California Part Six: WB Studios & The End

Are we tired of reading vacation posts yet?? If you are just click the "x" at the top of the screen and come back tomorrow - good news is today is the last part of the recap and the last day of our trip! The heat wave was in full force today, we toured WB Studios in the morning, grabbed the same lunch as the day before because the deli was that good and relaxed the rest of the day away at the pool before a final dinner out and the red eye home.

Previous Posts… 
Part One: Beach Views
Part Two: Beach to City
Part Three: Beverly Hills
Part Four: Disneyland
Part Five: Unwinding

Day Eight - WB Studios, Pool Time and the End
We got a little touristy again and headed over to Burbank to tour WB Studios.  Years ago when I was in California with my family we did this and it was cool to see some of the sights again (Gilmore Girls, Friends) and some new ones (Pretty Little Liars, The Big Bang Theory, Harry Potter, Etc).  We went onto the soundstage for Big Bang Theory and even though I don't watch it was cool to see.  We passed the sound stages and trailers for Fuller House (can't wait for the premiere) and took in a lot of interesting facts.  Many of the buildings are reused in different series, have a lot of time put into getting them just right for the season (they were about to change a whole courtyard for PLL to go from spring to fall) and much more.

Friends:

The park where Ross had to impress Emily playing Rugby which is actually tiny (Left) and the park where "Phoebe Runs" (Right)

Phoebe's Dad's house where she waited in the driveway forever before she could decide to go in or not which also store the PLL props now (Left) The Gellar family home which is also now Emily's house on Pretty Little Liars (Right)

The photos below are all from the Central Perk set.  As I said before, I had toured the studios years ago and we got to explore and take pictures on this set then as well.  It's now in a different location and not quite as freely accessible.  You're able to take a photo on the couch and look around but not roam as freely as before.  They also have an actual Central Perk coffee shop set up separately to enjoy coffee at (has no resemblance to the set other than the sign below)

Pretty Little Liars:
They had endless landmarks from this series on the tour right now since it's such a prominent show for them which along with all the teenage girls, I'm a huge fan so I had no problem seeing it all.

Spencer's Barn (Left) The Delarentas House (Right)

 Hana's House (Left) The Brew (Right)

Mona's house which was also Suki's house from Gilmore Girls (Left) A new building for the upcoming "five years later" season (Right) 

Rosewood Police Station, City Hall and High School.  All are just different sides of one building.

Gilmore Girls:

Even though this series is well over, they still have some of the notable buildings up around the lot to be used for other things but can still be pointed out and recognized on tours.

Luke's Diner (Left) and Miss Patty's Dance Studio (Right)

General:

Fuller House had just started filming before we got to California so we were able to pass by the soundstage and trailers for the show.

One of the many entrance gates.  With all the sound stages they have multiple entrances along the property to keep things simpler.

"Any Town USA" which has been used for more shows then I can remember the tour guide saying.  They can make this street look like anywhere they want, even changing out plants and things like that.

After Friends got so popular the stage that it was shot on became renamed the "Friends" stage.  I believe they said most shows take between 6-8 hours of taping since they tape the full episode in one day but Friends was more like 10ish hours since they were always having so much fun.

Outfits from some of the final Friends episodes as well as the infamous foosball and fridge from Joey/Chandler's apartment. Derek playing around on the green screen stage.

Night Eight: A Change of Plans
It was right off to lunch after our morning tour and then right off to the pool after that for the rest of the day.  We had planned to do an Italian dinner for our last night but after all the heat the concierge got us a reservation for a steakhouse down the street which was much more appealing at that time.

The drinks tasted like perfection, we ate across from Rick Fox and we met the sweetest older lady who still emails us today.

We both wanted steak and we both wanted lobster so one did steak and one did lobster and they were nice enough to split it up for us.  I very much enjoyed our lobster bibs too.

Outfit Details:  dress:  similar style // necklace: Jennifer Zeuner // earrings: nordstrom // purse: gigi new york

  Drinks back at the hotel then off to the airport and into our comfy clothes for the red eye home.

Meanwhile back at home, Stella was enjoying her vacation just as much… 

Helpful Links… 

wb studios

nate n al's deli

pool bar & cafe

dan tana's

the palm

the blvd

Thanks for reading along with the details of our trip - can't wait until the next one! 

Linking up with Jenn & Jessi for "What's Hap-pinning Wednesday"

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Tailgate Treats: Pepperoni Pizza Rolls

As I said yesterday, now that we're in the middle of football season, I'm going to be sharing the recipes and details for all our regular tailgate treats that we like to do each season as well as some new ones that I've tried out recently.  For starters, we'll go with the new ones.  Everything we do is easy because on game day it's more about getting down to the game quickly to enjoy the time there so most of our items are things we can make or buy the day before and usually cold so they can keep in the cooler.  We do have some "hot" bags and like to do a hot main course especially for those games later in the season when it's cooler out.

This year was the first time we tried some hot apps and they tired out well.  Well enough that we've had them the past two weeks and haven't gotten sick of them yet.  The only tough part about them is plotting enough time to get them cooked and ready right before leaving for the stadium.

First up, we've got pepperoni pizza rolls and they are delicious.

Pepperoni Pizza Rolls:

Ingredients:

1 package crescent rolls 

pepperoni slices

mozzarella string cheese

garlic powder

marinara sauce for dipping

Directions:

+ unroll the package of crescent rolls and break apart on the divided lines 

(see notes below - if your doing a regular batch you'll have 8 rollups - if your cutting the crescent rolls in half to make more then you'll have 16)

+ Place three pepperonis on the crescent roll 

(if cutting crescent rolls in half to make more then you'll only need 1-2)

+ On top of the pepperoni goes the string cheese

(1/2 piece of string cheese for regular size, 1/3 piece for smaller size)

+ Roll the rollup together and sprinkle garlic on top 

(don't skip the garlic!)

+ bake at 375 for 12 minutes

+ serve with marinara for dipping and a game day too pick is optional 

(how I make mine, coming soon)

Notes:

+ The pepperoni slices and string cheeses lasted me to make one batch of these two weeks in a row and I still had plenty of pepperonis in the pack and a few string cheeses left

+ The first week I made the rolls full size and the second week I cut the crescent rolls in half to make more since we had a bigger group.  Both were equally delicious and I'd switch the size purely on the size of the group being served

+ The cheese will pour out the sides of the rollup.  Once they cool for a minute just take a knife, cut of the extra cheese and they'll look much prettier.

+ These still taste absolutely delicious when they aren't piping hot aka once they get down to the tailgate as well.

Linking up with my favorite food linkups - 

Delicious Dish Tuesdays, Tasty Tuesdays, Recipe Swap

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Penn State vs San Diego State {Week Four}

Another football weekend in the books.  It was finally feeling like fall in State College this weekend - we had sunny skies and a nice breeze for the tailgate on Saturday.  The Nittany Lions kept their winning streak going beating the Aztecs 37 - 21.  Friday was spent tailgate prepping, shopping around downtown and a nice relaxing dinner out with Derek and my parents before Davey and our friends arrived.  Saturday was all about game day starting with our game day breakfast, the tailgate, the game and then we re-set up all the tailgate food in the basement before us kids headed out for some bowling to finish off the night.  We headed out of town early yesterday to get home for a lazy and relaxing Sunday at home complete with the windows open, football on tv and soup in the crockpot (recipe coming soon).



Kickoff was at 3:30 this weekend so the first car set off for the stadium a little after noon and many calories were indulged in.  On the tailgate menu this week was…

Tailgate Dip
Mexican Dip, Guacamole, Salsa & Chips
Ranch Dip, Clam Dip & Potato Chips
Sausage Bites
Pizza Rolls

Crockpot Swedish Meatballs (and slider supplies if wanted)
Tortellini Pasta Salad

Penn State Cookie Cake
Game Day Chocolate Pretzel Bites (Blue & White)
*all of our traditional game day recipes will be coming soon


Things started off in the morning at home with our traditional game day breakfast of quiches, fruit and grilled stickies and a mimosa/bloody mary bar.

 It was another great game filled with plenty of excitement and cheering.  Most importantly another big win.

We usually try to get a family photo once a season (this was Stella's first!)  so we had our little annual photo session before heading down to the stadium.

Is it next Saturday yet??? 

Linking up with Biana & Meghan this lovely Monday.

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