Ewan McGregor is flanked by his wife Eve Mavrakis (left) and incoming 'This Week' anchor Christiane Amanpour. | Photo by Nick Khazal/Vi Photography
If Friday and Saturday of White House Correspondents’ weekend is for dining and partying, Sunday provides the transition to peace and quiet, as the hoopla of the previous two nights gives way to calm and civilized brunches. For years, John McLaughlin’s brunch at the Hay-Adams hotel was the only game in town. But this year, a new party joined the mix: POLITICO owner Robert Allbritton and his wife, Elena, opened their stunning Georgetown mansion to a wide swath of VIPs eager for one more round of socializing before Washington's annual prom comes to a close.The brunch was hosted in the Allbritton's lush garden, which was adorned with huge floral centerpieces and topiary. Guests found a reprieve from the humidity in an air-conditioned and carpeted tent, while others enjoyed the long-awaited spring warmth around tables arranged outside.
Hors d'oeuvres arrived on silver trays along with mimosas, champagne, wine and bloody marys. Guests also sampled other brunch delicacies, including a fritatta and mango and crab salad. A crepe station was a crowd favorite.
As for the conversation, guests participated in much post-game analysis of the comic routines delivered by President Barack Obama and Jay Leno at Saturday's dinner.
"He was terrific!" declared Debbie Dingell of the president.
"I thought he was great!" seconded HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius.
Perhaps no one knows better how Obama did than Bloomberg's Ed Chen, who got to sit next to the president thanks to his position as head of the White House Correspondents’ Association. Chen said that Obama brought up over dinner some of the concerns raised by White House reporters with regards to access and coverage. Obama also confessed to Chen that he hates being stared at by everyone at these events. Chen, it turns out, had quite an interesting weekend: Not only did he get some major face-time with the president, he also found out Sunday morning that his son had gotten engaged.
Sen. Scott Brown, dressed summer casual at the brunch — in khakis and a striped polo — said that he found his first White House Correspondents’ Dinner to be, er, interesting.
"Man, it’s crazy," said Brown, who was accompanied by his wife Gail Huff and his two daughters. "It was fun, but I'd still rather be watching the Celtics game."
Brown's daughter Arianna, a student at Syracuse, said she enjoyed the dinner and how out of the ordinary the whole event was.
"It was such an interesting night," she said. "There are all these interesting mixes of celebrities and politicians that make for such a unique time."
Brown's eldest daughter, Ayla, said the evening topped her real prom in high school. "The second time around was much better," she said.
She also said what most others did: Jay Leno could have done better.
Ewan McGregor, the Scottish star of “Star Wars,” “Moulin Rouge” and “Trainspotting,” said he thoroughly enjoyed the dinner — especially being in the same room as Obama.
"It was quite magical. I felt the hairs on my neck stand up," McGregor said.
McGregor and his wife didn't get to meet the president, but they vowed to return to Washington in the near future to tour the West Wing. (They did drive around to do a little night tour, seeing all the monuments lit up, they told POLITICO.)
HHS Secretary Sebelius said she was glad that she got to meet Morgan Freeman and Dennis Quaid, but mentioned that she didn't care so much about Justin Bieber.
"I've raised two 15 year olds, I don't need another," she said.
There was also plenty of chatter at this brunch about Obama's mention of POLITICO.
"Boy, that was unexpected," said one attendee.
"I bet you POLITICO guys loved that," said another.
Other notable guests included: Rep. John Dingell, Arianna Huffington, Bill Sammon, David Bohrman, Wolf Blitzer, Norah O'Donnell and Geoff Tracy, Betsy Fischer, Ben Bradlee, Sally Quinn, Chris and Kathleen Matthews, Bret and Amy Baier, Sen. Amy Klobuchar, Tammy Haddad and Ted Greenberg, the Jonas Brothers, T. Boone Pickens, Jon Karl, Lloyd Grove, Howard Fineman, Michael Feldman, Savannah Guthrie, Christiane Amanpour, Ed Henry, Jake Tapper, Chris Cillizza, Rodell Mollineau, Katie Couric, Melody Barnes, Gary Locke, Dag Vega, Anita McBride, Juleanna Glover, Josh Earnest, Natalie Wyeth, Mark Leibovich, Jim Courtovich, Eric Schmidt, David Gregory, Gwen Ifill, John King and Dana Bash, Wayne and Catherine Reynolds, and Charlie Rose.
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