My Lucky Day at the "What to Expect" Premiere

I'm a sucker for funny pregnancy movies, and I was planning to see What to Expect When You're Expecting in the movie theater sometime. But something crazy happened... I got to go to the premiere of the movie in Hollywood on my recent whirlwind vacation. Here's the story. I'm still reeling from it!

My husband and I took a much-needed trip together to California, where I had never been. We saw lots of cool sites in San Francisco, Wine Country, Big Sur, and on down the coast. Our final destination was L.A. -- and while I enjoy movies, pop culture, and palm trees, it was never high on my list of someday destinations.

We were in L.A. for just two nights, so we only had one day to squeeze in our sightseeing. In the morning, we went to Hollywood Blvd. (much sketchier than it looks on Oscar day!) and took one of the cheesy open-air bus tours that shows you the Hollywood sign; film locations for Grease, Pretty Woman, etc.; and the homes of the rich and famous, like Jennifer Aniston, Ron Howard, Hugh Hefner, the Kardashians, yada, yada. I sheepishly snapped shots of the glamorous homes as the tour bus driver shouted "Come out, Al Pacino! We know you're in there!" and such at the end of their driveways. Embarrassing but worthwhile. 

I was excited to snap one shot of Sharon Stone driving her Bentley convertible around town, and thought my celebrity sightings would end there.  

Hungry for more of a true Hollywood experience, we ate at In-N-Out Burger (yes, East-Coasters, it is delish!!) and headed to Madame Tussauds wax museum back on Hollywood Blvd. I'll be darned if I didn't pose for pictures running toward wax Patrick Swayze on a faux log (à la Jennifer Gray in the woods practicing their dance lift) and sitting on the bench with wax Forest Gump and his box of chocolates. Creepy but fun.

We left Madame Tussauds thinking we would go back to our hotel and get dressed up for a nice dinner on the last night of our trip. But we lingered near the exit of the museum, which is right next to the Kodak Theater (Oscars location) and Grauman's Chinese Theater (with the stars' handprints in the cement) to gawk at the red carpet that had been set up for the What to Expect When You're Expecting premiere. Throngs of people had crowded behind barriers across the street, hoping for pics and autographs of the stars. We stayed in a much less crowded spot, farther away from the red carpet, but on the same side of the street and with an okay view.

La la la. Waiting. Waiting. I made my (darling, patient) hubby wait for at least a half hour of B-list stars walking the carpet, hoping the big stars like Cameron Diaz, JLo, and Elizabeth Banks would finally arrive before we scooted off for dinner. 

Well, dinner wasn't in the cards that night. An official-looking guy approached us and some of the few other distant gawkers around us with free passes to the premiere, which we couldn't pass up (even in our dumpy tourist attire). So it was free popcorn and soda for dinner, and a crazy night of up-close star-gazing in the beautiful Chinese Theater. Cameron Diaz walked right by me in her adorable little black dress before the movie started (she's gorgeous, with legs for days, just as you'd imagine), and the cast lined up in front of us to take a bow before the movie rolled. We were in the second row... those whiplash seats too close to the screen. Oh well!

The movie was cute and funny. Even my husband and lots of men in the audience were laughing out loud quite a bit (...but maybe that was to make JLo & Co. feel good!). I recommend seeing it, if you're into rom-coms/chick flicks. It plays out a lot of those pregnancy clichés we've seen before (i.e., laboring woman swearing at frightened husband), but does it well and has some fresh fodder, too (poking fun at trendy baby names, older dads-to-be with trophy wives, reality dance shows, and other silly stuff). You will probably love it.

The next day, we headed back east and were on the same flight as Courteney Cox (but different sections of the plane, you might have guessed!). She was a cute, natural beauty and she smiled at me. ... Say hi to Jen's driveway for me!

Now it's back to reality! Farewell Hollywood. You're not all smog and botox.  :)

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