From e-mails and posts, it sounds like Secret Santa has a great many presents in transit. Yahoo! Keep posting when you receive yours! :o) Being the head Secret Santa, it seems like it's the North Pole here!!!! We've had freezing temperatures. (One night this week it got down to minus 15 degrees here. BRRRRR!) Then, a MAJOR snow storm hit us. We have 3 feet of snow on our deck now...most of which came non-stop yesterday and last night! I just spent 3 hours plowing us out, and IT'S STILL SNOWING! It's so pretty though out here in the woods. All of the schools have been cancelled so I have the day off from teaching. It's a bummer though as we had to cancel our Christmas concert last night, and our class party is tomorrow, the last day before break. Many roads have been shut down as well. IT'S THE NORTH POLE! Ho Ho Ho! I'll attach a picture looking out our deck doors just now. I'll also attach a link to the deep snow we got in January (for those of you who didn't see my post back then) which kept us out of school for a week! Bear Hugs! Kirk Here is a link that might be useful: Winter Snow in January

what he said.. but more ... depends where they are sent from .. and whether they are still FULLY dormant ... whaas held over tons of conifers last winter.. i am sure he can add much to the conversation.. maybe even some pics ... if you can take delivery.. in FULL DORMANCY ... and hold them in full dormancy ... see the key words there ... then the trees can be planted at ground thaw .. PRESUMING you have well draining soil ... and in this case.. trees/conifers/shrubs are all the same ... and this might mean.. taking delivery from a southern provider ... in FEB or march!!! .... or better yet .... delaying delivery of such until fall planting time... just because you want it.. and found it.. doesnt mean you can have it ... or plant it the problem in my z5 ... is trees should be planted.. as i told you elsewhere.. 6 to 8 weeks before the heat of summer ... my problem is the the heat of summer can be 2 weeks after last frost potential around 6/1 ... and on a fully leafed out.. growing tree.. transplanting and a few weeks later the temps hitting 80.. is not good and like the other post.. potting up.. and holding until fall might be best ... in this case.. TIMING IS EVERYTHING!!!! KEN ps: i thought there was more.. but i got distracted ... and lost my train of thought.. will mull it over.. and add more.. when the coffee wears off after grocery shopping.. i am positive.. i will have a bazillion more thoughts.. while driving.. and not a coherent thought.. when i get back to the computer ... pps: part of this involves the seller sending them to you at what THEY CALL .. planting time ... do NOT defer to them .. my odds of success went up significantly when i realized this ... they shoot for a catchall planting time.. which may or may not.. be best.. you have to ask them when their stock comes out of dormancy.. and insist on delivery a few weeks prior.. to INSURE FULL DORMANCY .... and most sellers will appreciate your knowledge .. and extend the warranty ... [as compared to calling in august and demanding immediate delivery.. they might say sure.. no warranty] ...

lovechristmas - I think what you are doing is great! First, take all the furniture out of the rooms you are going to use for the open house, except for the dining room table and chairs if you have them. You will need a table cloth and some sort of centerpiece for your table. I like to do something that I make myself, I have a couple of holly trees on my property and there are fresh greens available here at this time of the year as I live on the east coast. You could use silk, put some christmas balls, or other decorations in the midst. I try and do something a little different each year. One year it was snowmen. Last year it was a little more formal since I was having a sit down dinner and using my Lenox holiday china. From the furniture you took out of the room, look at the room from the perspective of creating small intimate group settings for conversation, but not so much that it doesn't feel like a group event. Make sure you have enough seats for everyone to sit down to eat. I would do buffet. If you serve food that has to be cut, rent/buy plain white china plates from a restaurant supply store. Got to the nearest big city and you will find them in a certain area and there are always a street full of competitors. When I first did this I though what a waste of money. Not so, I have reused those plates for years and they give a more put together look. You can do the same with silverware. The restaurant supply places are probably one of the best/cheapest resources for that kind of thing. You can be creative with table coverings. If you have a christmas quilt or even a red or green, use it to cover a buffet or table you will use to set up your bar or food. You can go to the fabric store and get fabric that you like. You will not even have to sew it as they now have sew glue. So easy. If you have an island in your kitchen, use that for your food setup, its close to the kitchen and you don't have to worry about covering it. I would set up stations on separate tables, bar stocked with wine and beer, food to be set up on a buffet length table or on your island if you have one, table for punchbowl and cups. I usually try to decorate each table. I have had pieces of glass cut to cover my good pieces in order to use them for serving stations rather than renting serving tables. It was cheap and I still get the warm feeling from the well worn antiques. I have inherited some nice pieces, a tea cart and a Shefield table that I love and have always wanted to use for entertaining, but was hesitant because if something was spilled, it could ruin the finish. The glass takes the worry out of any spilling and are easily cleaned with windex. Plus, if there is a spill on a table cloth it really ruins the look of the table for the rest of the day. Glass is easily cleaned up. Using different tables for different purposes avoids a traffic jam of people if you only have one or two tables to accomodate the food, bar, etc. It just flows better. As for your bar, I usually offer beer, a white wine and a red that go with whatever you chose to serve. Of course, you could do something holiday oriented like eggnog in a punch bowl - looks really nice. You can do ahead store in fridge in plastic pitchers then transfer to punch bowl about 1/2 hour before guests start to arrive. If you are a newlywed, perhaps you have gotten some nice serving pieces to use. Get out all of your proposed serving pieces to see what you have vs. what you need. I get everything out since you can forget from year to year what you really have on hand. I am constantly buying unique serving dishes at tag sales and putting them in the pantry closet for entertaining. Not everything has to match. I think it is much beter if it doesn't. If you are using a buffet table, you can set up your food serving bowls at different heights, use small boxes or differing size supports on your table to give it interest. Cover the boxes with colored napkins coordinated with a tablecloth if you are using one so as to hide what you are using for the height. Make a menu - choose a lot of do ahead dishes if you want to relax and enjoy the party with your friends. Think about what you have in the way of oven space - do you have a double oven and how many burners are on your stove. Do you have a toaster oven? Do your friends contribute or are you doing all of the food. I would do something interesting for dessert like individual cheesecake lollipops you can make ahead that are covered with chocolate and frozen. After you make them, freeze and pull them out of freezer when you put out your dinner. I find slicing pies and cakes is boring and labor intensive. A large bowl of strawberries with a bowl of sweetened whipped cream, I hope I am making sense. An event? Not sure what you mean by event, but I think it would be hard to do what I think you mean since, it is an open house and not everyone arrives at the same time, some people may come in and out throughout the day? Is that the type of party, or are you giving a time to arrive? Have a great time. It is alot of fun planning a party and it just takes a little creativity to have it all come together. You will do a great job. Have a wonderful Christmas! How lucky your friends are to have someone like you to gather together those who won't be going "home for the holidays".

Personally, when I have a party, I like to handle the food myself. I know many people nowadays do accept offers for guests to bring food, but in my experience, in those cases the host usually asks what is going to be brought to help cut down on duplicates, etc.. You also have to remember many people have been taught to offer to bring something with the assumption the host may decline. So, many of your guests may really not want to bring things. I would decline offers and prepare the food yourself especially since the party is serving as a thank you type party too. If a guest really wants to bring something, they will do so in the form of a hostess or housewarming gift. Very close friends and relatives (like moms and sisters) are exempt from the rule, though, (at least in my book) and may even be asked to bring specific things -- LOL!