Cheers!

One of my favorite shows from the 80's was the comedy Cheers.  I especially loved the early episodes with Sam (Ted Danson) and Diane (Shelley Long).  They were a great pair and had such good chemistry.  I lost interest in the show when Shelley Long left in 1987.  She got too big for her britches and thought she could have a movie career but it never really took off.  I also really enjoyed the lovable character Coach, played by the late Nicholas Colasanto.

Cheers is being shown on the Hallmark channel these days.  I'm sure you'll enjoy it if you've missed it somehow!  Here is a clip of the wonderful theme song (one of the best ever)!

More Hamm news

I just read that Jon Hamm will host Saturday Night Live for the 3rd time on October 30th.  I thought the first time he hosted was especially funny.  He did a spoof of Don Draper called How to be Don Draper which was hilarious.  He has great comedic timing.

The Plaza

I wanted to see the Hotel Plaza Athenee while we were in Paris.  This was mostly because of the series finale of Sex and the City.  They filmed the final two episodes there and I love to see beautiful hotels. In An American Girl in Paris, Carrie Bradshaw went to Paris to live with her boyfriend Aleksandr Petrovsky played by Mikhail Baryshnikov.  It doesn't work out with them and Carrie reunites with Mr. Big (Chris Noth) who had gone to Paris to find her.

It took us awhile to find the Plaza but it truly was beautiful.  Here's the website -

http://www.plaza-athenee-paris.com/

Here I am in front of the hotel -

An American Girl in Paris

Hamm alert

Jon Hamm (from Mad Men) is going to be on The Daily Show tonight. He has a new movie to promote called The Town which stars Ben Affleck, who directed the movie and co-wrote it as well. It's been getting great reviews. Jon Hamm plays an FBI agent. I haven't seen him being interviewed very often and I'm sure he'll be fun talking to Jon Stewart.


Here are more details about The Town which opens on September 17th -

http://www.themovieinsider.com/m3715/the-town/

Afternoon tea

Jackson and I have enjoyed the treat of having afternoon tea in many different cities.  So when we were planning our trip to London I wanted to be sure and have tea in the famous department store Harrods.  Their Georgian restaurant is described on the Harrods website -

Afternoon Tea at the Georgian

The Georgian’s quintessentially English afternoon tea stands amongst London’s finest, and when enjoyed in such regal surroundings, is an experience to be savoured, remembered and repeated. Freshly cut sandwiches, scones and pastries are accompanied by your choice of tea from Harrods private tea gardens.

It is a beautiful restaurant with a piano and the piano player wore a tuxedo.  Our waiter was very attentive and I loved the little sandwiches and cakes.  It actually was a moving experience for me to have tea in Harrods.  I'm not sure why but maybe it was just another dream coming true on this vacation!

We bought some loose leaf tea in the gift shop.  It's a set of three fruit flavored teas including strawberry, lemon and kiwi.  It was a lovely afternoon.

Harrods

Eiffel Tower

It was great to see the Eiffel Tower in person after having seen it in countless movies and on TV.  It looked especially beautiful at night when it's lit up with a golden glow and sparkling strobe lights.  We could see it from our hotel room, which was the nicest feature of our otherwise small and ordinary room.  Not one of Rick Steves' best hotel recommendations except it was in a great and convenient neighborhood. 

Here is one of the few photos of the two of us taken by a passerby -

American Tourists in Paris

She didn't get all of the Tower in the shot but I still like the picture.  Here is another view of the Tower -

Jackson and the Eiffel Tower

Randall Hodges Photography

Yesterday we went to an art festival to buy some photographs by Randall Hodges.  We have one of his nature scenes already and now we have 3 more of different sizes.  This one is my favorite as it's kind of mystical.

http://www.randalljhodges.com/Images/Fall_Color/source/foggy_fall_trail__mt_baker.htm

The other two are a panoramic scene of Crater Lake and Mt. St. Helen with wildflowers.  Randall is a really talented photographer and I'm so happy to have his art in our home.