About
I’m Anne-Marie, a self-proclaimed Succulent Wife. I started my blog in 2007 as the editorial counterpart to my online gift shop which featured the work of independent artists as well as other unique finds. I now focus completely on the things that I am truly passionate about and that I know are worth sharing. Since I am no longer selling product on my site, I now have the privilege of being completely unbiased, primed to share only the things that are truly worthy of being shared.
With 20 years of marketing experience, I have developed a knack for uncovering the unique positioning factors and values of products or services. Branding remains my dearest passion since it is so central to the marketing strategy. It’s about telling the story and communicating the value of a service or product, by giving it a voice and connecting with the audience. So then, it was a natural tangent for me to want to tell the story of the unique products and businesses or practices that make my life more meaningful.
Indeed, in the last few years, my life has been all about finding more meaning. Which is why the theme of succulence is on the marquee. Succulence is about truly tasting life, in big juicy, delicious bites. It’s about finding ways to relish the moment, to make it playful and exciting and meaningful. And it’s about practicing things like yoga, meditation, living and consuming more consciously.
I have been lucky enough to uncover these passions and to use this blog to share them with you. And, I look forward to hearing of how you express your own passions to make your life more meaningful. Perhaps that together, we can all make our big-little world a lot more succulent.
I’d love to hear from you! "Write" here at info [at] thesucculentwife [dot] com.
CONTRIBUTORS
Audrey van Petegem is a REAL Real Housewife of Orange County. The mother of a teenage son and 5 and 3 year old daughters, Audrey still finds time to do some of her favorite things. These include teaching yoga, taking yoga, being in a book club and a mom's fitness group, golfing, traveling, flea market shopping, facebook-ing, walking her 2 dogs (a Golden Retriever and a Cavalier King Charles spaniel)daily, watching the Lakers with her husband, enjoying and discovering fine wines and trying out new recipes seen on the Food Network. And in her “free” time she is writing articles for The Succulent Wife’s blog.
Shari Bonnin believes she has perfected the art of multi-tasking/crafting and lives a joyous (thanks to my adorable husband and 2 Whippets) and crazed but adventurous (thanks to my teenage daughter and teenage son) life in Southern California. She loves to try new ethnic restaurants and her dream job would be a restaurant critic. Until then, she loves to spend time with friends and family, go to the beach, collect art, dance flamenco, do photography, knit, crochet, and make jewelry. Sewing is her new adventure. Shari’s jewelry and accessories can be found on her website at www.bonnindesigns.com
Natalie Greggain is a Raw Food and Healthy Nutrition expert. As women, we spend way too much time agonizing over how we will get perfect bodies, but we are never happy with ourselves. The problem? We are too fixated on image. We need to spend more energy eating healthy foods and getting regular exercise. Once we shift our focus from image to healthy balance, we begin to eat better, look better, feel better and therefore are able to spend more time appreciating all of life’s succulent wonders. Natalie doesn’t eat 100% raw foods, or even a 100% vegan diet, but she has figured out how to incorporate these healthy lifestyles into a manageable, and balanced life that keeps her happy. She will be sharing her knowledge, tips and recipes with us occasionally on the Succulent Wife. Learn more from Natalie at her online store, Purely Juicers.
Kym Tolson is a Certified Hypnotherapist approved by the National Board for Certified Clinical Hypnotherapists as well as a Licensed Therapist (LCSW) and Certified Substance Abuse Counselor (CSAC). She utilizes hypnosis daily in her professional practice to affect positive change in clients who are experiencing difficulties with a variety of behaviors. She is the owner of Hypnotransformations, LLC. Her online hypnotherapy sessions are available in CD and MP3 download formats. Her hypnosis sessions allow you to be hypnotized whenever you have spare time to spend transforming your life for the better. She covers a wide range of topics and if your need is not already available, she can personalize a custom session to accommodate any goal. All that is needed is a desire for positive change and the commitment to listen to the hypnosis session on a consistent basis. You can download her many hypnosis CD's on her site or on Etsy.
Scott Roeben is an online marketing copywriter during the day and photographer during the rest of his waking hours. He specializes in children's photography and was named "Photographer of the Year" by the Las Vegas Photographic Society, an organization devoted to nourishing the passion of amateur and professional photographers. He volunteers his talents as a photographer for a variety of charitable causes, including Spread the Word Nevada (a children's literacy initiative), Operation Love: Reunited (providing free portraits to military families), Portraits of Love (also serving military families), Shade Tree (shelter for abused women and children), the Boys & Girls Clubs of America and others. He's also an aspiring succulent guy. Hey, everyone needs to have a dream.
About the products and services that we feature: we have never - nor do we ever intend to - received compensation in any form to write about a.ny.thing. When we write about something, it's because we are moved by our passions, our discoveries and our temptations and follies of the moment. Sometimes, great companies, designers and artists inform us of their products or services, and if we get as excited as they are about them, we will feature them. No guarantees, but we are really glad that they let us know they existed so that we could spread the word. If you need to let us know about a great product or service that you think might make our day, write to us at info [at] thesucculentwife [dot] com.
The Succulent Wife has been trained to search out and propose the most unique gift ideas since looooooong before she ever became a - succulent - wife. You see, her very own mother had a successful gift boutique back in the day and that was part of the early training. Today, she denotes her most special finds with this "Gift Worthy" seal of approval which signifies that the gift suggestion upon which the seal is bestowed has shown special meaning, provenance, value (and value is not always about the cost) and/or beauty. We hope that this will mean to you that you need not question the potential glee that your gift recipient will exhibit upon receiving it.
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