California Trip-part 4

Hurray for Hollywood!

For our last day in California, we decided to go for it and hit Hollywood Boulevard, the day before the Academy Awards. We felt very adventurous and proud of ourselves, not only to plan it, but to make it there and take it all in. Can you say TOURIST? We were in the throngs of the crowd, weaseling their way into the Kodak Theatre and Hollywood and Highland just to get a glimpse of the actual red carpet and the Gold Oscar Statues that line the steps.

A few glimpses from the Kodak!








We also headed down the Blvd to see the Historic Chinese Theatre and the Hollywood walk of Fame. Did you know even Billy Graham has a star? I found that very interesting. . don't you?


Our favorite hand prints and footprints in the cement:
Roy Rogers and Trigger!
Shirley Temple, I thought this one was precious!

After a few tourist shots, we headed for a delicious lunch on the top level of Hollywood and Highland for yummy pizza. Our lunch spot overlooked the entire inside courtyard of Hollywood and Highland and from our spot we could watch as the Oscar "crews" anxiously worked to get ready for their huge next day!

Finally I captured a shot of my sweet hubby from our lunch spot. For those of you that know J, he was totally playing the Hollywood role!

That evening we had our most favorite dinner left. Dinner at Wolfgang Puck's Spago in Beverly Hills. A trip to Las Vegas and lunch at Spago in Caesar's Palace left both of us wondering if we would ever make it to the fabulous restaurant in California, never knowing we would even head that far west. We eagerly dressed for a night out and were even early for our reservation. We knew this would be a dinner to remember. We started with yummy appetizers, breads, and drinks. . then all of a sudden. . J says under his breath, "W, there he is. . look." Of course, the airhead I am, I said who? Simply because the entire week, we had been looking for famous people everywhere! He says, "Him, The Wolfgang Puck!" Those of you that even follow a minute of the Oscars and the parties that follow know that he caters the one and only Governor's Ball attended by 1300 people. That was the night to follow, yet there he was in his restaurant graciously thanking people for coming in and complimenting him on the food. He was even gracious enough to talk to the Beverly Hillbillies from Georgia and snap a quick photo. He even gave us an autograph for J's mother who is a huge fan of the culinary arts. This evening topped off our trip with a bang, we went to bed, rested and headed home to see our fabulous 10 kiddos that waited at home!


The Beverly Hillbillies and Wolfgang Puck!

California Trip-Part 3

Well hello to blogger land. My life has been in a literal whirlwind lately. . school activities, pregnancy, extra-curricular activities, being a mommy, spring break, and well life! I am so sorry I have not updated in a while, but I wanted to try and finish documenting our fun trip last month before I forgot all about it.

After a few days in Beverly Hills, we decided to head west to the Pacific Ocean and spend a day in Santa Monica. We first hit the pier. . you know the one, for those of you that may watch Private Practice, it is constantly shown in scenes on the show. The Santa Monica Pier has been made famous in many other Hollywood movies as well. It has that old, California, rustic, entertainment feel to it. There is even a mini amusement park right out on the pier as well as your normal bait shops for fishermen of every kind. The walk up to the counter Pizza Hut didn't seem that appetizing though after walking out to the end of the pier and seeing the fishermen fish for their daily bait. . yuck. Plus, we knew we had a fabulous lunch ahead at The Lobster.


A view of the Pier, (outfit 1: see below!)

These were my favorite shots J captured of The Pier!:








The Lobster sits at the very top of the pier with fabulous views of the Pacific Ocean. (this restaurant is also in a scene in Ocean's Eleven) I enjoyed yummy clam chowder, while J had huge, soft scallops.

A view of our lunch spot, The Lobster, I still don't know why we didn't go for it and get an actual Lobster!

After a delicious pick me up and lunch we headed for a stroll into town and walked through the Promenade. This is an entire pedestrian only street with every shop from every American shopping mall you can think of. After a few purchases in Old Navy, (the only one with Maternity clothes) I even changed clothes as the day turned into a warm 74 degrees. This was the sunny, southern California experience we were hoping for. After strolling through the shops, we headed back to our jeep with a yummy Dark Chocolate crepe on our bellies. We decided to head up the Pacific Coast Highway towards Malibu.

A few shots from our drive up to Malibu, and our fabulous jeep, thanks to Casey and Paul!



Dipping our feet in the Pacific! (outfit 2: it got very hot!)


The views were absolutely breathtaking and I noticed we didn't even say much on the drive, we just noticed the beautiful rocks, the ocean, the mountains, and all the LUXURY cars! After finding ice cream in Malibu, we headed back to our hotel for a rest before dinner that night at THE IVY!

Note: I realize it appears I went to California by myself, somehow J did not end up in many pictures! I promise he was there with me. Smile