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://digital.greengale.com/i/422226
photography by jeff schear (crawford); herbert migdoll (nutcracker); anjali pinto (drink) 1 3 Follow me on Twitter at @JP_ Anderson and at michiganavemag.com. // this issue // on my r adar There are plenty of pleasures to be found in the Windy City this time of year. From festive holi- day traditions to tropical cocktails to one of the city's most luxurious spas, these are a few I'm looking forward to most. 1. Seeing The Joffrey Ballet's world-class Nutcracker is a guaranteed way to get into the holiday spirit. 2. Tucked underground sipping a tiki drink at Three Dots and a Dash makes winter seem a world away. 3. The Spa at the Peninsula Hotel makes for one of the most indulgent seasonal escapes I know. j.p. anderson 2 She's still got it: DeKalb native and November cover girl Cindy Crawford celebrated with us at a rollicking issue release party at Chicago Cut Steakhouse. Winter in ChiCago is an exerCise in extremes. It's the daz- zlingly bright holiday lights on the Magnificent Mile and the inky-blue pitch darkness of 4:30 pm sunsets; the deafening howl of winds off Lake Michigan and the peaceful silence of snowfall on a neighborhood street; the bracing sting of the cold and the warm caress of a blazing fire. It's beautiful and harsh and, yes, even miserable some- times—but it makes us feel alive, and that's why we Chicagoans love it. Considering the layers upon layers that we locals tend to wrap ourselves in at this time of year, the season is also a great excuse to get glamorous, dress up, and celebrate with the city's tastemakers at stylish events like December's incredible World of Chocolate and January's First Bites Bash, both held in the historic and architecturally stunning surroundings of Union Station's Great Hall. For a plethora of other ways to embrace winter in Chicago, our "Ultimate Winter" feature story is a must-read, a clip-worthy compendium of dozens of seasonal recom- mendations from Windy City experts in the worlds of food and drink, fashion, culture, and more—with a few of our own favorites thrown in for good measure. From the city's first International Puppet Theater Festival to stylish shopping spots and Mastro's sophisticated take on mac and cheese, this list goes well beyond stan- dard seasonal fare to encompass the best, the brightest, the chicest, and the most fabulous. As well it should—because when it comes to winter in Chicago, only the extremes will do. 24 michiganavemag.com Letter from the editor-in-Chief