Stars. Mascots. Brunch..

Stars. Mascots. Brunch..

Hollywood On Productions: Janet Donovan & Brendan Kownacki
Photo & video credit: Brendan Kownacki

Before donning their black ties and gowns for the Correspondents’ dinner, there was another annual event drawing in the biggest names in Washington this weekend – the Annual Garden Brunch hosted by Tammy Haddad & Ted Greenberg, Kevin Sheekey, Hilary Rosen, Steve & Jean Case, Mark Ein, Alex Castellanos, Anita Dunn, Bill Knapp, Steve McMahon, David Adler and Franco Nuschese.

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Sally and Mark Ein

Once again this year, the weather was crystal clear as guests crowded the backyard of the historic Beall-Washington house that was once owned by Washington Post publisher Katharine Graham and now by industrialist and Washington Kastles owner Mark Ein.

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This year’s brunch was dedicated to honoring veterans and celebrated the opening of Dog Tag Bakery, a non-profit dedicated to helping disabled vets transition out of the service and offers job training opportunities to help them find a place in society where they can feel useful beyond the military. The brunch started more than 20 years ago and has benefited many causes along the way, this year specifically it is the military support group Blue Star Families.

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Cast of VEEP

A wide range of politicos, media, Washington society and a herd of celebs were all on the scene and basking in a fun morning.

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Greta Van Susteren, Katharine McPhee and John Coales

As they entered, many of the actors and athletes mentioned keeping their fingers crossed that they would get the chance to meet President Obama at the Correspondents’ dinner. Several of the folks were amped up to once again weigh in on the difference between the fake DC world they play in on TV versus the real Washington and the folks in.

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 Dr. Ronald DePinho, President of MD Anderson with Tammy Haddad

We checked in with cast members from VEEP, Scandal and House of Cards to drill down the differences, with a few other special guests weighing in on their DC visits.

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Diane Lane

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