5 Days in LA

My parents just spent 5 days of Christmas with me here in LA.

It was kind of like the 8 crazy nights of Hanukkah Adam Sandler sings about, only with less days, more Slovak, and a rivaling amount of celebrity brouhaha.

They arrived at LAX at 1am Wednesday morning (whose idea was that again?) and were greeted by me and my car radio blasting Gaga's "Edge of Glory" - THE perfect welcome to this great City of Angels.

After racking my brain for WEEKS over what I could get them for Christmas - with highly desired peep toe boots and lime green reading glasses nowhere to be found - it finally hit me. "What? Duh. Tour them around the city. Take 'em to a movie at one of the rock star theaters in town. Feed 'em at a fun restaurant." Done and done. Pat pat pat on the back back back.

So once Friday rolled around, here's how it went down - we went on a 5 1/2 hour mini bus sightseeing tour of (as plagiarized word for word from lacitytours.com):

• Sunny California Beaches - See the famous Muscle Beach and where "Baywatch" and "White Men Can't Jump" was filmed. The boardwalk is alive with the colorful music and artistic beach scene with the beautiful California coastline as a backdrop. Santa Monica Pier, Venice Beach, Marina Del Rey. It's California sunshine year 'round.

• Downtown - Disney Concert Hall, Nokia LA Live, Staples Center (home of the Lakers). Olvera Street - the oldest street in LA, was founded in 1781 by Spanish settlers. Experience the Mexican culture and the colonial history of Los Angeles.

• Hollywood - See Grauman's Chinese Theater, the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and Kodak Theater - the new "Home of the Oscars." Also, look for your favorite celebrity's handprints. Visit the filming locations of Entourage, Charlie's Angels, Get Shorty, and more.

• World Famous Hollywood Sign - Have your picture taken in front of the world famous Hollywood sign overlooking Mulholland Drive. This will be the most memorable moment of your visit. It'll be worth your trip to visit the "City of Angels."

• Sunset Strip - Drive through 77 Sunset Strip, where stars party and shop! See the Viper Room (owned by Johnny Depp) and lots of night clubs. Find fun places to come back to, and you may see some celebrities when you go out later that night!

• Beverly Hills, Bel Air, and Star's Homes - Visit 45 movie star homes like Michael Jackson, Aaron Spelling, Tom Cruise, Ozzy Osborne, Barbara Streisand, Paris Hilton, Nicolas Cage, Sean Connery, Bruce Willis, George Harrison, Elvis Presley, Christina Aguilera, Cher, Rod Stewart, Bugsy Siegel, Mick Jagger, Jim Morrison, Frank Sinatra, Lucille Ball, Marilyn Monroe, Bill Cosby, Madonna, Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and more. From the mansions of the stars of yesterday to the mega-stars of today, everyone is sure to see their favorites.

• Rodeo Drive - Where the movie stars shop - possibly see your favorite stars. Very good chance to meet celebrities at this stop.

After the tour, we went straight to the El Capitan Theater on Hollywood Blvd to see The Muppets where our VIP tickets got us 8th row seating, a free Muppets bucket of popcorn, and a free large soda.

Before the movie started, there was an opening Christmas sing along with an extremely peppy El Capitan employee and of course the infamous Kermit the frog and Miss. Piggy. There was also snow. Like, for real. Inside the theater. It was awesome.

After the movie (which was super funny and cute, in case you were wondering), we walked across Hollywood Blvd and concluded our night at the Hard Rock Cafe where we ate way too much and enjoyed (mostly because it was so painful) Hard Rock's weekly Friday night Rock-e-oke - which is Hollywood's cruel, cruel joke of singing karaoke in front of a live band.

Then we came home and dad and I watched Leonardo DiCaprio go certifiably insane in The Beach while mama snoozed on the couch after a super full day.

The rest of the 5 day extravaganza included things like breakfast at the ultra hip coffee shop around the corner that I never seem to find time to frequent, a stroll through Pier One where a gold glitter flaked blanket I've had my eye on since July finally came home with me, a really long jet lag nap, a homemade spaghetti dinner, mom helping me dye my bananas-long mane my favorite shade of that-ain't-natural red, house hunting a couple hours away 'cause they're thinking about moving to Cali one day, going on a GIGANTIC blessing of a grocery shopping spree, lounging in the sun and reading the newspaper on the roof, getting stiffed by unwanted valet parking at a Thai restaurant right down the street, the parentals enjoying Thai food for the first time (they got Pad Thai, I got Panang Curry), going to Reality LA's first ever Christmas Eve service - a candle lighting service at a historic church in Silver Lake where I parked on a hill that was basically at a 90 degree angle, watched The Beach again, then Mr. & Mrs. Smith, opened the apartment on Christmas day to anyone who didn't fly home for Christmas, saw upwards of 15 people come in and out during the course of the day, again ate way too much, watched Elf, The Muppets Christmas Carol, and Home Alone, drove to Burbank to pick up my favorite, Seattle-bred roomie, visited and ate at Laguna Beach for parent and roomie bonding time, morphed into models and photographers as we explored the beach, crashed a 2 grande a night hotel to use the john, escaped multi-mile backed up traffic from a major fender bender, and ended up at Ikea where mom and dad bought us all kinds of home decore goodies like picture frames, table lamps, wine glasses, and an under-cabinet wine glass holder. Oh, and dad fixed my shoe rack right before we hit LAX for the second time. No more tripping over floor scattered footwear. Thank God.

It was definitely a full 5 days and I'm so glad they came.

Of course, no trip would be complete without a trillion pictures to commemorate the time, so without further adieu, enjoy! (And click the pic to enlarge!)

Venice Beach

Olvera St.

The Hollywood sign and a view of downtown LA from Mullholland Dr.

THE BEST STOP ON THE TOUR

- ahem -

rock and roll hand prints in front of Guitar Center on Sunset

(I'm gunnin' for you, Ozzy)

Clockwise: The fire escape where Pretty Woman was filmed,

the gates to the Playboy Mansion (which I will be returning to to pray over),

"The Witch's House" in Beverly Hills, and the Fresh Prince of Bel Air mansion!

Innnnnnnn West Philadelphia, born and raised...

Rodeo Dr.

The Muppets at El Capitan!

Hard Rock Cafe and Rock-e-oke

Christmas day!

Laguna Beach

Clockwise: mom and dad on the steps of the Kodak Theater,

breakfast at 'round the corner ultra hip coffee shop,

GIGANTIC blessing of a grocery shopping spree,

lunch at the Hollywood stop of the tour with the most obnoxiously sized

slices of pizza we've ever seen or eaten in our collective lives.

Also, in case anyone is wondering, editing and collaging 42 photos on an iPhone app is less than a snap and I may or may not have bellowed out one or more "Come ONs!" and a few other choice phrases. With that in mind, hope you enjoyed 5 days in LA!

What did you do for Christmas this year?

Posted in: Christmas,Hollywood,Hollywood Christmas,Home Alone,LA City Tours,Laguna Beach,Reality LA