HOLLYWOOD...where the streets are paved in gold...

Spring Break has sprung. And oh how adventures were had.

The break started with a brief but charming visit from our dear friend Rachie. Rachel was our old roommate, she got married and left us to live with her hubby. But this weekend, she came down all by herself. So we behaved as single ladies should! It was just like old times. We read magazines, ate ice cream, watched movies and a whole season of f.r.i.e.n.d.s. Good times. Sunday came and she had to return to married life...but it's okay, they make a precious couple.

After Rachie left, we did our usual Sunday stuff. Church, lunch, nap, fireside. The norm. Monday we did some homework, got my new car stereo installed and went to get some Mary Kay facials. Our Mary Kay lady, Linda is such a hoot. It ended up being a three hour outing, but man, we looked hot. Unfortunately, I don't have any physical evidence.

Then Tuesday came...we decided to get up and leave early, The goal was to be out of the house by 8am. I went down and woke Gabby out of a dead sleep at 7:30. So after some delay, we ended up getting out on the open road some time around 9am. California or Bust!!

We took lots of pictures on our way! Ones of us driving, great scenery, the "Welcome to..." signs of Arizona, Nevada and California, even pictures of the seriously sketch gas station bathroom we refused to pee in!

We rolled into the LA area right around 3pm...just in time for check-in! We checked into our hotel, took more pictures and decided it was time for some food and shopping. So with some advice from the very helpful Chinese gentleman at the front desk, we ended up at the Santa Anita Mall. Cheesecake Factory was for dinner. Our waiter Germaine was a delight. We even snuck a picture or two of him. Did some light shopping and headed back to the hotel...That's when we discovered that Gabby's camera had disappeared. Somewhere between the double decker carousel and the hotel room, it simply vanished. So, all of our pictures from the first day of our adventure are gone. Bummed. B.U.M.M.ER.

But it's okay, becuase we knew that tomorrow (Wednesday)...we were going to Ellen!!

So On Wednesday morning we woke to the ellen theme song, had some free continental breakfast and got ready for the day.

Thanks to Mapquest, and our mad driving skills, we got to WB studios no problem! We checked in at the waiting area in the Parking Garage and were told we could leave and come back at 2:30. We found Hollywood Blvd. and had some lunch then went back to WB.

We were just so psyched to be there!

We patiently waited in this line...

And got these official Numbers...they were from 1-400...so, not too bad!

We waited around for a while for everyone to get checked in. A man named Carlos gave us some pointers on how things were going to go down.Then we got to watch that days episode of ellen on TV's while we waited and drank our ellen water...







Carlos and Tommy walked us into the studio where we had to go through security and have our bags checked. But then...we were in the Ellen studio!!

This is a screenshot from the webcam...can you find us?

We are on the right side by the dunk tank! Can you see us now?

Because they work around the Stars' schedules, we actually filmed parts of two different shows. First Ellen came out and did her monologue...it was about baths! Who doesn't like a good bath? Then WE DANCED WITH HER!!!

When it came to guests on the show, we filmed two different ones. The first one was KATY PERRY! She was great and sang "Thinking of You" and gave the whole audience CD's!

Then Tommy, the man who was kind of in charge of the audience, got us standing up and dancing and having dance competitions while Ellen and Tony changed outfits and the crew changed the stage around a little bit...

This guy won the dance competition and the title of "Ellen's New favorites Audience Dancer!"

Then Ellen and Tony came back on in their new outfits and introduced the next guest, Reese Witherspoon! She was hilarious and just adorable! She even dunked an audience member in green slime!

After the dunking, Ellen said goodbye to the cameras and they turned off. Then she talked to the audience for a minute and thanked us for coming...

Then we were led off of the stage and into the Riff Raff room where the Ellen Shop is. I snapped this somewhat Copyright Infringement picture as we left...
After the show, we decided to try to find a beach...We asked several security guards and their answers were all along the lines of "In Rush Hour traffic, you'll never get there..." But we decided to forget them and brave the HORRID Los Angeles traffic and find us a beach! We found it without much trouble. We got to Santa Monica Beach just after dark but decided to play on the beach for a while anyways! So even though the pictures are dark, I assure you, the Pacific Ocean is crashing behind us!
This says "SB 2009"...as in Spring Break 2009.

A&G

On the way back from the hotel, we got lost. Really lost. The fact that we were both tired,, hungry and lost made for some angry times. We both just wanted the other one to shut up. But when we found an IN-N-OUT burger AND our hotel, our moods changed drastically!

The next morning, we slept in and checked out of the hotel not too long before the noon check out time...

Then we decided to make a trip to Hollywood for some Souvenirs and to try to find the infamous HOLLYWOOD sign...

We found a sketchy somewhat grungy, but filled with many priceless wonders, Hollywood Blvd. souvenir shop to purchase some keepakes....

Then we drove up into the Hollywood hills in effort to get a good view of the Hollywood sign...we got lost...a lot...And the hollywood hills are very tiny, narrow, steep roads that are not the most fun to get lost on...but with the help of a very nice woman in the Hollywoodland market, we found it!

We got back in the car for what seemed to be the LONGEST drive in the history of Road Trips...and we have been on our fair share of Road Trips! But we made it back safely.

We came back with my car 987.9 miles richer, one camera less and some serious wicked times to be remembered.