David made a discovery of the newly renovated Miss Merrifield’s tearoom when he drove past it in Bloomfield, KY, one day. This quaint boutique tearoom in the small town of Bloomfield is attached and connected to Nettie Jarvis Antiques where 18th and 19th-century Kentucky and Southern antiques are displayed and sold. These two businesses together with other gentrified shop fronts and restaurants in downtown Bloomfield are owned by Jerry Bruckheimer, a prolific Hollywood movie producer, and his wife Linda. Among the many movies and TV Series Jerry Bruckheimer has produced are the Top Gun and Pirates of the Caribbean franchises.

According to Maureen, Linda’s personal assistant, who emigrated from Los Angeles to Bloomfield some years ago and who has been responsible for the renovation and revamping of her boss’ Bloomfield’s businesses, Linda Bruckheimer would travel to movie locations with her husband around the world and would ship the purchased antiques back to Bloomfield to be displayed in all her businesses. That day in the tearoom, the beautiful antique chandeliers and mirrors that Lam admired came recently from Eastern Europe in disassembled fragile pieces. Maureen shared with Lam and David that the meticulous cleaning and assembling of those magnificent chandeliers and mirrors “took ten years off her life.”

After his discovery of Miss Merrifield’s Tearoom earlier in the year, true to form, David began to hatch the idea of a surprise high tea for Lam. He knew the venue and activity would be most appropriate considering what has been the themes in the artistic and entertainment domains in their family this year. In 2023, Lam and David have cast their eyes and minds backwards onto the Golden Age of Hollywood and onto the most legendary designers and icons of world’s high fashion, or haute couture. For weekend entertainment, they have been watching classic movies from the 30s, 40s and 50s. With their children, they have been regularly enjoying films directed by Billy Wilder and Alfred Hitchcock that are free on Youtube. In fact, Alfred Hitchcock has become one of their family’s all-time favorite directors beside George Lucas, Stephen Spielberg, Billy Wilder and Peter Jackson.

Regarding high fashion, Lam and David share an interest in following the development of some prominent haute couture houses like Christian Dior and Valentino. When Jacob was a very small child in Vietnam, many nights after putting Jacob to bed, they would stay up to enjoy sipping a fruity bubble tea while watching FTV (Fashion TV) channel to unwind before going to bed themselves. Recently, Lam and David watched two documentaries in French with English subtitles about the House of Dior, which caused Lam to become slightly obsessed with the history and iconic designers of this haute couture house. She started looking up heritage Dior designs, and then she would enthuse over them with David. To Lam and David, some haute couture creations are simply exquisite works of art for anyone with Internet access to admire. One doesn’t need to be able to afford these breath-taking designs to know and appreciate their merits.

Therefore, against the backdrop of their family’s artistic and entertainment themes this year, David called to book a high tea for Lam’s birthday and received a discount for being the first ever customer of the newly reopened tearoom. He also requested a play list of all Lam’s favorite songs to be played during their time there together, which was another surprise for her. As the only customers there that morning, they had a leisure time exploring Nettie Jarvis Antique and Miss Merrifield’s Tearoom before settling down to a convivial meal with each other. They also enjoyed conversing with Maureen and the Antique shopkeeper next door about their work and the work-in-progress of Linda’s other businesses in Bloomfield. Moreover, as a final bonus, Lam tried out and chose two vintage hats from Linda Bruckheimer’s collection (one made in the USA and the other in Italy) as her birthday hats this year.

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