Christmas at the Chicago Botanical Gardens...

This annual event is one NOT to miss! The gardens take on a wintery wonderland, great family outing. 

The Wonderland Express is one of the Chicago area’s top holiday “must-sees,” and a family-friendly, made-for-memories experience.

In 2013, Wonderland Express dates run from the day after Thanksgiving through the holiday season (closing the evening of January 5). Bring the smartphones and video cameras, as our holiday exhibition delights children and parents, friends and families.

Be sure to check out our tree when you are there as well as the other great Christmas decor.

Josephs Events 2013

What is it??

IT'S A LIGHT SHOW!

Anticipation builds quickly at the Lake Cook Road entrance as you catch sight of the trees twinkling with white lights. More than 750,000 light-emitting diode (LED) bulbs illuminate the trees on the path to Wonderland, including the 40-foot-tall concolor fir tree on the Esplanade. (The tree arrives by helicopter.) LED bulbs are small and energy-efficient, greatly reducing energy consumption (LEDs use 70 percent less energy) while looking ultra-bright and festive.

Lighting your way through the Heritage Garden are seven Cornelian cherry dogwood trees, lit in red and white, plus a regal concolor fir at the central fountain. Glowing holiday trees in handsome wood-box containers stand at the porticoes and bonsai courtyards as you reach the Regenstein Center. (Our prized bonsai collection overwinters in climate-controlled quarters at the south end of the Garden).

IT'S A GREENHOUSE EXTRAVAGANZA!

You’ll enter the Regenstein Center through the Greenhouse Galleries, where tree forms stuffed with bromeliads vie for attention with hundreds of poinsettias. Feel free to tour the three indoor greenhouses—tropical, semitropical, and arid—all heading toward peak bloom during Wonderland Express and the winter months.

Chief among the reasons to visit the greenhouses in winter: they’re always warm (not to mention fragrant and filled with unexpected flowers)! In the Tropical Greenhouse, eight slow-growing spindle palms, wrapped with white lights, line the entrance; a giant globe of white moth orchids draws eyes and camera flashes. The Semitropical Greenhouse is theplace for poinsettias (including 4-foot globes suspended from the ceiling). Here, children like to search for the topiary animals (dragonfly! teddy bear! flamingo!) hiding among the greenery. Head into the Arid Greenhouse, too—lots of cactus species are in bloom (most for just one day) during Wonderland Express.

IT'S A RAILROAD GARDEN!

Kids are endlessly entertained by Wonderland’s 12 G-scale (garden-scale) trains, starting with the Wonderland Express in Joutras Gallery, which winds its way around a handmade gingerbread village with fantastic sugar-sculpted accessories. (Encourage the kids to look closely—what arethose roofs/doors/chimneys made of?) Also in this gallery: Christmas trees decorated by local designers and incredible cookie swags on the walls, made by our own Nancy Clifton.

As you enter the main exhibition, trains pass high and low, appealing to railroad enthusiasts of all levels: for little ones, there’s a ladybug car popping in and out of her tunnel; more experienced rail fans will recognize the only-shown-at-Wonderland Express cars and engines from our 300-to-400-strong train car collection.

And, of course, there are the plants! Gardeners will be awed by the many dwarf and mini-conifers that landscape the “city.” Interspersed with poinsettias and other small-by-nature plants, the evergreen landscape is a tour de force of weeping, creeping, mounding shapes—all punctuated by snow falling silently from above.

IT'S THE CITY OF CHICAGO...IN MINIATURE!

Adults marvel like kids at the unbelievably detailed replicas of more than 80 of Chicago’s most famous buildings and landmarks. Handcrafted by railroad garden guru Paul Busse and his crew at Applied Imagination, the buildings are all constructed of natural materials: gourds, pine cones, bark, acorns, pods, seeds, grains, grasses, and other creatively-used bits of nature. All of your favorite Chicago sights are there: Frank Gehry’s band shell and Anish Kapoor’s Cloud Gate (the “Bean”) from Millennium Park…the South Shore’s Cultural Center and Frank Lloyd Wright’s Robie House…Soldier Field and the Navy Pier ferris wheel…and the spectacle of Michigan Avenue, as exciting in miniature as it is life-size. And did we mention the waterfall that feeds the “river”?

In Krehbiel Gallery, you’ll stroll the local landmarks of the North Shore, which the Chicago Botanic Garden proudly calls home: Baha’i Temple…the Kenilworth and Glencoe train stations…and the just-outside-the-door landmarks of the Garden itself.

Ready for a break? The Garden Café (and the Caboose Café, which opens December 20) and a pop-up Garden Shop are popular gathering spots for relaxing with a cup of cocoa or shopping for fun, train-related gifts.

The sights and sounds of trains…the city of Chicago in miniature…interesting and unusual dwarf conifers and poinsettias… snow falling indoors…click here to purchase tickets for Wonderland Express!

Mazel Tov Matthew

This past weekend we were part of celebrating with Matthew! Matthew Madness it was at the Ravina Green Country Club. Here are a few sneak peeks from that evening that were created by our Art Department and Creative Team. Thanks, Cobalt Photography!

Cobalt Photography
Laura Epstein - Coordinator

Happy Sinterklaas Day - December 6th

Cute treats for Sinterklaas Day.

Cut brownies into circles (or buy the brownie bites from the grocer) top with a cream cheese frosting and add a strawberry "hat" with a dot of frosting for the ball on top


Sinterklaas [sɪntər'klaːs] (or more formally Sint Nicolaas or Sint Nikolaas; Saint Nicolas in French; Sankt Nikolaus in German) is a traditional winter holiday figure still celebrated in the Low Countries, including the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg, as well as some parts of Germany, French Flanders, Lorraine and Artois. He is also well known in territories of the former Dutch Empire, including Aruba, Bonaire, Curaçao, Indonesia, and Suriname. He is one of the sources of the holiday figure of Santa Claus in North America.[1]

He is celebrated annually on Saint Nicholas' eve (5 December) in the Netherlands and on the morning of 6 December in the other countries. Originally, the feast celebrates the name day of Saint Nicholas – patron saint of children, sailors, philatelists, and the city of Amsterdam, among others. Sint Nicholas being a bishop and this geographical spread make clear that the feast in this form has a Roman Catholic background, although the papacy has never officially recognized his existence.

Rainbow Band Loom...great gift for Christmas

Holiday Theme Rainbow Loom Bracelet

Stop by to pick up your supply of Rainbow Bands.

Holiday Decorating is in FULL swing

Here are some of the places our "elves" have been. Our team takes to the streets this time of year, decorating for clients, and businesses. Need help this holiday season? Contact our store for details and availability.

Custom bows will make a great addition to your decor.

Pigs in the Blanket a whole new way....

Ricotta-Stuffed Bacon-Wrapped Dates

These are the new pigs in the blanket and way better. They're a classic tapas but they never get old. And I spruced them up just a bit with a touch of ricotta cheese.

Ingredients
1 pound (about 12 to 13 slices) bacon, preferably thick-cut
25 Medjool dates (about 3/4 pound)
1/3 cup ricotta cheese
Special Equipment: toothpicks, a bamboo skewer for removing pits
Directions
Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.

Cut the bacon in half lengthwise to make twice as many slices. Set aside. To remove the pits from the dates, cut the tips off each end of the dates and insert the flat end of the skewer until it pushes the pit out of the date. Repeat with remaining dates.

Place the ricotta in the bottom corner of a strong plastic bag and seal tightly. Use scissors to cut a small hole in the tip of 1 of the corners. Now use the bag like a piping bag to fill the dates with the cheese.

Wrap the ricotta stuffed dates with a slice of bacon and secure with a toothpick through the belly of the date. Arrange all the prepared dates on a parchment-lined baking sheet, allowing at least a little space between each one for good browning. Roast for 15 to 20 minutes or until bacon is browned and crispy. Remove from the baking sheet and gently remove toothpicks. Serve immediately.






Read more at: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/dave-lieberman/ricotta-stuffed-bacon-wrapped-dates-recipe/index.html?oc=linkback

HAPPY THANKSGIVING from all of us at JOSEPH'S

This Thursday, millions of families will celebrate Thanksgiving with roasted turkey, buttery mashed potatoes, and (with only a slight amount of guilt) another piece of pumpkin pie. But in early America, days of Thanksgiving weren’t always about food.

Reflecting American religious practice, Presidents and Congresses from the beginning of the republic have from time to time designated days of fasting and thanksgiving (the Thanksgiving holiday we continue to celebrate on the third Thursday of November was established by Abraham Lincoln during the Civil War).

Following a resolution of Congress, President George Washington proclaimed Thursday the 26th of November 1789 a day of “public thanksgiving and prayer” devoted to “the service of that great and glorious Being who is the beneficent Author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be.” In setting aside a day for Thanksgiving, Washington established a non-sectarian tone for these devotions and stressed political, moral, and intellectual blessings that make self-government possible, in addition to personal and national repentance.

Although the First Amendment prevents Congress from establishing a religion or prohibiting its free exercise, Presidents, as well as Congress, have always recognized the American regard for sacred practices and beliefs. Thus, throughout American history, Presidents have offered non-sectarian prayers for the victory of the military and in the wake of catastrophes. Transcending passionate quarrels over the proper role of religion in politics, the Thanksgiving Proclamation reminds us how natural their relationship has been. While church and state are separate, religion and politics, in their American refinement, prop each other up.

Therefore this Thursday, in the words of Washington, let us:

[T]hen unite in most humbly offering our prayers and supplications to the great Lord and Ruler of Nations, and beseech Him to pardon our national and other transgressions; to enable us all, whether in public or private stations, to perform our several and relative duties properly and punctually; to render our National Government a blessing to all the people by constantly being a Government of wise, just, and constitutional laws, discreetly and faithfully executed and obeyed; to protect and guide all sovereigns and nations (especially such as have shown kindness to us), and to bless them with good governments, peace, and concord; to promote the knowledge and practice of true religion and virtue, and the increase of science among them and us; and, generally, to grant unto all mankind such a degree of temporal prosperity as He alone knows to be best.

Happy Thanksgiving!

http://blog.heritage.org/2011/11/23/the-true-meaning-of-thanksgiving/

Thanksgiving Cactus

Botanical Name: Schlumbergera truncata

Flat stem segments are long and narrow and connected by a mid-rib. Its deeply indented stems look like crab claws, giving it a second common name, Crab Cactus. In late fall, it bears big, beautiful flowers, which may be red, pink, peach, orange, white, or bicolored.

You'll get a fuller plant by pruning. Cutting it back in spring will encourage the plant to branch out where the stem was cut. Flowers emerge from the ends of the stems so you'll get more blooms this way. Spring is the best time to prune it back, when it begins actively growing again.

Some also call it a Christmas Cactus....but it comes around the holidays.

Thanksgiving Cactus Care Tips

Origin: Brazil

Height: 12-24 in (30-60 cm)

Light: Bright indirect light

Water: Keep the soil evenly moist, but not soggy while plant is growing. After flowering, water sparingly until new growth begins in spring. Stems will shrivel or wilt if the roots are too dry.

Humidity: Moderate room humidity

Temperature: To set flower buds, the plant needs cool 60-65°F/16-18°C days and 45-55°F/7-13°C nights. Once buds set, 70-75°F/21-24°C days and 60-70°F/16-21°C nights.

Soil: Mix 1 part potting soil and 1 part fine-grade fir bark.

Fertilizer: Feed every 2 weeks with a balanced liquid fertilizer diluted by half. After blooms have dropped, stop fertilizing until new growth begins in spring.

Propagation: Take stem segments in spring. Place upright in moist perlite.

BE Thankful!

Consider creating a "thankful" tree this year. Carol created this for our PTO Evening of Floral, using branches and leaves adding gourds and dried materials all for the hanging of your blessings and thankful notes. Have your family and friends fill out a card and hang on the tree.... make sure to date the cards so in the following years you can see what everyone wrote in prior years.

THANKSGIVING:

1. The fourth Thursday of November, observed as a legal holiday in the United States to commemorate the feast held at Plymouth in 1621 by the Pilgrim colonists and members of the Wampanoag people and marked by the giving of thanks to God for harvest and health. The second Monday of October, celebrated in Canada by the giving of thanks to God for harvest and health.

We are SO thankful to all our customers.... Have a great Thanksgiving this year!

Fairy Tales do come True!

 We had the privilege of helping Kathryn and Patrick make their dream come true at Wynstone Country Club. From the entrance Escort Table to the details on the dance floor and ceiling gobos no detail was forgotten. With months of planning and coordinating other vendors it is fun to see the finished product.

The beautiful arrangements made of lilies, hydrangeas and roses took on a whole new look when they were mounted on top of the bell tower vases and dripping with crystals.

Our glass vases were wrapped in a solid band of BLING to carry the theme over the top.

Sid from Precision Sound and Lighting did a fantastic job in transforming the ordinary chandeliers at Wynstone Country Club to these chic lounge blingy fixtures that floated over head the guest tables.

The Menu Cards and Escort Cards were designed by Carol Woldhuis Designs to match the amethyst accent color of the wedding. Letting the guest know what an amazing dinner was ahead of them.

The gobo was projected on the white vinyl dance floor for a truly magical experience. Both were installed by the team of Precision Sound and Lighting.

 

An added detail of gardenias to top the cake.....rich and creamy add just enough to the swirl details of the wedding cake.

 To give the room even MORE ambiance, the accent window ledges were lined with LED candles to give a true romantic touch.

 

 Dripping with crystals-

Congrats Kate and Pat!

These photos were taken in house but we look forward to sharing the professional images taken by George Street Photography.

Musicians and Band: Ron Beal

Floral "ART"

This is a piece Jill designed at the District 96 PTO event. Taking a twig wall hanging and creating ART using 3-Dimensional objects, making a "living wall" Your friends will love this piece in your home. The winner of this piece was smiling from ear to ear!

Liberty Twistz - Rainbow Band Instructions

We carry RAINBOW BANDS-

Kids in Need Fund-District 96 PTO

This year we were invited back to join in as the District 96 PTO had their 2nd Annual Evening of Floral Design. We along with three other area florists designed 6 arrangements each to be raffled off for the Kids in Need Fund. This year was another HUGE success and we all had fun doing it! Here are a few pictures from November 6th and our creations.

TABLES...THINK outside of the BOX...

{EVENT CATCHUP}

When it comes to tablescapes...think outside the box. Tables are not just rectangle or round, they can be in the shape of a bed! Check out these pictures from a past {twins} Bat Mitzvah and what our team did with the tables and linens.

Moroccan Lounge

{MITZVAH MONDAY}

This past season we gathered our team and designed a true Moroccan style Bar Mitzvah for the Jackson Family. With the help of  That Special Event and Jerry Carlson we created glows of orange, red/maroon, purple and aquas. Large pillows were scattered for extra "moroccan style" seating. The amber uplighting really set the mood along with the candle light and lanterns.

The party fell on the day of a high holiday Purim. All the guests came dressed in their best attire to the Highland Park Community House

The floor was lite with a beautiful paisley style pattern that had the guests saying...WOW!

PURIM:
The festival of Purim is celebrated every year on the 14th of the Hebrew month of Adar (late winter/early spring). It commemorates the salvation of the Jewish people in ancient Persia from Haman’s plot “to destroy, kill and annihilate all the Jews, young and old, infants and women, in a single day.”

The story in a nutshell:The Persian empire of the 4th century BCE extended over 127 lands, and all the Jews were its subjects. When KingAhasuerus had his wife, Queen Vashti, executed for failing to follow his orders, he orchestrated a beauty pageant to find a new queen. A Jewish girl, Esther, found favor in his eyes and became the new queen—though she refused to divulge the identity of her nationality.
Meanwhile, the anti-Semitic Haman was appointed prime minister of the empire.Mordechai, the leader of the Jews (and Esther’s cousin), defied the king’s orders and refused to bow to Haman. Haman was incensed, and convinced the king to issue a decree ordering the extermination of all the Jews on the 13th of Adar—a date chosen by a lottery Haman made.
Mordechai galvanized all the Jews, convincing them to repent, fast and pray toG‑d. Meanwhile, Esther asked the king and Haman to join her for a feast. At the feast, Esther revealed to the king her Jewish identity. Haman was hanged, Mordechai was appointed prime minister in his stead, and a new decree was issued—granting the Jews the right to defend themselves against their enemies.
On the 13th of Adar, the Jews mobilized and killed many of their enemies. On the 14th of Adar, they rested and celebrated.

and they said BEYOND...

{THANK YOU THURSDAY}

I would have to say this Thank You note was BEYOND! Handmade to match the theme of her daughter's wedding and THREE pages of notes to us and our staff- Makes our job worth it even more.

We LOVE our clients!

{THANK YOU THURSDAY}

Reviews are great ...but we ALWAYS love getting personal THANK YOUS to brighten our day!

ERICA goes ET

{MITZVAH MONDAY}

Coordinated by Denise Pierce of Simply Celebrate, Erica Tashma wanted an ET theme for her Bat Mitzvah, so our team was on it! Creating dimensional tablescapes to resemble the moon from the movie. Incorporating the details while keeping it personal for Erica too- Guests were greeted by with escort cards giving them the feel for the evening.

 

 Choosing different poses for the image made each table unique and fun to see what the other decor was.

 The seating and up lighting made the room at the Westin Wheeling so inviting for her event. Again Hype Productions was on board making for an Extra-Terrestrial party.

             FUN FACTS

  

E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
Theatrical release poster by John Alvin[1]
Directed by	Steven Spielberg
Produced by	Steven Spielberg Kathleen Kennedy
Written by	Melissa Mathison
Starring	Dee Wallace Peter Coyote Henry Thomas Drew Barrymore
Music by	John Williams
Cinematography	Allen Daviau
Editing by	Carol Littleton
Studio	Amblin Entertainment
Distributed by	Universal Pictures
Release date(s)	June 11, 1982
Running time	114 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$10.5 million
Box office	$792,910,554[2]