Michigan Avenue - Niche Media - Michigan Avenue magazine is a luxury lifestyle magazine centered around Chicago’s finest people, events, fashion, health & beauty, fine dining & more!
Issue link: http://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/260419
PHOTOGRAPHY BY JEFF SCHEAR/GETTY IMAGES (MONAGHAN); INGRID BONNE (SEGAL); SEBASTIAN BIEDRON (PUCK) ABOVE: At the opening of Saks Fifth Avenue's new men's store with Amanda Puck and Saks' Julie Selakovich Saunders and Caroline McDonald. BELOW: With Choose Chicago's Don Welsh at the First Bites Bash. Gorgeous in green: True Detective star and Midwestern girl Michelle Monaghan joins me in celebrating our Winter issue at Rockit Bar & Grill. Guys night out: At Chicago House's Absolut Wrapture event at the Willis Tower with fellow co-chairs and organizers Tom Segal, Christopher Hubbard, Chicago House CEO Rev. Stan Sloan, David Kaufman, Dennis Remer, Matthew Harvat, and Chicago House Special Events Manager Mark Pino. The arrival of spring in Chicago always seems to come not a moment too soon, but after this year's adventure of polar vortexes and record snowfall, we're all particularly impatient to shrug off the season and welcome the warmer months. Goodbye arctic-weight parkas, sludge-covered shoes, and slippery streets and sidewalks; hello blossoms and budding trees and greenness, and the exhilarating freshness of spring. As we get ready to leave winter behind, I can think of no fresher face to help welcome in the new season than cover star Cecily Strong. A lifelong Chicagoan via Oak Park, the 30 -year-old has taken the TV comedy world by storm, jumping from stage performer with Second City's touring company to Saturday Night Live cast member to the show's "Weekend Update" anchor, all in the span of less than two years. Suddenly one of television's "it" girls, she's taking it like a true Chicagoan: with humility, a bit of wonder, and a great sense of humor. We're thrilled to feature her on her first magazine cover—there are surely many more to come. With Earth Day on the way, it's also perfect timing for Michigan Avenue to explore Chicago's role as a leader in the movement toward net-zero energy building. I've always been passionate about conservation—my first job as a teenager was in my oldest brother Scott's recycling plant, which taught me a real appreciation for the importance of efforts to conserve resources and minimize waste—so it's particularly gratifying to know that we're at the forefront of making truly green architecture happen. It's just one more reason to herald the arrival of spring and to look forward to the warm days and months ahead in this great city. J.P. ANDERSON Follow me on Twitter @JP_Anderson and at michiganavemag.com. 28 MICHIGANAVEMAG.COM FROM THE EDITOR-IN-CHIEF 028_MA_FOB_EdLetter_Spring_14.indd 28 2/11/14 11:27 AM