Maggie and Henry joined us too...
Chinese Theatre
Hiking up Runyon Canyon Park overlooking LA
On the "set" of Friends
Meeting Mickey in Disneyland
Disneyland
March 25th, 2009
So Patrick got tickets to the Elton John and Billy Joel "Face to Face Tour" concert in Anaheim, CA so that gave us a good excuse to take a few days to explore southern CA. Ideally enough it was in the same time frame that Brian came to visit! After working 4 nights in a row (myself) and Patrick and Brian exploring northern CA we packed up and headed down to LA for a few days. We left on Wednesday after I got off work and got there around 3. Patrick had gotten us tickets to see Jimmy Kimmel Live so as soon as we got to our hotel in Downey we changed clothes and headed to LA. Downey is about 20 minutes from LA if you can find a way to avoid traffic (but that is impossible). Any ways if you were watching JKL that night you would have spotted Me, Patrick and Brian in the audience. We actually made it on TV...we were at the John Stamos, Dr. Drew show. AND Guerrmo was there!! If you don't know who he is then you should look him up on Youtube (esp the red carpet clips)! It was pretty awesome getting to go to a studio taping. The stage and everything is so much smaller than it appears on TV. After the interviews we went to the concert stage out back where Blue October was playing. After the show we were starving so we went to this Italian place which was really good. After that we were pooped so we headed back to the hotel to get some rest.
March 26th
We decided to sleep in a little this day because of all the travelling the day before and my sleeping pattern was so off. After we decided to finally get up we put on running clothes and headed down to Venice Beach. But before we went there we made a stop at White House Black Market for Brian to pick Jenn up an outfit to surprise her when she got there that night. (Only later did I find out the real reason why he got the outfit!) So when we got to Venice Beach we took an hour to run/walk around the boardwalk. It was a really pretty beach and great place to go for a run. After that we headed back to the hotel to shower and pick Jenn up from LAX. After we picked her up we went and ate dinner at the Abbey (which is good for star spotting) in Hollywood. We actually did see Janice Dickinson there. Actually Patrick and Jenn saw her...I just saw her back. But I would have not recognize her anyways if we would have come face to face. Our waiter told us that Calvin Klein and the Kardashions (sp. right?) were there that night too. After dinner we headed back to the hotel to get ready for another fun filled day!
March 27th
This day we had a reservation for the WB studio tour. This was the first studio tour I had ever been on and it was awesome! Patrick wasn't feeling well so Brian, Jenn and I went. It was a lot of fun! I got to see where Ellen is taped!! But they were not taping this day so I didn't get to see her :( We tried to get tickets to her show but of course that is impossible. There were a few stars wondering around Lindsey Price, Angus (from 2 and 1/2 Men) and the girl with the long blonde hair from that John Ritter show. The tour was about 2 1/2 hours and the guide took you around the whole lot and you got to see where shows and movies have been/are being taped/taping. It was really cool. This was about all we did this day because traffic was so horrible going back to the hotel to pick up Patrick I refused to drive back to LA. So we had dinner in Downey that night and watched the Carolina game. Go Heels!
March 28th
This was the day of the concert so we got up early this day and went to LA to be tourists. We went to Hollywood Blvd and saw Kodak Theatre, the Chinese Theatre, Roosevelt hotel and the Hollywood walk fame. After taking some pics we heading up to Runyon Canyon Park to get an overview of the city. You had to drive up into the Hollywood Hills to get there. The view from the top was awesome! After we got some pics there we headed back to the hotel to get ready for the night. Patrick and Brian went to the concert and Jenn and I got dressed up and went to dinner. So anyways we got ready and wanted to take pictures (of course) so we headed to the front entrance of the hotel (we parked at the back). There was a limo out front so we thought it would be a good idea to get a pic in front of that as a joke. So we asked the driver to take our pic. He agreed but said that if his clients came he would have to give the camera back. Anyways so he took the pics and after he did Patrick opened the limo door and told me to get in!! I didn't believe him at first but he and Brian had planned the whole thing! That is why Brian wanted to get Jenn an outfit. The guys had got the limo to take them to the concert and then they arranged for us to go to dinner at Koi! Needless to say Jenn and I were shocked and speechless! It was the best surprise. So we dropped the guys off in Anaheim and headed to Hollywood for dinner. The BEST dinner I have ever had (besides when Patrick cooks for me ;) ). We started off with edamame and shared the salmon and tofu!!! YUM!! After dinner we picked the guys up and headed back to the hotel. Great Day!
March 30th
Patrick and I went to the Happiest Place on Earth! Disneyland! And we got to meet Mickey Mouse!! People said that if you have been to Disney World then you shouldn't even go to Disney land because DW is so much better...well I beg to differ. We had a blast. And I would love to go back sometime! They had Patrick's favorite ride there the Nemo submarine one that is no longer at DW. And Space Mountain was so much better at DL! Although I don't think the mother and son sitting in front of us thought so. The picture of them that was taken during the ride showed the mother laying on the son. When the ride stopped the son looked super mad and the mother couldn't even get off she was so sick. The Dad had a blast though! We got there that morning and stayed til closing that night at 11...oh how we love Disney!
March31st
Our last day in LA we spent doing studio tours. I would love to go back and do more. They are so much fun. We went to WB and Sony. We redid the WB tour since Patrick didn't get to go on the first one. Since every tour is different it worked out for me too. This tour was actually so much better than the first WB tour I went on. The guide was better and he gave more behind the scenes info! We got to go on the set of Friends on this tour which was awesome! We even got to see Ellen's car. If we would have been a minute quicker we may have gotten a glimpse of her! Oh well maybe next time! After the WB tour we did the Sony tour. This was Patrick's favorite because he got to see one of the sound stages where the Wizard of Oz was filmed and even helped our tour guide lift up the floor where the wicked witch of the west appeared in munchkin land. We saw Adam Sandler's car on this tour and Patrick thinks that he heard him laugh as we were walking up to the building where his car was. The tours were a lot of fun and if we go down to LA again we will def. have to do some more.
That about concludes our trip down to LA. We had a great time and the only thing I don't miss about that place is the traffic. It is HORRIBLE down there. So watch out if you ever go down that way...
I don't know where our next adventure will take us but until next time...
~m
