March Letter from the Editor

It's March readers! You know what that means right? Our spring issue releases in just over two weeks. We are in the final process of finalizing layouts and putting together the actual issue as I write this and I wanted to get this note out asap as things will be a little hectic for me the next two weeks. Not only am I releasing this next issue, I am also the instructor working with the Spring fashion show production class at the The Illinois Institute of Art - Schaumburg and our show is on the 12th! 5 days later, on the 17th, our Spring issue goes live!



So, I'm gonna do a shameless plug. Visit the Pulse Fashion Show online and get a ticket: www.pulsefashionshow.com - I would love to see ya'll there and have your support. The tickets for the show are 20 bucks pre-sale and the money all goes to a local charity (360youthservices.org) that offers life changing support to young men and women through education, counseling and shelter. They also have a wonderful GLBTQ collective and are one of the few programs in Illinois that offer transitional housing programs specifically catered to GLBTQ youth. Even, if you can't attend the show on the 12th, please consider making a donation to their gofundme page HERE.

Exciting stuff going on with some new additions to our creative and writing staff! We have a new photographer/director, 2 new writers and another digital youtube editor on board! Everyone welcome Molly Rosenberger and Andrea Hannah - They will be blogging on the beauty, fashion and lifestyle beats.  We also have Traci Ciccarelli (based out in Cali) who will be working alongside Denise of Notasizezero.com and myself to help create additional youtube content (fashion, beauty and lifestyle) for our youtube channel! Thank you to those of you who have subscribed already and if you haven't please do so HERE !! Also, we have some great new episodes of Halfstack Highlights on itunes! So, take a second and download them HERE.

Andrea Pabon - a Chicago based photographer and director is one of the latest additions to our art dept. She worked with me on one of our fashion features for this upcoming issue and her latest short film: In Between is being featured in this issue as well. I am so honored to be able to work with such talented individuals day in and out and I hope we can keep all of you readers coming back for more!



I am also excited to share that we will be working on some fun videos with the ladies from http://pieceofchic.net - this is a blog run by two talented young ladies (Erika in Chicago and Erica in Ohio). They will be creating blog and video content with us starting on the 15th of March. So, be on the lookout! They have a great Instagram account with awesome quickie DIY videos -  check out their hashtag #babeskills and follow them online HERE.

Speaking of content, this month we are dedicating our content direction to the innovative, free thinkers and influencers of Chicago and afar who are doing great things in their communities and for their perspective industries. We will be showcasing the stories of some great stories from our issue and special ones just for the website. So, please stay tuned!

We officially release our next issue March 17. You can catch up on our last issue at: www.issuu.com/halfstackmag and check there for Spring 2015. Thank you all for your support and til next month!!!

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Jen Lezan
Editor-in-chief | Creative Director