Welcome To Our Blog!

So what's this page all about, you ask? Well we, Mel & Brooke, are off to Los Angeles, U.S.A for the summer and what a summer it will be. We have been planning for months, saving for months and dreaming for months but finally this month we are reaching our the end of our wait. Mel is headed out to LA on June 15 while Brooke will fly out June 22 where we will meet up for 10 days of fun, excitement, laughter and much more including a possible trip to San Deigo. Then we will be celebrating one of America's largest holidays, 4th of July followed by a week as camp counsellors at summer camp. How cool does that all sound? Well read along and feel like your there with us. We will try to update our blog as much as possible!

Santa Monica Beach

By Mel | 22 Jul 2008 | 0 Comments |

Today Bobby had an audition which was in Santa Monica so we decided to pack up the car and make a fun day out of it by hitting the beach afterwards. His callback was at 11.30am so we had to leave around 10.00am since it takes just over an hour to get there but unfortunately we got stuck in traffic so we only had 7 minutes to spare before his call time. After his callback, we hit Santa Monica Beach/Pier which is gorgeous. We parked on the actual pier and then walked down onto the beach. There weren't all that many people on the beach which was funny considering how hot it was today but it was good in a way since it wasn't so crowded. Bobby was the first and only one in the water, he rode the waves with his boogie board and played with another little boy he meet up with while Holli, their mom and I sat on the sand and read. It was so nice to actually just sit there and relax since we have had a really busy couple of days, I really enjoyed it. It also gave me a chance to catch up on Twilight (I've been reading it for sooooo long now!!). After a while, Holli and I went for a walk and looked at the different attractions down on the beach where they have volley ball, swings, gym type equipment and the paved walk way which we nearly got run over by people on bikes quite a few times. We were too busy talking, we always forgot which side to walk and never looked around us. LOL. We sat and talked, dug in the sane, read some more until Bobby finished playing and then we packed up and tackled the LA traffic which I hate by the way, it's annoying, long and tiring. =(

It's Been While...

By Mel | 21 Jul 2008 | 0 Comments |

I'm finally back in Los Angeles. I arrived back yesterday and have been chilling ever since. My last day in Wilmington was an eventful one. I went to watch more filming of 'One Tree Hill', which was awesome. Jackson was there and looked so adorable in his little tuxedo. You should have seen his dress shirt, it came to near his knees, his that tiny! Between takes James Lafferty was teaching Jackson how to whistle through acorns so Jackson was running around collecting them all then trying to whistle, he tried for at least 10 minutes until he got the right sound. He was so excited. About an hour or so into filming it started raining so we will have to try and get cover, thankfully it didn't last very long. They filmed a few scenes with just the main cast members and then they brought in all the extras and guess who got to extra! Yep, that's right me! I was so excited about this day but I have to admit I think I prefer watching from the sideline. LOL. We did the same takes over and over again, it was so hot and I was in black so the sun was definately attracted to my black clothing which made it worse but it was interesting to see filming from a different angle and I had an amazing time. Can't wait to watch the episode, it's due to air in September. Not sure if the camera caught me or not but it won't be hard to pick me out since there were only about 10 other white people except the main cast, everyone else was African American. LOL. I got to say goodbye to Jackson and his family which was sad. Jackson kept thanking me for his gifts which he thought were cool although he couldn't remember the name of the Kangaroo, in the end he just kept saying gift or the thing with the flag. His a cutie! Before I left they gave me a signed T-Shirt and his sister gave me a bracelet she had made me plus they all signed a little home made card. I really feel in love with the community, people and Jackson! I want to visit again soon!

So then I flew back out to LA, Holli's mom picked me up at the airport. I was supposed to spend the day with my friend Jen but her plane was delayed or she missed it, something like that so I called Mrs. Coleman to pick me up early. That was great, we got to talk and share stories on the way home. I love sharing stories with her! That night Mrs. Coleman, Bobby and I went to dinner with some friends to The Soup Plantation which has the best food. I loved it. Basically they specialize in salads and soups. It was one of the best meals, I've had since being in America. Afterwards they all watched August Rush while I crashed, I was so tired, I slept from 9pm to 9am!!! LOL!! 12 hours straight, didn't hear a thing until Holli was knocking on my door to wake me up for church. She was so excited to have me back, it was great to see her after 2 weeks since she was at the beach when I got back into LA and didn't get home til late so I missed her. We got to hang up alot today though which was great =)

Small Updates / Staying Longer

By Mel | 10 Jul 2008 | 0 Comments |

So I know I haven't updated in a few days but not much is happening, well in the sense that I can talk about. I had an amazing day yesterday and got to see and meet alot of new people who made my trip even more special but unfortunately I can't go into much detail about it hopefully in a few weeks! So anyways, I've been sightseeing, hanging with some friends and just loving Wilmington. OMG! It's the most gorgeous place!

We had huge thunderstorms and rain today so I didn't go out, well except to get some dinner tonight but that was enough for me. I hate driving in the rain even if Gertie May was in control of the directions, she ain't in control of the traffic and weather! LOL! So while it was raining, I watched some TV which I can say there is NOTHING worth watching on American TV except the news, I do like watching the news. I also read some more of Twlight, Jen and peeps would be happy to know I'm nearly finished and moving onto the next book in the series!!! Bout time, huh!!! Plus I decided to stay in Wilmy for another week. It was an easy decision yet everything just fell into place so instead of flying back to LA this weekend, I'll fly back next weekend. YAY!!!

Wilimgton - Day 3

By Mel | 08 Jul 2008 | 0 Comments |

I only just got a solid internet connection so while it's currently day 4 for me in Wilmington, here is my recounts of Day 3. I'll post more later tonight

I didn’t get to sleep until around 5.30am cos it was so humid and probably because I had slept late the day before, but anyways I finally got to sleep only to be woken up by my alarm at 7.30am which I hit the snooze button til 8.30am finally got up and got ready for the day. I got a taxi to the airport where I picked up a rental car so for the next 6 days I’m driving a Toyota Corolla, which is a really nice car, and I love driving it. The roads here great, I feel really comfortable on them and if I don’t I just drive to a road where I feel comfortable turning or crossing. My new and best friend Gertie May definitely helped me out with the places I wanted to check out, she didn’t even get mad with me if I missed a street, took a wrong turn or told her to shut up. LOL!

So after I picked up my car and Gertie May, I headed to Downtown Wilmington and meet up with Tess, Keely and Jami. We had brunch at Bellas, which is apparently a favourite amongst them also. We all hang out for an hour just chatting and eating, then we went for a little walk down at the Riverwalk which is really gorgeous. I love it down there. Keely pointed out some filming spots of ‘One Tree Hill’ and some of her favourite stores at The Cotton Exchange. We separated about 11am and I headed out to check out some filming spots of ‘One Tree Hill’. Thanks to Gertie May, she made my day more enjoyable and got me where I needed to in no time. Wish I had her back home!

First stop.. Rivercourt which was located on the other side of the river. It was only about 5 minute drive and really easy to find. When I arrived there were some other girls taking photos, I talked to them and asked them what they had seen of the spots and places they recommend. It was nice to see some other fans because there aren’t all that many in Australia (except my cousins!). The Rivercourt is an outdoor basketball court which has been used in the last 5 seasons, it faces over over the river and in the background is Downtown Wilmington. Unfortunately the nets/chains had been taken down but you still got a wonderful feeling seeing it up close especially since it’s still got Peyton’s artwork written all over it. Remember Season 5, Peyton writes a message about loving Lucas and has a comet crashing through it? Well it’s painted on there and looks amazing! I tried to get some pictures of it but it wouldn’t all fit on my camera.

Second Stop.. Peyton’s House / Brooke’s House / Felix & Anna’s House they were all really nice. Peyton’s house was in a different neighbourhood, it’s actually in Downtown Wilmington whereas Brooke, Felix & Anna’s houses are in another section of Wilmington. As the same as the show, those 2 houses are right next door to each other. I recognized Brooke’s house first since it had the red door and all, it’s a gorgeous house. Looks exactly the same as it did in the first 4 seasons. I’m hoping to go out to Carolina Beach later this week to check out her new house that’s featured in season 5 and 6.

Third Stop.. Lucas & Karen’s House it took me 2 times around the block to find this house. Gertie May kept saying it’s on your left, the house is now on your left but I didn’t see it until the second time around I found it. It’s a cute little house, I love the side access door for Lucas’ room. I wasn’t able to get a photo cos the street was small and there were a few cars behind me but I’ll try again.

Fourth Stop.. Tric is a nightmare. LOL. I told Gertie May where I wanted to go but I thought she was taking me the wrong way so I stopped and took a different street and ended up 5 blocks from where I wanted to be and in the end Gertie May directed me back around only to find had I have taken one more street on her first directions I would have been there! It’s fine though, we made it through and are still friends. LOL. Tric is at the back of a brick building. I drove in the driveway and to the side it was Tric in neon light letters (lights up at night) and the stairs to go into the building. Then there was a notice board on the building that welcomed the winners of the Macy’s competition. That was cool.

Fifth Stop.. Scott House which is gorgeous. Probably my favourite location so far. I didn’t have the street number, only the street so I told Gertie May who then directed me across the town to the street needed (I only got lost once!) and I started looking but as soon as I seen it I knew it was it. It’s a gorgeous old styled blue house that over looks a jetty. It’s really pretty. It’s on a quiet little street and has some really gorgeous trees surrounding it.

Besides sightseeing all day, I also stopped in at Target and had a look around. It was raining outside so I thought it was better to look in Target then keep driving in the rain as I’m still not sure of the roads in sense of direction and such, cause some streets come up pretty quick and stuff but otherwise I’m doing great with the driving, I love it. After I looked around Target, I headed home to get ready for dinner cos Tess and family were picking me up at 6pm. They all arrived, it was great to meet the rest of the family, the kids were really great to hang out with, they loved my Australian accent. We had dinner at this little café called The Reel Café in Downtown Wilmington. It was really cute. Apparently it’s been used in the show before, season 1, I think. We sat outside and enjoyed the warm weather and also watched the horse and carriage go past every 30 minutes. It was a really nice dinner, we talked and laughed, took pictures and I gave all the kids some gifts which they all loved especially the little Kangaroos and Tess loved the Australian clock I gave her. She said she would try and keep it on Australian time too. LOL. They also gave me some little gifts which was so sweet of them. After dinner we walked down to the Riverwalk and up to Kilwins Ice Cream store and we all had an ice cream. I had Mint Chocolate Chip while everyone else got an assortment of different ones however Superman was a popular choice amongst the 3 kids. We then walked some more down by the Riverwalk until we reached the end so we walked back and sat on some seats, it was actually the spot Jackson filmed a scene with Sophia Bush while eating ice cream. That was such a cute scene, kinda similar to tonight except nobody has ice cream all over their faces. Ha Ha!

Anyway, they dropped me back home later that night. We made plans to go to the beach later this week when they are free. That should be really fun. I’m going to see Keely and Grandma tomorrow for lunch and shopping, I’m not sure of the place but apparently it’s a mall. Ha Ha. I’ll know more tomorrow once I’ve been there!

Day 2 - Wilmington

By Mel | 06 Jul 2008 | 0 Comments |

I arrived in Wilimington yesterday. I haven't been able to get an internet connection until now and even now I'm amazed it's working. It's not a strong connection but at least it's a connection so I can keep in touch with family back home. My frist day wasn't all that eventful basically I arrived late evening and slept all night. Here's what I got up to today...

I slept really late today, I didn’t plan on it but I knew I needed the sleep so I guess it all worked out in the end plus my mum had called me at 11pm which woke me up and also didn’t sleep well cos it was new surroundings and such. I had set my alarm for 7.30am, thought I could get up shower and get ready then head out and find some breakfast but me being me hit the snooze button and went back to sleep. I got up around 12pm and felt much better. So got up and got ready for the day, then headed off into Downtown Wilmington which is really gorgeous! I walked around on the Riverwalk for a little bit until I went on a horse guided tour which took us around a couple of the blocks and gave us information about the early days of Wilmington, who lived in what houses, the historics of the houses and area and other fascinating information. The houses are really beautiful, they are old and very original. It reminds me of the houses used in the movie The Patriot and also if you remember back to the old houses during the Civil War period but yet the whole town has this old unique feeling about it. Everything matches and everything is kept really pretty.

After the horse tour, I stopped by a small café called Bellas where I got a Bagel with Cream Cheese. It was nice and cool inside but I decided to sit outside just to feel the atmosphere of the town. I ended up talking to 2 guys who live in the area, they were really nice and asked me what I’m doing in Wilmington and what brought me out this way. I was like I have friends here plus I want to check out the filming spots of One Tree Hill. One of the guys (I didn’t catch there names) was like see that green truck, look at the mirror and you’ll see a green pass hanging from it, I was like yea, he said that’s my pass to get onto the studios, I work on One Tree Hill all the time. That was so cool. He also told me to spend a lot of time on Front Street and Market Street if I want to see a lot of filming cos that’s were they are filming a lot and also to head over to Screen Gem Studios and do a tour of the studios. They were really nice. It seems everyone is that way in Wilmington, I haven’t found anyone yet who hasn’t been rude or unhelpful. So, it was really hot by the time I finished talking and eating my bagel so I decided to head across the road to Kilwins Ice Cream and get an ice cream. I have to say, I’m glad I listened to Steph and DJ cos this place has some good ice cream, it was beautiful and cold. I’m sure I’ll go back.

Afterwards, I walked around some of the streets. I found some spots where they have filmed One Tree Hill in the past including CD Alley (CD Store were Chris Keller worked), Clothes over Bros / Karen’s Café, Riverwalk Park (Jamie & Brooke eat ice-cream), Port City Java (Karen’s Café in Episode 1, Season 1) and I also seen the Rivercourt but it was on the otherside of the River but I’m going to go over there this week and take a look. I also checked out The Cotton Exchange, they have some cute little stores in this big warehouse type building, it was really cool plus it was air conditioned so that was really nice cos it was 97 degrees outside. I also walked back along the riverwalk and found Poodles, another little store that sold t-shirts with One Tree Hill & Dawson’s Creek logos on them. They didn’t have many left so the sizes were only very tiny but I’ll check it out again. It was a cute little store.

I also took a 8 mile trolley ride around Wilmington which was fun. We got to see some historical buildings, filming locations for different movies and TV shows, information about Wilmington and also get a really general outlook and feel on the community. It was really enjoyable and lasted for approx. 40 minutes. The lady described different buildings, told us the best places to eat (45 resturants in Downtown Wilmington) and also dates that comemorate different occassions. I meet some really nice people onboard who are from Newport Beach, California and also another couple and their young son who are from Boston. There were only 8 of us on the tour so it was a small group and I think we got a lot out of it.

Later, I headed back home and that’s where I am right now, just relaxing and planning stuff for tomorrow. I got a fact sheet of the information lady all about One Tree Hill and different filming locations. I didn’t get it til the end of the day so that was a shame but gald I got it now. I was looking for a map and the lady asked me what brought me to Wilmington, I told her about One Tree Hill, she’s like well here ya go young lady, this ought to help ya! It was so sweet and I loved her accent. So I got a fact sheet and it’s great, got some good locations on it I wanna check out plus I got a list of my own too. Anyways, it's after midnight here but I really wanna check out some things online so I can plan my day tomorrow.

4th of July Celebrations

By Mel | 05 Jul 2008 | 0 Comments |

I experienced my first 4th of July today. I woke up really early (too early!) only to fall back asleep and wake up around 11am so I got up and organised some stuff for my trip to Wilmington. We had plans to go to a BBQ at Ben's house so when it was time, we got organised, I even went and changed clothes after hearing Mrs Coleman tell Bobby that he needed to wear something Red, White or Blue cos it was 4th of July. So I rushed back upstairs and found a red shirt. That was all I had but it worked out since I have a red tank top, white shirt and blue eyes! LOL! Holli said I had matched all the colours!

So anyways we went to a BBQ at Ben's house which was really fun. We ate, talked and played some video games. I was terrible at the game, it was called Crash Team Racer which is very similar to Crash Bandicoot but I played a few times and came last each time except one game I did finish 2nd which was really cool. I got so lost on the game, it's really hard to go in a straight line while shooting things at the opposition, jumping over leaps and sliding across ice... I mean, come on!! It was fun though!!

Afterwards we headed over to Rose Bowl which is in Pasadena, its a really big place and well known for it's Rose Bowl Parade at the beginning of the year. We drove around and got parking on the golf course which was really cool and then we walked around the golf course and found a really good spot on the grass to watch fireworks. There were alot of cars and people around but it was really cool. We laid down on blankets and watched the fireworks. Some were going off in different directions, but the main ones were right in front of us and when we laid down it was almost like they were above us. They were beautiful. It was a really fun night.

That pretty much wraps up the day. It's currently 2am, I'm leaving for Wilmington at 5am so I've just finished packing and finishing up the final details for the trip. So far it's looking to be a really good week, looking forward to updating ya'll. For now though, check out some pictures I took from today. They were alot of fun!!

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