Hollywood Boulevard and Grammy Weekend
My parents are pretty spontaneous people, and occasionally just wake up that morning and are down for a road trip. Which is what happened in this case. I mentioned wanting to check out the Oscar Pop Up Shop, so off we went.
We arrived in LA around mid-afternoon and made our way to the official Oscar Pop-Up Shop, which is on the bottom level of the Hollywood and Highland Shopping Center. There wasn't much, so we were only in there about 20 minutes. I decided to buy a sweatshirt and then decided to put it on and show it off, of course. When in Hollywood...
There were sweatshirts, t-shirts, hats and pens to buy. They even had a wall display that was from last year's award show red carpet that fans could pose in front of.
After, we walked down Hollywood Boulevard. For going to LA so frequently, you would think I would be tired of seeing the same touristy stuff, but I'm not. Because I feel like that's still part of its charm. It's why people flock their year after year, wanting to make a name for themselves. It makes me feel like anything is possible and that maybe I'll see my own name on a star or will get my own hand and feet prints will forever be embedded in the sidewalks of Hollywood.
I stopped to take photos of many of the stars on the Walk of Fame, including: Penny Marshall, Orlando Bloom, Jennifer Garner and more. We also stopped in a few of the overpriced stores with memorabilia and cheesy Hollywood souvenirs, because it's the best. There's always something new to see around there. We walked down near Graumann's Chinese Theatre - I was hoping to see Sam Elliott's handprints, but apparently they weren't being displayed just yet. So I grabbed a few more updated snapshots with other favorites, like Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone, Ron Howard and more.
Once we were done there, we went over to The Grove for a late lunch and made a few stops at the shops in the outdoor shopping mall. It was a gorgeous, sunny LA day. The kind that everyone hopes to have when they visit. We made our way through Beverly Hills as the sun was setting, which is my favorite time of day - daydreaming and losing myself in thoughts and music playing through the radio.
Every year before the Grammys, Clive Davis holds a pre-Grammy party at the Beverly Hilton Hotel. Anyone who's anyone in music is there. Or at least relevant for that year in music. While it isn't open to the public, there are "fan sections," which have expanded since I last visited, where people can stand and catch a glimpse of their favorite stars walking in. We went a few years ago and I was able to meet Jordin Sparks, Karen Fairchild (of Little Big Town) and Scott Borchetta of Big Machine Records (who discovered Taylor Swift).
This year, we arrived a little later and waited about an hour before people started arriving. I saw Maren Morris and husband, Ryan Hurd; Russell Dickerson and wife, Kailey; Weird Al; Caitlyn Jenner; Dua Lipa; Bebe Rexha; Rita Wilson and a few others. We were there a couple hours, but it wasn't paying off much, and I didn't feel well, so we left. I was bummed that I didn't get a chance to see Shawn Mendes, but what can you do?
Most of my pictures came out like the fuzzy squares below, because I had to stand on my tiptoes to see over everyone.
It was another fun, spontaneous day of sun in Los Angeles. Can't wait for the next trip!
That's all for now,
Shelby