Macy's Philly Flower Show

We've long enjoyed Macy's spring flower show at the flagship store on Herald Square in Manhattan.
But now you can also find Macy's Flower Show in Philadelphia, Chicago, Minneapolis and San Francsico.
The Philly show in the spectacular Grand Court of the old Wanamaker building (now Macy's) is on now through April 19 and it's a kncokout. We checked it out on Saturday and were delighted.
The theme is "Dream In Color" and color is the order of the day as Macy's spring and summer collection asks us to "Welcome Back Color."
Wanamaker's flower shows ran from the 1930s through the early 1970s. For this year's Flower Show, Macy's is partnering with the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society, founded in 1827. The PHS runs the Philadelphia Flower Show, the world's oldest and largest indoor Flower Show.
Featuring stunning landscapes, celebrity guests and renowned floral designers, Dream in Color transforms the Center City store into a vibrant, colorful dreamscape, showcasing unique garden environments overflowing with thousands of exotic trees and flowering plants.
More than 34 flower categroies are in the show along with special "bouquets of the day" and giant flamigos made entirely of fresh carnations. Eight large, live, blooming cherry trees line the Grand Court.

Take advantage of Macy's 15-minute specially guided tours. They're available at 10:30am, 11:30am and 12:30pm at The Eagle. During the tour, you'll learn all about this year's flowers and plants, plus you'll get an insider's look at The Eagle and the Wanamaker Organ.
The show is free and tours are complimentary.
Hurry on over to Macy's!

'Please Touch' Podcast Interview

We recently had a chance to chat with Nancy Kolb, President and CEO of Philadelphia's trailblazing Please Touch Museum at Memorial Hall in Fairmount Park.

The new Museum is one of the great joys of the Philadelphia region.

If you haven't been there (with or without children) you're missing a singular treasure.

Please Touch has taken a grand old building from Philadelphia's 1876 Centennial Exposition and turned it into an interactive gingerbread house that children of all ages can enjoy.

Please Touch is exactly what it says it is: A place where every exhibit is meant to be touched, explored, enjoyed. You'll find an original, beautifully restored carousel, a full-size recreation of Lady Liberty's torch made entirely of reclaimed toys, the old Toyland monorail from Wanamaker's department store, a SEPTA bus and the ever-popular child-sized supermarket, among other attractions.

Please Touch is a celebration of play.

And unstructured, spontaneous play is vital to learning, growth, socialization and development.

Listen to our Philadelphia Bar Association podcast interview with Nancy Kolb by clicking here.

And hurry on over to the new Please Touch Museum!

Philly Man Stalked Foxx

From CBS3:
A man has been arrested for allegedly stalking actor Jamie Foxx while he was in Philadelphia shooting a movie.The actor was staying at the AKA Hotel on S. 18 Street while filming the movie Law Abiding Citizen.
According to sources, a 49-year-old man allegedly attempted to break into Foxx's hotel room on three separate occasions. The three incidents occurred on March 22, March 27 and March 31.Sources said on one occasion, Foxx physically struggled with the suspect and had to push him out of the actor's hotel room. The suspect allegedly claimed he was Beyonce's producer.
Foxx's security guards spotted the man several days after the incidents near the movie set and he was taken into police custody.
The suspect is facing numerous charges. Sources said the suspect has 24 prior arrests.

Song Of 'The Soloist'

We caught an advance preview of the new film The Soloist earlier this week.
The movie is based on the book by former Philadelphia Inquirer columnist Steve Lopez and the book is based on a series of columns that Lopez wrote for the Los Angeles Times.
Starring Robert Downey Jr. and Jamie Foxx, The Soloist is about the friendship between two outcasts -- one just happens to be a journalist and the other just happens to be a homeless, schizophrenic, classical musician who once studied at Julliard.
In that respect, The Soloist is a bromance; a guy love tale between two unlikely fellas. And Foxx and Downey give understated, nuanced performances: Foxx muttering, musing and drifting; Downey letting those great, dark, magical eyes do lots of the talking. Together, they sing a soulful song of longing.
And if that were the whole story it might work.
But The Soloist is also about the haves and the have nots and about urban alienation and the emptiness of modern life. And it's about the fear of commitment and an unwillingness to return home. At the same time it's about the death of newspapers amidst our continuing search for stories and sensationalism - a search that sometimes feeds exploitation. And whether it realizes it our not, the movie is also about the hypocrisy of politicians and the failure of modern liberalism and the disdain that most elites have for what they perceive to be uncouth.
And, as Ken Shear would say: "It's also about 110 minutes."
I wish I could report to you that those 110 minutes flew by. I wish.
The performances are great and the music is downright thrilling at times.
But this film is so soaked with urban ennui and so hopelessly existential that when it tries to find a moral or a theme or anything that might pass for an anchor it just turns, shrugs and moves on to another diversion.
And that's a shame because the problems and the struggles that the movie tries to tackle are real and worthy of our attention.
Give DreamWorks and the produces and everyone involved lots of credit for taking on the subject matter. And give the actors their do for several fine performances not the list of which is Catherine Keener as the editor/former wife.
Perhaps with careful and attentive marketing The Soloist (opening April 24) may find its audience.
BTW: In the film, Steve Lopez is portrayed as divorced. However, his real life counterpart remains happily married. Lopez said that while having himself portrayed as recently single in the film was a bit weird, it was much more important to him that the film makers captured the themes of his articles rather than absolute facts.

Wildcats Can Win ALL

From Dick Jerardi of the Philadelphia Daily News:

When the 61 games were done, the Final Four was not unpredictable, but, nevertheless, consists of a combination of four teams that was far from obvious. Nationally, Villanova probably was given less consideration than by those locally who had seen enough to understand the essence of Jay Wright's team. And Michigan State, under the radar in the Big Ten, played a near-perfect game yesterday to take out Louisville, the overall No. 1 seed.
North Carolina and Connecticut were no surprise. And nobody will be terribly surprised if they meet a week from tonight in the championship game at Ford Field in Detroit.
Carolina and UConn will be solid favorites. Anybody who does not think 'Nova has a chance just has not been paying attention. Are the Wildcats likely to beat UNC in the second game on Saturday? No. Is it possible? With this team, almost anything has to be considered, including a national championship.
Michigan State does not appear to have the firepower to hang with UConn, but the Spartans do have some serious athletes. Will that be enough to beat UConn? Again, unlikely.
UNC (32-4), UConn (31-4), Michigan State (30-6) and Villanova (30-7) are a combined 123-21.

Villanova Gears Up

Cheesesteak Wins PB Fest

From Mark Fisher at the Dayton Daily News:
A recipe for “Po’ Boy Peanut Butter Chicken Cheesesteak Sandwiches” earned a $25,000 scholarship fund for a 10-year-old Pennsylvania girl.
Orville, Ohio-based J.M. Smucker, the maker of Jif brand peanut butter, sponsored the Seventh Annual “Jif Most Creative Peanut Butter Sandwich Contest,” and Jordyn Boyer, 10, of Lebanon, PA, came out on top with her interesting-sounding chicken cheesesteak recipe, the peanut butter’s maker announced today, March 23.
One of the four runners-up was 11-year-old Morgan (no last name provided) of Batavia, Ohio, east of Cincinnati. Morgan scored a $2,500 scholarship fund with her recipe for “Peanut Butter Fruit Pockets.”
The recipes will be available on Jif’s home page, a Smucker spokeswoman said.
But here’s a sneak peek at the winning recipe which — I’ll say it — undoubtedly tastes better than it sounds:
PO’ BOY PEANUT BUTTER CHICKEN CHEESESTEAK
Sauce mix:
3 Tablespoons Jif Creamy Peanut Butter
1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
2 teaspoons honey
1 teaspoon honey mustard
1/2 cup water
Chicken mixture:
2 Tablespoons olive oil
1 small onion
1/2 red pepper
1/2 yellow pepper
1/2 apple (any kind)
1/4 cup mozzarella cheese shredded
4 chicken breast slices or any deli lunch meat chicken
Hoagie/sub roll
Cut peppers into strips, cut onions into rings and slice apples in strips. Put into sauce pan with olive oil and cook on medium heat until soft. Cook chicken breast slices and add to the pepper/onion/apple mix. If you are using deli chicken, cut into strips and add it to the pepper/onion/apple mix. The deli chicken is already cooked and just needs to be warmed.
Sauce: In a sauce pan on medium heat, add Jif Creamy Peanut Butter, Worcestershire sauce, honey mustard, honey, and water. Cook until creamy and soft. (Add this mixture in next step).
Add three Tablespoons of peanut butter sauce to the chicken/pepper/apple mix. Stir together. Put the chicken mixture on the roll. Cut the remainder of the apple and place it on a plate with left over peanut butter sauce for dipping.
Serve on hoagie/sub roll and sprinkle with mozzarella cheese.

Jay Shows The Way!

From Phil Sheridan in the Philadelphia Inquirer:

Jay Wright started outcoaching UCLA's Ben Howland long before tip-off of their second-round NCAA tournament game yesterday.
Howland, whose teams had been in the last three Final Fours, made it all-too-loudly known that he was unhappy playing Villanova in the Wachovia Center. That would be understandable if Howland's teams hadn't been assigned to Anaheim, San Diego, and Sacramento for the opening weekends of those three tournaments. UCLA left California just once before the Final Four in three years.
Sometimes a coach can motivate his players by giving them a grudge to nurse. Howland managed to plant an excuse in his players' minds. Wright had his 'Nova team stoked to smash the Bruins in the mouth - figuratively, of course - with fierce defense and relentless offensive pressure. The Bruins' response was to whine to the officials. . . .

Wright has begun to establish his own legacy at Villanova and, therefore, in Philadelphia basketball. In just eight seasons on the Main Line, Wright has earned a place among the best coaches in the city's storied history.
"If you're the coach at Villanova, you're going to be good," Wright said. "Every coach that's been there has won. It's not me. It's every coach."
Actually, there's more to it than the blue-and-white unis and the picture-pretty campus in Radnor Township. Wright has done an exceptional job.
After going to the NIT his first three years at 'Nova, Wright has taken a team to the NCAA tournament five years in a row. Four times, the Wildcats have advanced to the round of 16. Three years ago, they made it to within a game of the Final Four, losing to eventual national champion Florida in the round of eight.
Wright's 'Nova teams have a 9-4 record in the NCAA tournament. He has advanced now with completely different teams. So Wright isn't a potential Big Five Hall of Fame coach. He's a future Big Five Hall of Fame coach. . . .

The bracket is set up to give 'Nova games against Duke and Big East rival Pittsburgh in Boston. There is nothing easy about either of those games. There isn't supposed to be.
Play the way they did against UCLA for 40 minutes and the Wildcats could beat anyone. That kind of defensive energy and smart, balanced offensive attack would be effective anywhere, any time.
"We had six guys in double figures," Wright said. "That's big time. That's a good team."
Yes, and it's a very well-coached team, too.

Villanova: 16 In 16!

From Mike Jensen in the Philadelphia Inquirer:
Sure, Jay Wright is pleased to see Villanova move on to its fourth berth in the NCAA Sweet 16 in the last five seasons, but he's not readily acknowledging it.
There's no time.
"It's just 'next game' for us," the Wildcats coach said after his team defeated UCLA, 89-69, in the second round of the NCAA East Regional. "At the end of the season, we'll have time. Right now, we have to get ready for the next game.
"That's what you love. I don't want to waste time talking about accomplishments. I want to enjoy being with these guys. I want them to enjoy being together. Who knows, this might be our last game coming up. We want to really enjoy this."
In their three previous trips to the Sweet 16 under Wright, the Wildcats twice lost in the regional semifinals, including last year's 72-57 loss to eventual champion Kansas. They earned the regional finals in 2006 but dropped a 75-62 decision to Florida.
"It feels great to be back," junior guard Reggie Redding said. "Last year we lost in this round coming up, and we hope we can go farther than we did last year."
Overall, this is Villanova's 16th appearance in the Sweet 16.

Steve Lopez And The Soloist

Members of the Philadel
phia Public Relations Hall of Fame* recently had breakfast with Los Angeles Times columnist and best-selling author Steve Lopez (bearded, on right) when Lopez returned to Philadelphia to publicize the upcoming movie based on his book The Soloist, the real-life account of a homeless musician with schizophrenia who sleeps each night on one of skid row's most dangerous streets.
The Soloist recounts Lopez's effort to help musician Nathaniel Anthony Ayers and just to give you some insight into this remarkable story it is subtitled: A Lost Dream, An Unlikely Friendship, And The Redemptive Power of
Music.
Steve Lopez joined the staff of the Los Angeles Times in May 2001 after four years at Time Inc., where he wrote for Time, Sports Illustrated, Life and Entertainment Weekly. Prior to Time Inc., Lopez was a columnist at the Philadelphia Inquirer which is how we came to know him.
Before that he worked for the San Jose Mercury News and the Oakland Tribune. His work has won numerous national journalism awards for column writing and magazine reporting.
A California native, Lopez is the author of three novels and a this newest work of non-fiction which has been chosen as the book all of Philadelphia is reading for the for the Free Library of Philadelphia's "One Book" program. We had a great time with Lopez who regaled us with stories of the characters and incidents that peppered his time in Philadelphia where he often funny, frequently insightful and always irreverent column was must-reading.
Lopez says that Philadelphia is "a city where everyone is born here and no one ever leaves" whereas Los Angeles is a place where "no one is born there and everyone travels to or from there at one time or another." He told us that he misses Philadelphia's distinctive characters, wonderful neighborhoods, narrow streets and appealing walkability. "You can always find a story in Philadelphia," Lopez said. "In Los Angeles you have to travel a bit further and dig a bit harder to find a story."
Lopez also expressed his deep concern for the future of newspapers and urged us to "find the biggest advertisers in your local newspaper and then go out and patronize those advertisers."
The Soloist will star Robert Downey, Jr. and Jamie Fox. It opens in theaters on April 29.
We'll have more on the movie shortly.
*Also shown (from left) Anne Klein Communications Group Account Manager Chris Lukach, Anne Klein, President of Anne Klein CG and Philadelphia PR guru and actress Sylvia Kauders.

Toad Mating Closes Streets

From Gloria Campisi at the Philadelphia Daily News:
When love is in the air, the last thing one might be thinking about is the Philadelphia Streets Department.
But the Streets Department is thinking of the amorous toads of Upper Roxborough. It has issued a permit to close Eva Street and part of Port Royal Avenue for that neighborhood's annual toad migration.
Whenever the toads get around to making it, that is.
The migration is a mating ritual during which the toads leave the woods around the Schuylkill Center for Environmental Education and head for the Roxborough Reservoir to find a toad of the opposite sex.
Rainy weather and a series of warm days are their siren song to burrow out from the loose soil where they have spent the winter in dormancy and kick up their heels.
Volunteer toad-spotters are prowling the roads at twilight to alert the toads' protectors to put up city-approved temporary detour signs.
The Streets Department permit was the outcome of a drive spearheaded by animal activist Lisa Levinson to keep the green-and-brown amphibians - identified by naturalist Doug Wechsler as American toads - from being squashed by cars using the side roads to avoid stoplights on Ridge Avenue.

Villanova Triumphant!

Villanova's Reggie Redding and Dante Cunningham celebrate the Wildcats' comeback win over American, 80-67. (Philadelphia Inquirer, Ron Cortes/Staff photographer)

Lynn Cheney: Philly Fainting

From CBS3:
Lynne Cheney, the wife of former Vice President Dick Cheney, was admitted to a Philadelphia hospital after fainting inside a hotel room on Monday.A family spokesperson confirmed that Mrs. Cheney fainted inside a Center City hotel room Monday afternoon and she was taken to the emergency department of Hahnemann University Hospital.
The former vice-president and her family were with her at the hospital.The spokesperson, Lucy Tutweiler, said it is an isolated incident and appears not to be related to any previous illness.Mrs. Cheney was being evaluated by physicians at Hahnemann Hospital.Sources said the Cheney family was on a private visit to Philadelphia.

Other People's Money

From the Philadelphia Daily News:

Powerful state Sen. Vince Fumo [shown leaving court with girlfriend Carolyn Zinni] lived like a prince on Other People's Money, the government charged in its corruption indictment against him.
Today, the Other People spoke: Guilty on all counts.
A federal jury, after five days of deliberations, found Fumo guilty of 137 counts of defrauding taxpayers, diverting money for his personal use from a non-profit he ran and obstruction of justice. Co-defendant Ruth Arnao, who once headed the non-profit, Citizens Alliance for Better Neighborhoods, was also found guilty of all 45 counts against her.
U.S. District Judge Ronald L. Buckwalter scheduled a bail hearing for 2 p.m. when he will decided whether Fumo should be subject to electronic monitoring and house arrest while he awaits sentencing.
Fumo, 65, could get at least 10 in jail.

Photo: Tom Gralish/Inquirer

Fumo Guilty, Nutter Comments

A federal court jury today found former Pennsylvania State Senator Vincent Fumo of Philadelphia guilty on all counts.
Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter has just commented on the Fumo verdit calling it "stunning."
From the Philadelphia Inquirer:
Mayor Nutter commented on the verdict as he left his City Hall office to attend a ceremony for slain police officer John Pawlowski, who was shot to death 30 days ago.
"It's certainly kind of a stunning conclusion to what has been a pretty stunning trial. ... You know, the jury has spoken. We are a nation, state and city of laws. All of us are accountable to the law, especially those of us in public service who have, of course, a higher standard we all have to adhere to. ... It's just kind of a bit of a surprise, I guess. ... I certainly wish Sen. Fumo and his family the best in these very trying and difficult times. He in the true sense of public service certainly did many things beneficial to Philadelphia and our region and the Commonwealth. But I think that today's jury verdict is further evidence that no matter how much good you do in public life, no matter even what your good intentions may be, none of us, none of us, are above the law, and we'll all be held accountable for things that we do."
Nutter did not think Fumo's criminal actions would hurt Philadelphia's image.
"It's certainly not helpful, but I think the citizens of this city are smart enough to understand that what an individual may do is certainly not indicative of what generally goes on in the city of Philadelphia." The mayor also pointed out that Sen. Fumo was a state official, not a city official.
So what is Fumo's legacy now?
"It is not for me to write histories or legacies. ... This situation is certainly not good for those of us in public office and how the public thinks about people who are in high elected office. ... I would say, the system worked. It did what it was supposed to do. It held an official accountable."

Don't Miss Chifa!

Jose Garces is touted as Philadelphia's next (or newest) Steven Starr - a restaurant impresario who seems to have the golden touch with all things culinary.

Garce's latest creation is Chifa at 707 Chestnut along Philly's new restaurant row.

Chifa is a term used in Peru to refer to a style of food produced by the fusion of creole Limean food with Chinese food brought by Chinese immigrants mainly from the province of Canton in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It is also used to define a restaurant where this type of food is served.

So, Chifa is a fusion of Peruvian and Cantonese food served tapas style.

Now, ordinarily I don't like small plates. And ordinarily, I don't like to share.

But last night we found ourselves with lifelong friends at the chef's table at Chifa and we had a wonderful meal served in a leisurely fashion with lots of tasting, sharing, laughing and discovering. The dishes were fresh, fragrant and beautifully presented and the service was first-rate.

The intimate atmosphere shimmers with red lacquer, a gleaming gold communal table, twinkling votive candles and a ceviche bar sitting atop an intriguing Chinese apothecary cabinet. And the seats are exceptionally comfortable.

Among the dishes we tasted were a large number of sea food treats including scallops, shrimp, crabs, salt crusted bronzino and lobster with noodles. We also sampled stir fried rice, yuca fries and barbecued ribs.

Thank goodness, our host Jeremy Trinidad (who called us together to celebrate a Very Significant Birthday) did the ordering for us and the chef complied with an unforgettable tasting menu.

We topped it all off with chocolate mouse cake.

The Garces Restaurant Group just seems to keep growing and growing under the tutelage of one of the nation's hottest superstar chefs. The whole thing began with Amada and now includes Distrito, Tinto, Mercat (Chicago) and Chifa.

Called the “Latin Emeril” by one food critic for his wide smile and his educational approach to food, Jose Garces, who the prestigious James Beard Foundation recently nominated for its “Best Chef Mid-Atlantic” award, has long been an ambassador of contemporary Latin cuisine, appearing regularly in the New York Times, Travel & Leisure, Esquire, Cooking Light, Restaurant Hospitality, Conde Nast Traveler, National Geographic Traveler, Philadelphia Magazine and Travel Channel’s Epicurious TV.

His newest creation is a solid winner. Don't miss it!

Cole Kicks Off

Our Phavorite Phillie Cole Hamels takes the mound today and he's focused and ready to get back to his day job. Here's part of the story from Andy Martino at the Philadelphia Inquirer:

In the last six months, Cole Hamels has won four postseason games and the most valuable player award in two series, chatted with David Letterman, appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated, spoken about education in Malawi, and began a transition from baseball phenom to mainstream celebrity.
Hamels, 25, is scheduled to start today for the Phillies in an exhibition game against Canada's team in the World Baseball Classic, marking the end of a hectic, shortened off-season for the pitcher.
Constantly in demand after the World Series, the young ace admitted that the experience was draining, but said that he was eager to return to work.
"The off-season is supposed to be time to be off," Hamels said. "We want to be able to get right mentally, but me and my teammates haven't really been able to get away, and that hurts you a little. . . . But we have a job to do now, and we're excited about that."
He added: "At this point, you almost have to forget about [winning it all], pretend it never happened."

If that's what it takes, then let's pretend it never happened. We know that Cole is grounded, focused, real. Git it done, Cole!

'Man Who Owned Midnight'

They called him "the man who owned midnight" and he was a familiar voice to millions of people in the Philadelphia region through more than five decades.

His name was Eddie Felbin but we knew him as Frank Ford.

The midnight tagline came mid-century when Ford hosted a live, late night radio show from what was then the headquarters of WPEN radio. On the ground floor of the building Ford operated out of a small cafe with a live studio audience of diners. In that cozy environment he interviewed some of the most famous and accomplished people imaginable.

Frank Ford was also one of the first radio hosts to use updated technology which allowed listeners to hear callers' voices when they called in to chat with the host over the telephone. Prior to that the host would have to repeat what the callers were saying and listeners would simply have to trust the host to repeat accurately.

Of course we knew Frank Ford as the husband of the great Lynne Abraham, Philadelphia District Attorney. And as DA Abraham has said many times: "No wife could have asked for a better cheerleader and supporter."

Frank Ford was a Renaissance man who remained curious and active all through his life. He didn't seem to know the meaning of the word "retirement." At various times he owned the Valley Forge Music Fair, a radio station and his own consulting business.

More from Sally A Downey at the Philadelphia Inquirer:

Although Mr. Ford was also a musical-theater impresario, he was best known as one of Philadelphia's first talk-radio celebrities. His last gig was hosting a daily show with WWDB-FM before it switched to an all-music format in 2000. . . .

After graduating from Penn in 1939, Mr. Ford ran a modeling agency called "Eddie First." Later, when he had a radio gossip show called "Hollywood According to Hoyle," he took the moniker "Eddie Hoyle."
How he got the name Frank Ford is another story. In 1946, he had a job selling radio time for a radio station, and one of his clients was Frankford Unity Grocery Store. The store wanted a music program, and Mr. Ford figured that he could pick up extra cash by hosting the show.
To sweeten the deal, he took the moniker "Frank Ford." The program lasted 10 years, and the name stuck.
"I wonder what my name would be if the sponsor was the Piggly Wiggly stores," told the Daily News in 1995.
In the 1950s Mr. Ford was an announcer on WPEN-AM when the station asked him to take over for a late-night talk-show host who had moved to New York.
Known for his liberal views, in 1959 Mr. Ford won an award from the Philadelphia Fellowship Commission for informing the public "on many issues of inter-group relations."
Over the years his guests included Abbie Hoffman, Eleanor Roosevelt, Sugar Ray Robinson and controversial comedian Lenny Bruce - who became a friend. . . .

Mr. Ford and Abraham traveled all over the world, she said, including to China, Japan, Africa, Australia and New Zealand. He was a foodie and enjoyed art, architecture, dance and opera, she said.
"Frank did everything with such zeal," his wife said, His accomplishments, she said, included producing concerts for entertainers as varied as Benny Goodman and Renata Tebaldi; making a TV pilot with Dr. C. Everett Koop called Seniority; and manufacturing cars. Mr. Ford briefly owned a business reproducing classic Jaguars. "He was remarkable," Abraham said.

Bella Italia Dazzles!

When you enter the Philadelphia Flower Show this year you will instantly be greeted with the sights, sounds and scents of Italy.

A huge piazza welcomes visitors and at the top of a grand entranceway leading to elaborate formal gardens opera singers and string quartets entertain with the music or Bella Italia.

It is a glorious experience, especially amidst all the frigid weather, snow and ice that we're having up and down the east coast in what is one of our coldest winters in decades (so much for global warming!).

The show divides Italy's treasures into seven main regions: Rome (the dramatic gateway), Venice, the Italian Riviera, Milan, Tuscany, Florence and the Lake Region. Each region surrounds the grand promenade presented by J. Cugliotta Landscapes and Valley Forge Flowers.

Beyond the big exhibits nearly all of the other presentations carry an Italian-inspired theme as well.

Make sure you are at the show for the live musical entertainment (presented several times throughout the day) and don't miss the Tuscan Garden, floral fashions from Milan, the soaring palms trees of the Italian Riviera and the smaller exhibitions of arbors, front porches, balconies and back yards (including an Italian-inspired South Philly garden).

We were lucky enough to be present for the opening of what is the world's largest flower show (presented by the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society) and we can report that the Society has chosen a theme and presented a show that is designed to please everyone who loves the feast-for-the-senses that we call Bella Italia!

The show runs through Sunday, March 8 at the Pennsylvania Convention Center.

Hurry on over and get ready to proclaim: "Bravo!"

BTW: A special "Thank you" to the good folks at PNC Bank for their support of the Flower Show and their kind welcome to us this year.

Wegmans Grows Again!

From Suzette Parmley in the Philadelphia Inquirer:
Wegmans, the high-end grocery chain that has built five markets in the Philadelphia region in six years, said yesterday that it would hire about 600 workers for a store in Collegeville due to open in October.
Hiring for the new 132,000-square-foot store - which will feature what is being billed as the first pub in a Southeastern Pennsylvania supermarket restaurant - will begin this month, with interviews taking place the final week of March, said Blaine Forkell, a 26-year Wegmans veteran who will manage the store. (Application information is at www.wegmans.com.)
In addition, site work has begun on a store in Malvern that is expected to open in the first half of next year, Forkell said.
Wegmans generally hires about 600 workers for each store, compared with 150 to 200 employees at a typical Giant supermarket measuring 50,000 to 100,000 square feet.
The 72-store chain, based in Rochester, N.Y., has been aggressively growing in the Mid-Atlantic region, typically opening two to three new locations each year, said Jo Natale, a company spokeswoman. In addition to its stores in Downingtown, Warrington, Mount Laurel and Cherry Hill, Wegmans operates in upstate Pennsylvania, New York, Maryland and Virginia, and recently announced sites in the Boston suburbs.
The company's ramp-up in this area comes amid the doom and gloom of announced closings by businesses from retailers to car dealerships.
Encouraged by its local stores' success in bucking the trend, Wegmans decided to capitalize on Philadelphians' appreciation for good food, Forkell said. "We think it's an area where people have a high food interest," he said. "Secondly, the population and demographics fit our model."
We've noted before how mouch we love Wegmnas. They are unequaled for service, selection and total satisfaction. It's great to see them growing!