Jane Kennedy | The Official Jennifer Hansen Website

It’s an annual event and an invitation much sought after by Melbourne’s media girls – the Women in Media Lunch at Crown. That’s not just because Crown’s Ann Peacock always puts on such a wonderful day with superb food and champagne, it’s the company invited AND the incredible goody bag you stumble home with after a day of indulgence…

Last Friday we gathered at SILKS restaurant where the staff prepared a stunning feast of delicate dishes that blew my diet out of the water… not that I cared one bit!

In this case, the photos I took will best tell the story of how the day panned out so let’s take a look:

We gathered on the balcony of Crown’s SILKS restaurant.

The Dream Team from the Blo Bar were on hand to style lashes and hair for those who’d rushed to make it on time…

PR guru Kerry O’Brien and Gold FM’s Brigitte Duclos get the full treatment from the Blo Bar crew

Age journalist Suzanne Carbonne

Media gals Alice Coster, Wendy Tuohy and Rebecca Maddern

The room’s decor was stunning, including the highlight – a towering floral peacock

Ornate peacocks sat atop the decadent floral arrangements…

And it didn’t take much to work out the inspiration behind the theme of the day…

The stunning peacock arrangements paid tribute to one of the hardest working among us, Crown’s Ann Peacock

Never too old to sit on Santa's knee - me and Herald Sun columnist Wendy Tuohy

Never too old to sit on Santa’s knee – me with Herald Sun columnist Wendy Tuohy and Santa!

A highlight of the day was the entertainment – songs performed by a young man with one of the most beautiful voices I’ve heard – 11-year-old Beau Woodbridge. You’ll get the chance to hear him too when he performs at Carols By Candelight with David Hobson on Christmas Eve. And yes, you may have recognised his surname. His father is none other than tennis great Todd Woodbridge.

Star of the future 11-year-old Beau Woodbridge

Recognise these faces?

Dee Dee Dunleavy, Kate Langbroek, Brigitte Duclos, Jane Kennedy and Rebecca Maddern get into the festive spirit!

As lunch drew to an end, Ann wheeled in early Christmas gifts for all… a trolley-sized goody bag!

It all ended too soon, so for those of us who wanted to kick on, we headed downstairs to The Waiting Room bar.

Martinis anyone? Jane, Kate, Dee Dee, Rebecca and Ann.

Got my trolley home without being too trollied…

The trolley contents spilled over the table… a never-ending stream of surprises

Here’s some of my favourites:

A mini bottle of Moet – my favourite champagne!

Luxury skincare from La Prairie

A new Burberry lipstick – LOVE the stylish platinum packaging.

Vintage Princess white leather and silver cuff

Swisse Vitamin samples

A box of The Muesli sachets

An elegant Simply Vera candle by Vera Wang, Harris Scarfe

Beautiful make-up from Benefit

Cool summer nail colours from Nine West

Make-up and blow-dry voucher from Blo Bar

Milky Foot treatment

My kind of self-help book

Whitening cream and skin evaluation voucher from Liberty Belle

Plus there were movie passes from Roadshow and Palace cinemas, all adding up to possibly the best-ever goody bag I’ve seen. Huge thanks to Ann Peacock, Crown and all the sponsors for such a wonderful day.

When I tell people my Mum rarely drinks, never smoked, doesn’t swear and often goes to Church on Sundays, people raise their eyebrows and question where I came from. Okay, so I don’t smoke anymore, but really, I’m not THAT bad!! We just do some things differently…

Regardless, we spend a helluva lot of time together because our families are close and Mum and my wonderful stepfather Ken, do an enormous amount to help out on the home front. They even walk the dogs for us when I’m strapped for time. (I know – I’m spoilt.) When the kids were very young, they’d have sleep-overs at Grandma and Papa’s practically every Friday night so Fletch and I could have a social life. (Again, yes, very spoilt…) And if Mum babysits, I often arrive home to find the ironing all done. (Okay, I’ll shut-up now…)

But I also have siblings – two older brothers and a younger sister – so most of the family get-togethers involve lots of relatives with aunts, uncles, nieces and nephews and fabulous, noisy mayhem. So the one day of the year I get Mum all to myself is when I take her to the annual Crown Mother’s Day Lunch. It’s always a very special day and we both feel very lucky to be included.

Mum and me ready to head off to Crown

This year’s event was at the uber cool Mr Hive restaurant at Crown’s Metropol Hotel. Ken even drove us in – bless him – so we didn’t have to bother with parking or a taxi.

Mr Hive Restaurant at Crown

As we walked out of the lift, you could hear the buzz from the restaurant – the place bursting with excited conversation as we arrived – everybody trying to get around to as many people as possible before we took our seats. The room looked stunning, each table adorned with a beautiful floral arrangement.

Host Ann Peacock

As always, Crowns’ General Manager of Public Relations, Ann Peacock was there, stylishly dressed and greeting everyone with a warm smile. Knowing what Annie was going through, with her mum, Susan, battling cancer, I knew it must be a tough call. It was the first time in sixteen years I’d been to the lunch and not caught up with Susan. For Annie to see everyone there with their mums and not have her own by her side must have been bloody awful.

Yet still she took to the podium and made her annual Mother’s Day speech. Bravely, she spoke about her Mum’s ordeal and what Susan and her family were going through. Every year I take a tissue to this lunch because something emotional happens and I’m a big sook. But this year I wasn’t alone. I don’t think there was a dry eye in the house when Annie finished and was met with a standing ovation. She spoke with grace and dignity, her words of love and pain, direct and honest. God knows how she didn’t fall apart… I’m betting she’s inherited a good dose of her mother’s strength.

If there’s no greater love than that of a mother for her child, you can imagine the feeling in Hive over lunch – all these mothers with their children – to whom they have given so much love and support, enabling their kids to get to where they are today – it’s a pretty powerful vibe.

Jules Lund with his mum, Judy

Here’s a photo collection of some of the mums and their sometimes famous off-spring – starting with radio host Jules Lund, whose mum was giving him an earful over his new piercings – all part of an on-air dare. Jules has promised Judy he’ll have them removed as soon as possible. And yes, there is also one just under his lip – it’s not clear in the pic.

Brigitte Duclos with her mum, Shelia.

Jane Kennedy and her mum, Jill

Heloise Waislitz and her mum, Jeanne Pratt

Patti and Lauren Newton

Andrea Moss and her mum, Diane John

Lauren Phillips with her mum, Liz Coningsby

Tania Buckley and Janine Minnici

Tim Campbell and his mum, Heather

Anthony Callea and his mum, Santina

We were lucky enough to be on the same table as the delightful Anthony Callea and his partner, Tim Campbell – both famous and talented in their own right and a gorgeous couple. Mum wanted clarification though – she couldn’t believe Santina was Anthony’s mother. ‘She’s far too young!’ Mum exclaimed.

A highlight of the day was hearing Anthony and Tim sing together, along with leading vocalist Susie Ahern – a truly spine-tingling moment. And when Anthony sang ‘The Perfect Fan,’ for his Mum, the tissues came out again and there was another standing ovation.And then there was another standing ovation…

And then there was another standing ovation…

I could relate to that song. My Mum has always been my perfect fan, as most mothers are of their children – whether they’re in the public eye or not.

I was part of an acting workshop recently where some of the students revealed stories about traumatic childhoods where they were abused by their parents. Shocking stories that made me sad and angry. And also very, very grateful. I have only ever known huge love and support from my Mum. I remember when I first started reading the news and Mum would phone me almost every night to tell me what a brilliant job I had done – even when I hadn’t.

Dessert anyone?

Before we knew it, it was time for dessert. Whoa – now THAT’S what I call a dessert! That’s one thing Mum and I DO both share – a love of sweet treats.

As we tucked in, I looked around the room at all the other mums and felt quite smug. There were lots of other lovely mothers there, but quite frankly, I know mine’s the best of them all. It’s just not debatable.

(Love you, Mum. xxx)

The Official Jennifer Hansen Website

Thoughts, news and updates from writer & media personality, Jennifer Hansen

Tag Archives: Jane Kennedy

Christmas comes early at the ‘Women in Media’ lunch

Some people don’t believe she’s REALLY my Mum