This morning we hosted Seamus O’Regan and the crew of CTV’s Canada AM for their broadcast. As I said to my daughter when they were putting on her makeup before the show… not like the life we used to lead!

Ambassador Jacobson and Seamus O'Regan

The fun started – and it was fun – yesterday when the crew arrived to set up and to film Julie giving them a tour of the house. We both feel strongly about the importance of openness and transparency in government. This is a cornerstone of the Obama Administration. That’s why we opened the Embassy during Doors Open Ottawa, why I write this blog, and why we invited Canada AM to broadcast from the Ambassador’s Residence, a.k.a., our home. While these events are, obviously, not the be-all-and-end-all of open government, they are representative of what we believe.

CTV's Seamus O'Regan and crew arrive early in the morning

In any event, Julie showed Seamus the art and several of the official rooms on the first floor. She then went up to the “President’s Room” on the second floor where Presidents stay when they are in town – the most recent being George W. Bush and Bill Clinton. Next, they went up to our favorite place (at least in the summer) – the deck on the roof with the spectacular views of the Ottawa and Gatineau Rivers and the Gatineau Hills. For the record, it’s one of the greatest places in the world for an evening glass of wine.

Julie Jacobson and Seamus O'Regan

This morning the crew arrived at 4:30 a.m. Not sure I would do well as a regular on the show. At 6:00, they began the broadcast from our front yard. Among the highlights was a tour of our vegetable garden with our head gardener Laura Dill. She gave all of us a great tip. There were a lot of gnats flying around. It turns out they go to the highest point, so if you hold your hand over your head they stay away from your face and body. It worked so well that we all spent the rest of the day walking around the grounds looking like we wanted to be called on by the teacher.

Head gardener Laura shows Seamus the Residence's Garden

During the interview, Seamus, Julie and I talked about the fact that President Obama was appearing on The View this afternoon. As I explained, the Administration was obviously trying to blanket the airwaves of North American daytime TV!

Residence Chef Dino and Seamus

Then they had my favorite segment of the show. Our daughter Wynne and our Chef Dino Ovcaric showed the audience how to make one of our all-time favorites, Chicago-Style Deep Dish Pizza. After the show ended we had a great breakfast. Pizza! Quite a morning.

DJ