January 31, 2014

XOXO Gossip Girl

It's time for a Flashback Friday post!

Cassie and Lauren have been binge watching old seasons of Gossip Girl lately, and it's inspired a conversation or two about the show, the characters and the story. I suddenly randomly recalled an old New York adventure that I never got a chance to blog about... and yes, it's got something to do with the show.

When I first moved to New York, I had a lot of free time on my hands since I was (f)unemployed. I honestly didn't know what to do with all the extra time, apart from read, so it was with complete gratitude that I embraced every single adventure that my friend Jaymee discovered for us. One of these adventures? Catching two days of the Gossip Girl cast and crew filming in the city!

Day 1: Dan & Jenny / Me & Jaymee

Jaymee and I honestly had no idea what to expect when we first showed up to watch a scene being filmed. While it was generally just a repetitive sequence of the same shots over and over (and over and over), we were still excited to be surrounded by a professional crew and, of course, to catch a glimpse of some of the stars of the show.

This day brought with it the presence of Taylor Momsen (Jenny Humphrey), Penn Badgley (Dan Humphrey) and Jenny's little group of lackeys.

They were seriously friendly!

They did this scene so many times with so many different expressions.

Jaymee & Amanda Setton (Penelope)

Spotted: Taylor Momsen (Jenny Humphrey)

Another "Jenny" shot

Penn Badgley (Dan Humphrey)

Day 2: Nate, Serena and Dan / Me, Jaymee and Pam

The second time I ever got to watch Gossip Girl film, I was with Jaymee and our other best friend Pam. We stuck around to watch them shoot a bunch of different scenes, which meant we were there from early afternoon until late at night. It was a very fun experience, and something that I wouldn't trade for the world. 

Here's a list of things I'll always remember about this day:
  • How passersby kept assuming the three of us were part of the show
  • How the crew and bodyguards recognized us (and some actually stopped to chat and say hi)
  • How gorgeous Blake Lively (Serena van der Woodsen) is in real life
  • How incredibly cute and sweet Penn Badgley (Dan Humphrey) is in real life
  • How incredible HOT Chace Crawford (Nate Archibald) is in real life (THOSE EYES!)
  • How bodyguards can become "buddy guards"

Jaymee, me & Pam

They were filming a cab ride scene that required them to loop around a LOT.

me & Samuel Page (Colin Forrester) [Bonus points if you remember him!] 

I wanted to take this home SO BAD.

Spotted (again): Penn Badgley (Dan Humphrey)


the "buddy" guard

Oh, it's nothing really, just Penn freaking Badgley (who was the NICEST!)

Want to guess who we were looking at?

Yup, it's Chace Crawford (Nate Archibald) in the flesh!

Seriously. No words for how good-looking he is.

No decent picture of when he smiled at us because my hands were shaking SO BAD.

And there, my dears, is Blake Lively (Serena van der Woodsen).

And thus marks the end of my adventures involving Gosisp Girl! I am quite sad that I never got the opportunity to see my two favorite actors - Ed Westwick (Chuck Bass) and Leighton Meester (Blair Waldorf) film. [But at least I will always have the memory of Chuck and Blair forever on my screen!] 

Seriously though, I'm grateful for the opportunity New York afforded me early on in allowing me to come and watch them film these scenes in person! It's one of the most fun things I've ever done.

12 Comments:

  1. This looks like so much fun! I've always wanted to visit a set to see the cast and crew of a show at work. Unfortunately, here in England you don't get so many opportunities! Movies do film in Black Park near where I live, though, which is always fun. But you rarely see the cast trekking through the mud XD

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  2. THIS. IS. AMAZING. SERIOUSLY, perfect timing!!! PS- I refinished the series and miss it already!

    I had a feeling Penn would be so sweet!!! AND CHASE CRAWFORD OMFG, gorgeous.

    This looks like you had SO MUCH FUN, just another NYC perk!!! ;)

    PPS- can't wait for Lauren to see this and DIE from the amazingness.

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  3. Omg I'm so jealous! This is so awesome. I am a die hard Gossip Girl fan. Chuck and Blair forever! Looks like you got to meet some really amazing people! I need to move to New York....

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  4. Ahhh! That looks like the best two days ever! I probably would have died from jealousy if you had met Mr. Chuck Bass.

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  5. Awesome, thanks for letting us see the pics! And yeah, Chase is so YUM! =)

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  6. Whoa. This is so cool! Gossip Girl is the first ever show I finished because Chair is the best. Still, I started watching it because of the characters of Serena and Dan and by the end of the show rolled around, I'd mentally stabbed them countless of times. Ha ha.

    Seriously though, it all looks so fun and now I want to re-watch the series. Chace Crawford is the man and Penn Badgley looks so adorable.

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  7. OH. MY. GOSH. This is so awesome! Chace Crawford has always been my number one favorite hottest celebrity crush so I am soooo jealous you got to see him in the flesh. It's so cool that you have pictures of the whole experience so you'll be able to remember this forever! And sighhh Penn Badgley. He is so cute.

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  8. Alexa.... THERE ARE NO WORDS. Seriously, this is all kinds of awesomeness!! OMG... Chace Crawford is just... JUST. I would have passed out, seriously. End of my life. :) :)

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  9. Oh my gosh you are so lucky! I would kill to meet Blake Lively! Taylor Momsen was always my favorite and so was Ed Westwick! Too bad you didn't get to see them!

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  10. THIS POST WAS SO MUCH FUN! I loved watching gossip girl, even though it kind of went downhill towards the end of the show. I am so so jealous you got to hang out when they shot a scene! I always thought this would be so much fun (albeit repetitive). So so cool you got to meet so many of them. I love your little list of things you'll always remember. I wish I saw Chace Crawford in person. *swoon* :)

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  11. Oh wow, that is awesome!! I loved that show so much! And EEEP! Picture with Penn Badgley and being THIS close to Chace Crawford! *dies*

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  12. Oh my goodness, this is so exciting! I loved this show a lot, and while I haven't seen all the episodes (I quit watching after a couple of seasons, but I did see the final episodes) it was just so fun. You're meeting all the celebrities over there in NYC. I'm drooling over Chace Crawford from over here - and no, that is totally not creepy. You look adorable in these pictures. :)

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