Movie Stars and Tea

Doll holder in the bathroom!

Los Angeles...a mere hour and a half away from my sleepy little suburban town, but a world of difference! For the girls' sixth birthday, we were off to the American Girls Store. There are only three American Girls Stores: one in Chicago, one in New York, and one in LA. LA it was, and I told my mom that I was convinced that we were going to see a movie star.

Now...I've lived in Southern California since 1993. You'd think I would be over the idea that it would be cool to run into someone famous. You'd think...

However, you can take the girl out of Bishop, but never Bishop out of the girl.

So...I had our entire carload (Megan, Mom, and the girls) diligently scoping out movie stars.

(Jeff lucked out, and his masculinity wasn't questioned since he had to work. The American Girl Store is like Disneyland for little girls; every poor dad and brother that we saw there looked like they were in a world of hurt!)

On our way to The Grove, where the American Girl Store is located, we saw the Hollywood sign. (Emma and Grace think it's called HollyWorld.) We say the high rise buildings, Nickelodeon, CBS, CNN...but no movie stars. Not a single one.

I remained hopeful. The last time I went to the LA area was when I took Grandma Otti to Huntington Gardens, and we saw Jennifer Garner filming a scene from Alias at the museum! Don't think I didn't FULLY take advantage of the fact that I had an elderly woman in a wheel chair in order to sneak digital photos AND get up close.

Another time, Jeff and I saw Jarod Leto at Citywalk near Universal Studios. This was in his My So-Called Life Years, and I was giddy with excitement. I stealthily trailed Jarod Leto (Jeff would say I chased him) until I drew a large crowd of freakishly loud girls, and then I backed off. After all, what do people actually SAY to someone famous once they "catch up" to them? That seems like it would be awkward.

Other than a quick Disneyland sighting of Mark Hoppus (one of the Blink-182 members), and a Melrose sighting of the cheesy Kid-n-Play (a rapper with crazy hair), my search celebrities has been fruitless.

Continueing on our quest to see movie stars, we thought we hit the jackpot when Grace shouted out, "I see Hannah Montana!" For those of you who don't live with a girl between the ages of 5 and 13, Hannah Montana is a show on Disney Channel starring Mylie Cyrus. That's right, Cyrus. As in Billy Ray's daughter. Billy Ray Cyrus plays her dad on the show. ANYWAY, Hannah Montana is a very big deal! Like the Beatles for elementary and preteen girls! We looked around in excitement...did Grace REALLY see Hannah?

No. No Hannah. It was merely a limousine. However, Grace was pretty sure that Hannah MUST be in that limo, because who else rides in a limo?

Overall, it was a disappointing day when it came to movie star sightings until we were going into the Cafe for tea at the American Girl store. I heard a voice behind me say, "Where do I know you from?" and another voice say, "Desperate Housewives."

I cautiously looked behind me. Was it Terry Hatcher? Eva Longoria? The dude who plays Carlos?

No...my "movie star" was one of the employees of the American Girl Store. She was on the show, but she played one of the angry mothers during Gabriela's stint as a beauty pageant advisor.

My mom and I were dieing laughing as I had her take a photo of me with my "movie star."

Maybe next time I'll meet Reese Witherspoon and her daughter as they sit sipping beverages at Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf.

Awww, who am I kidding? My real movie stars are my shining almost-six year olds. Their autographs are more precious to me than meeting any movie star in the world!