Hurray for Hollywood!

What a weekend we had! Mikey, Jessica, Jesse, Justin #2, Gwen, and Justin #1 (only on sunday) went and had our little mini vacation this weekend. It was crazy! Our first stop was downtown L.A., four minutes from the Magic Kingdom, to set up our little co-ed living quarters for the weekend (a tent). After some dinner and the first of many Target trips that weekend, we settled in for some sleep.

The next day took us to Hollywood, home of the stars and tourists. Pretty much, Hollywood is like a theme park you don't have to pay to get into. They've got people trying to sell you stuff, street performers, even people dressed up as different characters (I wanted to get a picture with Darth Vader and a storm trooper, but they were "asking" for "donations". We made the mistake of taking a picture of Gwen with Big Bird, and the bird wouldn't let us leave till she had some money). One guy on the street did spray paint paintings that were amazing, and Michael bought Gwen one for her room. The guy was really good, and cool, too. Then we went on to the Kodak theatre, where we spent a ton of time hanging out on the stairs where the gold carpet is laid out. The place was amazing, with pillars on both sides that each had five years written on them, as well as the film that won best picture that year. It goes allthe way up the stairs until about 2000, then goes back down the stairs on the opposite side of the pillars, all the way to the year 2070, I think. We each took pictures next to the movie signs that we felt best described us. Jessica and I took American Beauty. Jesse posed next to Rocky, Michael next to Rainman, Justin with Dances with Wolves (that one's for you, Britt), and Gwen took home Million Dollar Baby.
But the greatest thing about the Kodak theatre is that it's also a mall, and in this mall we found the greatest store ever: The LoveSac. They sell the hugest most expensive bean bag chairs, with a variety of coverings and sizes, and they allow you to come in and lounge around for as long as you like. We were weary after our day of traveling, and stayed in there a good half hour lounging on the chairs, taking pictures, and watching Napoleon Dynamite which they had conveniently playing. The store's main flyer reads as such: "Lovesac.com is not a dirty website" and all around the store are poster advertisements with equally witty sayings. I have to admit, that was my favorite place in Hollywood.

We saw tons of stars on the sidewalk (the ones actually on the sidewalk, not celebrities walking around), and then we went over to the place where they've all got their handprints and footprints and stuff. That was cool. We saw George Lucas's handprints, along with R2-D2 , C-3P0, and Darth Vader. And I discovered my name is out there, granted, it is for Gregory Peck, but I took a picture of it anyway. Justin #2 felt it was within his rights then to claim Mel Gibson as his namesake in the walk of fame and we got a picture with his, too.

After a little dinner at Johny Rocket's, a ritzy overpriced fifties diner, we trudged back to the car, more than willing to crash in our sleeping bags, since we had to wake up early for DISNEYLAND the next morning. When we were stopped at a light, I got my camera out to take a picture of a Hollywood street at dusk, and this guy who was crossing the street right then, full on stopped to pose! We all thought that was hysterical, and I was a little disappointed that the shot hadn't come out well. But Justin fixed that by rolling down the window and shouting,"Hey, it didn't come out-- come back here!" So the guy ran back out in front of us- in the middle of the street- and struck his pose again- while traffic was flowing around us. It was ridiculously funny.

That night, we didn't get to sleep until nearly midnight, with Gwen on her second wind, Jesse and Justin getting a little too friendly in their sleeping bags, and me suddenly overcome with a case of the giggles. But we finally forced ourselves to sleep, knowing we had a full day at DISNEYLAND the next day....