About 10 years ago, Hollywood wasn’t really much to see. Rundown and dirty, you had to dodge the homeless and their shopping carts to see the handprints in the ground at Mann’s Chinese Theater. The stars on the Walk of Fame had lost their luster, and many tourists went back home disappointed. But last weekend, I headed to Hollywood for the first time in years, and was shocked. It’s got its star power back! The streets are clean, the stars are bright, and stores like H&M have opened up and are thriving. Once again, Hollywood is the land of movie stars and fancy cars--and I was about to have a weekend straight out of the pages of Us Weekly.

Photo: Me and a scary new friend at the Quarantine movie premiere.

The reason I was in town was because my dear friend Drew Dowdle produced a horror movie called Quarantine. The red-carpet premiere at Knott’s Scary Farm was my chance to taste the Hollywood dream—in addition to the movie premiere the park was also unveiling a haunted attraction based on the movie. As we rode in the limo along the twists and turns of Mulholland Drive, decked out in our finest, I felt the thrill of what makes Los Angeles so attractive to so many—those endless blue skies, the eccentric mansions harboring so many secrets, the rugged mountains and canyons, and the palm trees stretching as far as the eye can see. It’s as if the entire city is one big movie set.

As I stepped onto the red carpet, I was terrified. While cameras flashed all around, I tried to imagine that I wouldn’t end up on the “fashion don’ts” page of a style magazine. To my left, my friend and his brother, the director, gave interviews. The movie’s stars (among them Jennifer Carpenter, Jay Hernandez, and ultra-sexy Columbus Short) posed for pictures, and everyone looked gorgeous, full of smiles. I walked by, happily ignored by the paparazzi.

The movie was such a thrill, with everyone in the theater screaming our heads off (including myself). The rest of the weekend was a wonderful blur of parties in some of L.A.’s most celebrated nightspots and by some of Hollywood’s most prized pools (I highly recommend spending an afternoon at The Roosevelt Hotel). For me, it was a glimpse into a life of glamour and Hollywood dreams, something it seems is still alive and kicking.

What are your experiences with L.A.? Any good celebrity sightings?