Living next to the Empire Hotel had its obvious perks during the filming of Gossip Girl. For those who never watched it, the Empire Hotel is a frequent backdrop in the show. One morning, my friend and I walked out of our apartment building and were met with pink signs hung up around the block announcing Gossip Girl's arrival in the neighborhood. 

My friend and I immediately rerouted, opting to skip school in order to take part in this New York experience. We walked over to the set and saw as Ed Westwick and Leighton Meester (Chuck and Blair) exited their limo. We stood around for awhile watching, but the winter weather eventually influenced our decision to spend the remainder of our day inside at school. 

Later that night, as I was walking home from school, I stopped by set again. I barely had a chance to get my camera out before the director was yelling at me to walk. I assumed he meant for me to continue walking on my way until I saw a crowd of extras coming at me and a video camera filming us. The director barked at me again to walk, so walk I did. Then, when the scene ended and they handed out actor release forms, I ran.   

Still debating which set I should accidentally crash next. 

xx Esther