SHOP IT: The Flea Market is returning to Macy’s State Street store May 24, but with a new twist. “We will do a new collection each month, so we are constantly refreshing the goods,” says Meg Benson, the flea market buyer for Macy’s. The organization of the finds also should make it easier for collectors to zero in on their objects of desire. Sotheby’s will conduct a benefit auction at 11 a.m. May 24 to kick off the flea market.
The inaugural collections are “World Tour,” with items from many sources across the globe; “The Year in Provence,” featuring garden statuary, antique gardening tools and more; and “Black and White,” featuring furniture, glassware, lamps shade from Amsterdam and more.
The second collection, jewelry and accessories, opens June 29. “The Loft Look,” beginning Aug. 31, will feature architectural and industrial pieces.
The Flea Market will be in the Arcade in the Randolph Street-Wabash Avenue side of the State Street building. It will continue until the end of the year. All purchases will be final. Large item delivery will be available.
Call 312-781-4483 or visit www.macys.com/events .
— Mary Daniels
SHOP IT: The Chicago Furniture District is staging its first sidewalk sale Friday and Saturday. Participating members will be selling select pieces of luxury furnishings discounted up to 75 percent off the regular price, starting at 10 a.m. Friday. Many items are for outdoor use. Among the participating stores: The Golden Triangle, 72 W. Hubbard St., 312-755-1266; Sawbridge Studios, 153 W. Ohio St., 312-828-0055;and Cambium, 119 W. Hubbard St., 312-832-9920. For a complete list of participating stores, visit www.chicagofurnituredistrict.com or call 312-755-1266.
The Chicago Furniture District is a group of 17 small home furnishings boutiques and showrooms (most are locally owned and operated) located in the shadow of The Merchandise Mart in the River North neighborhood.
— Karen Klages
SEE IT: A whimsical portrait of Michael Jordan making a shot in mirrored shorts, and “Nikigator,” a climb-upon alligator paved with marbles, turquoise chips and glass pebbles. Those are among the bright spots of “Niki in the Garden,” a joyful exhibit of more than 30 huge, colorful, mosaic-paved, walk-through, climb-on sculptures by French-born artist Niki de Saint Phalle. They are placed in the 12-acre City Garden behind the Garfield Park Conservatory, 300 N. Central Park Ave. Other sculptures that charmed us: “La Cabeza,”a huge walk-through Day of the Dead-inspired skull that evokes the big heart at the Museum of Science and Industry, only far more fabulous, and “Arbre Serpents” (“Serpent Tree”), shining with gold leaf, in the middle of a turf labyrinth, which toddlers will love to run around in. The exhibit runs through Halloween.
Cost: Suggested donation is $5. Call 312-742-7529 or see www.artofplaychicago.com.
— Beth Botts
GREEN IT: A microwave must be a real electricity hog. And bottled water must be safer than tap water. And lowering the thermostat a degree or two in the summer can’t really hurt. Right? Wrong. Take the quizzes in the “Green Home” section of National Geographic’s Web site, www.thegreenguide.com , and you may be surprised by the answers. Using a microwave saves 85 percent of the energy needed to use the cooktop. Tap water is much more tightly regulated and better tested for safety than bottled water (and, we’d add, doesn’t generate bottles that have to be disposed). And every degree you lower the thermostat in summer can cost you 2 percent on your electricity bill (that’s on average). The Web site goes room by room with quizzes, videos, suggestions and tips for ways to make the home safer and reduce the environmental cost of day-to-day living.
— B.B.
LEARN IT: A free workshop at 7 p.m. Wednesday explores a popular feature of many Naperville (and surrounding area) homes, “The Naperville Home: Designing and Remodeling the Front Porch.” “How we maintain and preserve what we have, and how we blend in renovations and new home construction with the surrounding homes, is key to preserving the architectural charm and character of Naperville’s neighborhoods,” says Debbie Grinnell, Naper Settlement’s director of Preservation Services, who will speak at the workshop. While focused on Naperville homes, the workshop should be of interest to anyone interested in doing historic preservation. It will be held in Century Memorial Chapel at Naper Settlement, 523 S. Webster St., Naperville.
Call 630-420-6010 or visit www.napersettlement .museum.
— M.D.
TOUR IT: The garden atop City Hall, the new green roof at the Chicago Cultural Center and a group of three North Side homes in the middle of extensive, environmentally friendly renovations: Those are just a few sites on the more than 150 free walking and trolley tours that will poke into corners and showcase the city’s marvels of architecture, design, history, nature and green building as part of the “Great Chicago Places & Spaces” festival Saturday and May 20.
Some of the sites are little known, such as Seymour Persky’s rooftop sculpture garden and the artisan-inspired communal courtyard buildings and gardens of the John Podmajersky Pilsen East Art Community Complex. To join a tour, you must sign up that day in the atrium of the Santa Fe Building, Michigan Avenue at Jackson Boulevard. Registration starts at 7:30 a.m., but the line forms two hours earlier, organizers say. So check out the tours and make a plan in advance.
Call 312-744-3315 for a brochure or go to www.greatchicagoplaces.us and click on “Event Day Tours.”
— B.B.
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mdaniels@tribune.com; kklages@tribune.com; ebotts@tribune.com
