By Audrey van Petegem, Senior Editor
If you are a fan of the Mad  Men show, then you know that the era’s drink of choice was the cocktail – and not just one… Set in the 60′s in NYC, the era romanticized the Rat Pack’s image of a bottomless drink and a smoke, a vice for each hand.
Forget about the cigarette. The cocktail represents the return of drink sophistication. Just their names – the Manhattan, Vodka Gimlet or the Old-Fashioned – conjure up images of men in snappy suits and women in beautiful cocktail dresses, looking stylish and sexy.
The cocktail is a classic [...]

By Anne-Marie Kovacs, Chief Wife
With spring barely palpable and, in Chicago, many frosty days still in the forecast, my family instinctively turns to comfort foods. Pizza, predictably, is one of those foods. I mean, homemade pizza.

By Audrey van Petegem, Chief Editor
Did you know that the number one New Year’s resolution this year was to lose weight*? Did you also know that almost half of Americans make a resolution every year and only about 8% succeed to reach their goal? If you are one of the many whose New Year’s resolution was to lose weight – or at least not gain any, there are some great products available to help you reach your goal.
Here is a list of my favorites:

Hapi Fork - Introduced at this year’s CES (Consumer Electronic Show), the Hapi Fork is getting a lot of [...]

By Anne-Marie Kovacs, Chief Wife
Wow, it was nearly 6 years ago that I mentioned stevia on this blog. At the time, the ingredient was not well known, whereas now, it’s found on all grocery store shelves. Though it is all natural, pure stevia has its detractors. It has a bitter aftertaste which doesn’t make it a good option to sprinkle on foods. Personally, I still enjoy it in already bitter or sour drinks such as coffee, tea or lemonade. Not so good on oatmeal.
The new kid on the block of the all-natural, no calorie sweeteners is the Monk Fruit (also known [...]

So, how is your new year’s resolution to “eat clean” going? Probably not so hot around 3 or 4 pm, if like me, your energy level – and attention span – has you wishing the day was over. But noooooo. There’s still a mountain of things to do, errands to run and calls to return. Among other pressing matters.
Clearly, I need a snack, a picker-upper, a little edible energy. The easy fix is to pick up something easy & fast from the pantry or the vending machine. And we all know what hazards that holds. Those carb-filled, sugar-filled, fat-filled and [...]

Happy THANKSgiving!
You’re all prepped. You have run back to the store (or sent your kids who can now drive) 5 times to pick up last minute (or like me, forgotten) items. You have planned to give the floor a good mopping and the kitchen counters a good cleaning just after the turkey goes in. You even thought of putting a fresh hand towel in the bathroom. Your table is set and candles ready to light. You timed your shower moment exactly, so that you actually have enough time to style your hair and finish your makeup (evenly, on both eyes). [...]

By Anne-Marie Kovacs, Chief Wife
My husband always says that everything has been invented already. Most oftentimes, I disagree vehemently because that’s just a depressing thought. That there would be nothing new for us to discover? If something is completely REinvented, does it have to count as something that was already invented… Hummmm, that’s a philosophical discussion for another time. At the moment, I want to share with you my favorite reinvention of the season.
The Pressure Cooker. Yes! Remember that scary device that was in our mothers’ kitchen and threatened to explode if you so much as looked at it, not even [...]

By Audrey van Petegem, Senior Editor
We have written about monthly subscription boxes before, but this new one is perfect for foodies. Love With Food delivers 5 to 10 curated food samples of gourmet foods to their monthly subscribers. The boxes contain everything from teas to sweets to olive oils. The twist on the Love with Food model is that, if you like the samples, you can purchase the full size product at a discount from their site.
For $10.00 a month, I can encourage my children to try new snacks in their lunches. And, what’s not for them is sure to please me [...]

The Succulent Wives are taking a little (very little) time off this summer. While we are still actively working on bringing you new content and ideas every week, we have also decided to bring back some of our favorite posts from the archives, those that are still timely, relevant, useful and that deserve to be revisited. Thanks for allowing us to recharge. We promise that we will be coming back with more new ideas and recommendations for cool stuff than you’ll know what to do with…
By Anne-Marie Kovacs, Chief Wife
I previously wrote about these fantastic, almost-better-than-bakery-bought chocolate croissants by Trader [...]

The Succulent Wives are taking a little (very little) time off this summer. While we are still actively working on bringing you new content and ideas every week, we have also decided to bring back some of our favorite posts from the archives, those that are still timely, relevant, useful and that deserve to be revisited. Thanks for allowing us to recharge. We promise that we will be coming back with more new ideas and recommendations for cool stuff than you’ll know what to do with…
We may have been a little ahead of our time when we first wrote about Chia [...]