the location, I immediately added it to my “To-Stalk” list, but because I rarely get out to Woodland Hills, it took me quite a long time to actually visit the place.

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In Post Grad, after losing out on her book-publishing dream job, recent college graduate Ryden Malby is forced to return home to live with her parents in their quirky-looking abode.

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I am very happy to report that the Post Grad house, which in real life measures 3 bedrooms, 3 baths, and 2,500 square feet, and was originally built in 1960, looks exactly the same in person as it did onscreen.

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I was especially excited to see that the wooden wishing well that was situated in the home’s front yard in the movie was actually there in real life, as well.  Love it!

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Sadly, the little white fence that flanked the property’s front steps was not there, though.

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I am fairly certain that the real life interior of the residence was also used in the filming, but I, unfortunately, could not find any photographs of the interior online with which to verify that hunch.

Big THANK YOU to Chas, from the It’sFilmedThere website, for finding this location.  You can check out Chas’ extensive Post Grad filming locations page here.

Until next time, Happy Stalking!  Smile

Stalk It: Ryden’s house from Post Grad is located at 22200 Tiara Street in Woodland Hills.

Stalking the 2011 Academy Awards

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As I have mentioned countless times before on this blog, Oscar Weekend is, hands down, my favorite weekend of the entire year.  Hollywood just seems to come alive during Oscar Weekend and I honestly cannot get enough of it.  And this year was no different.  My Oscar stalking began early this past Saturday morning and continued on through late Sunday night and I think it is safe to say that the poor Grim Cheaper is absolutely beat.  Winking smile    Thankfully though, some good friends and fellow stalkers – Beth, Mary, Debbie, and Carol – were in town from Louisville, Kentucky and they let me tag along with them all weekend, so the GC did get somewhat of a reprieve.  And while this year was, sadly, not as great as previous years due to the fact that hotels have seriously beefed up their security and many would only let actual guests through their front doors, we still managed to have an absolute BLAST!  We started out our 2011 Oscar stalking adventure Saturday morning when we hit up the blue carpet at the Independent Spirit Awards – and yes, the event does actually feature a blue carpet.  The Spirit Awards are held in a tent directly next to the beach in Santa Monica and, let me tell you, this year the weather was absolutely FREEZING – and I mean that literally!  It actually SNOWED in many parts of Los Angeles this past weekend (not kidding!) and the GC and I witnessed it firsthand at one point, which I am fairly certain he was more excited about than any of the celebs that we encountered.

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When we arrived at the Spirit Awards, there was already a HUGE group camped out along the blue carpet, but we still managed to snag a pretty good spot in which to stand.  While there, I ran into celebrity stalker extraordinaire Pinky Lovejoy (pictured above), from the Pinky Lovejoy Blog, whom I had met at Alec Baldwin’s Star Ceremony a few weeks backSmile

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We had an absolute blast stalking the red carpet and just a few of the stars who were on hand include Jason Isaacs – aka “Lucius Malfoy” from the Harry Potter movies;

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Warren Beatty;

Annette Bening

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Jennifer Lawrence;

Amanda Peet

Amanda Peet, who is absolutely ADORABLE in person;

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Anthony Mackie;

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Terrance Howard;

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director Danny Boyle;

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Diego Luna;

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John Hawkes;

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Sarah Steele from Spanglish;

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Greta Gerwig from Greenberg;

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Samuel L. Jackson;

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Liev Schreiber;

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Aaron Eckhart, who is GORGEOUS in person;

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one of fellow stalker Owen’s favorite actors, Paul Rudd;

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Malin Ackerman;

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Amber Tamblyn;

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David Cross;

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Erika Christensen;

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Jane Lynch (YAY!);

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(I absolutely LOVE that the GC managed to snap a picture of Jane making one of her famous Sue Sylvester faces!);

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Eva Mendes;

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Jesse Eisenberg (he did not turn towards the crowd when he arrived, so we only got a picture of the back of his head);

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Jeremy Renner;

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Rainn Wilson (aka Mr. Dwight Schrute!);

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Jamie Foxx;

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Ben Stiller;

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Rosario Dawson;

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Joel McHale (LOVE, LOVE, LOVE him!);

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and Nicole Kidman (who is STUNNING in person) and Keith Urban.

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I LOVE the picture of Nicole above, which my friend Carol snapped.  So cute!

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Natalie Portman tried to sneak in behind Nicole and Keith, but thankfully the GC still managed to get some pics of her.  Smile

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After the Spirit Awards arrivals wrapped up, the GC and I headed on over to the Kodak Theatre to do some stalking of the Academy Awards’ red carpet.  Sadly though, everything was blocked off this year and we were not allowed to walk on the red carpet or to get very close to any of the set-up, which was incredibly disappointing.

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We did spot the above-pictured Oscar statue being hauled from the Renaissance Hotel to the Kodak Theatre, though, which I thought was absolutely hilarious.

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We then headed over to the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel (where the first Academy Awards ceremony was held) to see if anything was going on there.  As fate would have it, the E! channel was running rehearsals for their Oscar coverage show in the lobby of the hotel and we were lucky enough to be able to watch.  As you can see in the above photographs, Kris Jenner was on site rehearsing for the show.

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As was Ross Mathews, from Chelsea Lately.

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As luck would have it, Kris wound up leaving the hotel at the exact same time we did and she was nice enough to pose for a photo with me on her way out, which I could NOT have been more excited about.  Smile  I have actually never been a fan of Keeping Up With the Kardashians, but I will always have a special place in my heart for the series due to the fact that anytime someone encounters my family for the first time, they invariably say, “You guys need your own reality show!  You are funnier than the Kardashians!”  My good friend Nat keeps threatening to secretly videotape us and send the result to the E! channel.  LOL  I guess I can see where people are coming from, though.  Case in point – this past Friday afternoon the GC downloaded and then proceeded to spend a good ten minutes showing me an app in which one, while in a store, can scan the barcode of an item along with its price using the camera on their iPhone and the phone will then subsequently spit back a list of places where you can purchase said item for less money.  Not kidding!  I totally thought he was joking with me, but sadly he wasn’t.  Not only is that app real, but the GC fully expects me to USE it!  Oh, the things I have to put up with!  Winking smile

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On Sunday evening, while doing some more hotel stalking, I spotted Doris Roberts, from Everybody Loves Raymond and Christmas Vacation fame.  My grandma absolutely LOVES Doris, so I just had to ask her to pose for a photograph with me and thankfully she obliged, which I could NOT have been more excited about.  Smile  Other celebs that we spotted out and about this weekend, but didn’t get photographs of were Mark Wahlberg, Lou Diamond Phillips, Bai Ling, Frances Fisher, Gary Busey, Ed Asner, Pat Boone, Meat Loaf, Charo, Caroline Herrera (on her way to the Oscars in an absolutely STRIKING dress), Tara Reid, Brenda Strong (aka Mary Alice from Desperate Housewives), Gloria Allred, Noah Wyle, Taylor Armstrong from The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, Jessica Stroup (aka Silver from 90210), Glee’s Chris Colfer and Matthew Morrison, Jennifer Lopez (who is absolutely STUNNING in person!), Renee Zellweger, Russell Brand, Kirk Kerkorian, Megan Mullally, Nick Offerman, Harvey Weinstein, Chace Crawford, Cate Blanchett, Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen (who are sooooo tiny in person it was almost unbelievable), Ron Jeremy, Jeffrey Ross, Fred Willard, Sofia Milos, Pierce Morgan, Robert Downey Jr. and Susan Downey, Jude Law, George Hamilton, Reese Witherspoon, Timothy Olyphant, Elton John, Craig Robinson (aka Darryl from The Office), Joanne Worley, and Antonio Sabato Jr.

Until next time, Happy Stalking!  Smile

Stalk It: The Oscars are held each year at the Kodak Theatre, which is located at 6801 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood.  The Grim Cheaper and I usually drive up and down Sunset Boulevard during Oscar weekend, stopping into various hotels along the way to spot celebs.  A few of the hotels we usually stalk include The Mondrian, which is located at 8440 Sunset Boulevard in West Hollywood, the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, which is located at 7000 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, the Renaissance Hollywood Hotel, which is located at 1755 North Highland Avenue in Hollywood, and the Chateau Marmont, which is located at 8221 West Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles.

My Picture on “SNL” and Hanging Out With Michael Vartan!

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This past Saturday was an incredibly lucky and, as my best friend later described, celebrity-fueled day for me.  My family, the Grim Cheaper, and I had headed down to San Diego for the weekend to do some relaxing after the stress of my parent’s recent move.  While we were walking around Coronado Island on Saturday morning I got an email from a photo licensing coordinator over at NBC Universal who wanted to know if I would grant him permission to use one of my stalking photographs of Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo High School, aka William McKinley High School from Glee, on that evening’s episode of Saturday Night Live, which was being hosted by actress Jane Lynch.  Well, let me tell you, I just about had a heart attack right then and there and immediately granted permission for the above photograph to be featured on the show.  The coordinator told me he wouldn’t know for sure whether the pic would actually be used or not until Saturday Night Live aired that evening, so I called up my best friend Kylee (who lives in San Diego) and asked her to come over to our hotel, the Coronado Island Marriot Resort, so that we could all watch the show and celebrate together. 

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Because my dad wasn’t feeling well, Kylee, the Grim Cheaper, and I ended up heading over to the hotel’s Tides Lounge to watch the show and grab some celebratory cocktails, which turned out to be a very lucky move because not long after we got there, Kylee looked to her left and said, “Isn’t that Jennifer Garner’s ex-boyfriend sitting over there?”  I turned my head to catch a quick glimpse and, sure enough, there was cutie actor Michael Vartan sitting at a table just a few feet away from us!  I have no idea how in the heck I didn’t notice him, but I do have to admit that Kylee is an absolute master at spotting celebrities in public –  dare I say it, even better than me.  Kylee is actually the one who spotted actress Julianne Moore while the two of us were in line at Magnolia Bakery in New York a few years back, but I digress.  Anyway, I, of course, just HAD to go up to Michael and ask for a picture and, let me tell you, the guy could NOT have been nicer!  When I apologized to him for interrupting his evening out with friends, he told me not to worry about it “at all”.  And when I told him that I absolutely loved the movie Never Been Kissed, he said, “Oh, that’s back when I was young!”  LOL  A few hours later, as Michael was leaving the bar he passed by our table and made it a point to say good-bye to all of us.  SO INCREDIBLY NICE!  Sigh!

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But my luck didn’t stop there!  Right after snapping my photograph with Michael, I received an email from the SNL photo coordinator who informed me that my photograph was indeed used on the show that night!  A celebrity sighting AND one of my pictures appearing on national TV all in the same day??  It was almost too much for me to bear!  So, at around 11:30 p.m., I asked the Tide’s bartender to put the TV on Channel 4 so that we could watch SNL, and sure enough, just a few minutes later my picture appeared on the screen!  SO INCREDIBLY COOL!  The sketch which featured my pic centered around the SNL character Gilly (aka Kristin Wiig) joining the McKinley High Glee club and wreaking her usual havoc in the process.  After gluing a crown to Kurt’s head, shooting Finn with a bow and arrow, and pushing Artie and his wheelchair offstage, she brings in a bomb and blows up the school, which is the point when my photograph was featured. 
 

You can watch the Saturday Night Live Glee sketch which features my photograph by clicking above.

Until next time, Happy Stalking!  🙂

Stalk It: The Coronado Island Marriott Resort is located at 2000 Second Street on Coronado Island in San Diego.  We met Michael Vartan in the hotel’s Tides Lounge.  You can visit the resort’s website here.