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Published: August 29th 2009
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It hit me on my last day of vacation; I'm officially star struck. I met one of my favorite actors this evening and squealed like a 15 year old girl. But the experience turned out to be the perfect Hollywood send-off. It was the cherry on top of this California trip.
Our last day started innocently enough. My son really wanted to go back to
Disney's Soda Fountain on Hollywood Blvd. for ice cream, and we had a $5/off coupon a stranger handed us on the street, so we splurged and went there for lunch. After eating, we headed across the street to look around near
Grauman's Chinese Theatre for sidewalk stars and hand prints we might have missed the first time.
Some people were promoting the new
Final Destination 3 movie by handing out free t-shirts. We each scored one of those, but noticed we couldn't get close to Mann's because the sidewalk was blocked off. They were men setting up a red carpet. I thought it might be for the
Final Destination premiere but it turns out it was for the movie
All About Steve, which stars Sandra Bullock and Bradley Cooper. I have been a fan
of both of these actors for years. I asked one of the guys setting up the security gates what time everything started. He said the premiere began at 7pm but the stars would start arriving at 6:30.
I made a mental note of the time and left with the family for our next destination. We wanted to check out
Griffith Observatory. Parking and admission at the Observatory is free which makes it a perfect budget activity. What a beautiful building! The architecture is amazing. You get a nice view of the Hollywood sign from here too. We spent about an hour and a half here exploring, and then headed back to my sister in law's house for an early dinner.
After dinner, we packed our bags and still had a couple of hours before we needed to get to the airport. My husband and the kids hung out with his parents for a few extra hours while my sister in law drove me back to Hollywood Boulevard in hopes of seeing something at the premiere. We didn't have high expectations, but decided to check it out anyway.
We arrived around 6:15pm. They make the crowd stand behind
All About Steve
This is the movie poster for the premiere I attended. barricades across the street from the theater which can obscure your view of the celebrities. Lots of metro and tour buses pass in front of the area and when they do, you can't see anything. We found a spot against the security gate (front row) but not directly across from the theater. We were off to the left closer to the street corner. It turned out to be a great location. The red carpet started right in front of us, so when traffic wasn't in our way, we could see the backs and side profiles of the attendees as they posed for pictures.
When big name stars appear, the crowd of paparazzi and fans all scream their names so you know who they are. When Bradley Cooper arrived, he came across the street to the fans before he walked the red carpet! I wasn't expecting anyone to come so close to us, but my sister in law says celebrities often come across the street during premieres.
He walked right up to where we were standing! This is why standing right in the front row behind the barricade pays off. I pulled out the first thing I could find
Mickey Waffles
One son's lunch at the Disney Soda Fountain. The other two had Mickey shaped grilled cheese sandwiches. in my purse to get his autograph, which turned out to be the boarding pass I printed out for my flight. I asked him to sign it and I told him I loved him in the show
Alias (he was my favorite character on that series). He chuckled and said thanks, and that's when I swooned. Well, not really, but I definitely had a goofy grin on my face. I don't have any photos to post of this experience because I was too busy filming him with my video camera.
We saw Sandra Bullock get out of her car and walk the red carpet. My sister in law and I had to leave to go get ready to go to the airport, so we couldn't stay the whole time. I read online that after walking the red carpet Sandra Bullock also crossed the street to sign autographs for the fans (probably right after I had to leave).
I just lucked out and noticed this movie premiere, but you don't have to be in the right place at the right time to go to see one. Grauman's Chinese Theatre lists when they will be holding events on their website (http://www.manntheatres.com/chinese/index.php), but they don't update it until within a week of the event. So you will need to check the website frequently during your stay if you're interested in attending one. I checked it before I left for my vacation, and there wasn't anything listed. I didn't check during my stay in LA, that's why I didn't know about this premiere in advance.
We made it to the airport on time and had uneventful connecting flights back to Buffalo. We're home now with tans and fantastic memories. I've been writing these blogs out of order, and I still have several days of vacation to write about, so keep reading. I'll also be posting our final budget totals. Stay tuned!
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