The Joffrey Ballet’s Nutcracker has been named the #1 Nutcracker in America and I’m sure founder Robert Joffrey is beaming in the “Land of Snow!” This timeless 
production never ceases to thrill me and put me in the holiday spirit. I love seeing all of the little kids in the audience dressed in their holiday best with worried mothers hoping they will sit still and enjoy seeing all of the magic onstage. Our dancers have never looked better and, in their 
exquisite costumes, they all look like the dazzling stars that they are. This year’s co-chairs for the Family Dinner – Odele Hawkins and Suzette Bulley – created a wonderful evening of family fun with an environmental theme. Chicago event designer Jody Elting 
featured a 12-foot recycled water bottle tree with recycled Birch trees to separate the many “creation stations” that included popcorn stringing, 
snowflake and dessert decorating, face painting and photo ops with characters from the Nutcracker. CircEsteem, a local non-profit, taught mini guests how to walk a tight wire and spin plates while their talented young performers entertained with stilt 
family-style dinner was one of my favorites, too! There were huge bowls of stuffing, mac and cheese, platters of turkey and fried chicken, cranberries, whipped potatoes of all kinds, veggie platters, salads, desserts…oh my! They had me at mac and cheese though, of course! Our Joffrey has been hailed as “America’s Company of 
Firsts” – the first dance company to perform at the White House at Jacqueline Kennedy’s invitation, the first to appear on television, the first 
American company to visit Russia, the first classical dance company to go multi-media, the first to commission a rock n’ roll ballet, the first and only dance company to appear on the cover of Time, and the first company to have a major motion picture based on it, Robert Altman’s “The Company.” Whew! I am so proud and happy to have this world class dance company right here in the heart of Chicago at the 
Joffrey Tower! Artistic Director Ashley Wheater said, “When you think about 
the Nutcracker, it’s about dreams becoming a reality. It’s about finding a place of beauty, and I think that what Gerry Arpino did was, he made the role of the child in the wheelchair really a possibility to be included with everyone else.” This ballet truly makes dreams come true for everyone who sees it around the holidays. I hope you will put it on your list of yearly family traditions, too! (Click through to my Chicago Now site for ALL event pics by Caitlin Saville!)
What a great group of women at the annual TCW/Peninsula Holiday Luncheon this year! TCW’s owner and prez Sherren Leigh and the Pen’s regional VP and GM Maria Zec teamed 
up to invite a dynamic bunch of 55 lucky women to this year’s event which was held in Avenues. Even two-star Michelin Award-winning Chef Curtis Duffy turned out to meet and greet everyone after serving up an A+ meal which included a caviar appetizer, Alaskan king crab, hamachi with grains, seeds 
and nuts and, for dessert, a crabapple croissant. The room was dressed in holiday finery with something 
Schwartz, Cindy and Mary Pat Burns, Shauna Montgomery, Kristina McGrath, Tsi-tsi-ki Felix, Joy Germont, Judi Gorman, Zarada Gowenlock, Hazel 
Barr, Shelley Farley, Tiffani Kim, Sheila O’Grady, Abby O’Neill, Anita Ponder, Lisa Madigan, Amy Wimer, Jean Antoniou, Sheryl Dyer, Judge Anne Burke, Laura Barnett, Lee Bauer, Gemma Allen, Pam Capitanini, Susan 
Carlins, Joan Harris, Anu LaRoya, Mary Ann Rose, Laura Sage and Carolyn Jacob to name a few. What a wonderful way to spend an afternoon. Thanks Sherren, Maria and Chef Duffy for a memorable holiday luncheon! (To see more fab pics by Caitlin Saville, click here.)
‘Tis the season for lunches and dinners! Another wonderful get-together was hosted by the Inaugural Women’s Auxiliary Board of Ronald McDonald House Charities at Le Cordon 
Bleu College of Culinary Arts. Auxiliary Chair MaryAnne Smith (darling wife of Coach Lovie), along with board members Jacki Chase, Pam Cumpata, Vali Fotos, Helen Pates and moi, invited a group of like-minded women who we 
hope will become a part of this budding board which will support the world’s largest Ronald McDonald House being built now in Streeterville. If you haven’t visited Le Cordon Bleu College, then you are missing out on 
an ambitious and delicious dining experience. Their student-run restaurant at 361 W. Chestnut, Chataigne, serves breakfast (8 a.m. to 9 a.m.), lunch (noon to 1 p.m.) and dinner (7 p.m. to 8 p.m.) Monday through Friday. Enjoy French cooking with an inventive modern flair in this casual 
fine dining establishment while allowing the students to apply their culinary training and gain relevant experience to further their chosen careers in food service and preparation. For reservations, please call 312-873-2032…it’s a win/win for all involved. Click here for more fun photos!
Big congratulations to designer Elda de la Rosa on her 10th anniversary! Friends and fans came out in force to congratulate th
is much loved designer on 10 years designing couture. 
Dusty Stemer led the charge to plan this party and it was much appreciated by all who love her. Elda looked terrific and was beaming throughout the evening as old and new friends came through her atelier doors at the 
Pink Palace, located at 5555 N. Sheridan Road. The invite read from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. but Elda told me she didn’t leave until 12:30 a.m. when the last well wisher departed! Congratulations Elda…we all love you! For more info on this amazing designer visit www.eldadelarosa.com or call 773-769-3128. (Extra pics by Steve Starr…to see more party pics, please click here!)
There is still time to make plans to attend the Sundance Film Festival this year! Columbia College Chicago AND Brenda Sexton, return to Sundance 
January 21st through 24th with several days of food, fun, film screenings and conversation with industry insiders. Eric Winston, Columbia College’s VP for Institutional Advancement, tells me they have even negotiated great rates at the Waldorf Astoria in Park City, Utah for attendees! Wish I could make it this year – it was a blast last year hangin’ with Robert Redford, etc. (Yeah, right!) Anyway, hope you go and fill me in on the details! Say hi to Bob for me, too! For reservations, click here.
Michigan Avenue Magazine’s Holiday Bash at Horseshoe Casino sure looked like fun! I wasn’t able to attend but thanks to Steve Starr’s photos, I felt like I was there! Editor-in-chief Susanna Negovan and publisher Dan Uslan, along with a hot host 
committee led by DC Crenshaw (founder and prez of Fete, the world’s premier dining network), planned a fabo party in the decadent VIP room at Horseshoe. Check out Steve’s fun pics on my Chicago Now site and see what I missed!
Well, you know it’s a sign of the times when you start receiving ecards from Hef at LA Mansion West! First, 
you find out he tweets and now this! I’ve collected a lot of these invites because, well, quite simply, they are works of art and are a unique part of Playboy’s history. Through the years, I’ve received cards from Hef which 
chronicle his life. In 2008, the card featured his twin girlfriends Kristina and Karissa Shannon; in 2007, it was Holly Madison, Bridget Marquardt and Kendra Wilkinson (pre-boob jobs); 
I don’t plan on ever selling mine. Still, it’s a sad time for Playmates, Bunnies and all who love the world of Playboy with this latest aspect of “progress.” I even received my invite to the New Year’s Eve party this year via the computer. In the past, these gilded invites featured fabulous Vargas-style artwork by Olivia de Berardinis. Sigh…I feel a Charlie Brown Christmas coming on…
In closing at Christmas time, I want to thank you all for following my blog. I started Candid Candace a little over two years ago with about three readers – all being my immediate family – but it has grown in ways I could never have imagined. Stay tuned for lots of exciting news in the New Year…I’ve had lots of requests for advertising, and this is going to happen in the coming year along with a slightly redesigned and updated website. Wish me luck but, as always, I am jumping in with both feet! Have a blessed, healthy and happy holiday with the ones you love.
And now enjoy one of my favorite Christmas/Holiday videos EVER below!
Love,
Candace
Candace@CandidCandace.com
