You will want to know about this product: Sugru sold out within 16 hours of its first release. It’s a new type of adhesive, a silicone that feels like Play-Doh and that forms a physical bond with the object that it’s stuck to. Kinda like the Tack adhesive putty, but on steroids. It’s flexible but strong, safe and easy to manipulate and to use. Shape it and let air dry. Perfect for hacks, repairs, customizations and repairs of all sorts of things. I can think of dozens of hacks just around my office. Here’s from the brilliant young mind who [...]

Remember the Waterpik? Does anyone use those anymore? As a child, I remember giggling when using the device but now I can only cringe at the idea of cold water being pulsed over my sensitive-to-the-cold molars… But forget that, I’m just reminiscing. Waterpik has now come out with a more “for our times” product: the Sinusense, a neti pot like device that fits right in to the 21st century. It won’t be released till July, but I thought I’d give you a head’s up as I’m pretty sure that this will change the standards for all nasal cleansing apparatus.
You may [...]

My bike (as in bicycle, sorry) got its spring tune up. The cold weather has eased up. I’m ready to run my local errands and go to my local appointments and rendez-vous by pedaling there. But NOT with an offensive backpack. That’s just not succulent.
Solution: Emily and Maria, native Chicago designers and local bicyclists took it upon themselves to make “active transportation” attractive. So one can move from the bike to the luncheon table while still looking really cute.
Their company is called Po Campo and offers two bike-friendly bag designs, each available in various fabric choices: the Handlebar Bag and [...]

A friend of mine turned me onto Groupon about five months ago. I am thankful for that tip every time I scoop up one of their great deals. I thought that I was the last to know. But, as I’ve since introduced Groupon to several equally unenlightened friends, I thought that it would be worth a mention here, just in case you were also in the dark about this great coupon site…
What is Groupon? It’s an online deal-of-the-day/group-buy website that offers city-specific deals (usually between 40% to 60% off) with a whole panoply of local businesses.  Each daily deal only [...]

I’m not big on New Year’s resolutions. If I were, by now, I’d have no more than 10% body fat, I’d be able to do the Dwi Pada Sirsasana yoga posture, I would meditate 30 minutes every single day, I’d never ever raise my voice at my kids, I’d send birthday cards, on time… But since I’ve liberated myself of the concept of New Years’ resolutions years ago, I have accomplished none of these things.
However, clearing clutter has been a general resolution that I’ve kept up with very nicely (I’m even a little overzealous). And, should that be on your [...]

I know that these have been out since last year, but since I have not, until this year, lived in a climate where gloves were a requirement at any time of year, I had never paid attention. Now that I’m Chicago, every member of my family is getting a pair of the Freehands gloves in their Christmas stockings. So simple, so ingenious, so essential for Midwesterners (Easterners and Northerners too!).

You can get them here, right from the Freehands website.

By Scott Roeben, Contributing Editor – Photography
Note: The Succulent Wife is honored to welcome an “old” friend & colleague as our first male contributor! Scott is a talented writer and photographer and I am quite excited to be bringing you his articles on photography. He will be providing tips & tools to make the amateur photographer look like a real pro. Thanks Scott!
Capturing great photos of children can be a challenge. But there are simple steps you can take to dramatically improve your photography, virtually overnight. Try these tips, and you’ll be taking great photos of your kids in [...]

I love it. The Whole Foods Market Recipe iPhone app is not exactly new (it’s been out since June of this year), but if you haven’t tried it yet, it’s a great one. Not just because it’s free. But mostly because now, I’ll probably never again find myself wondering what’s for dinner. I love that a highly visible brand such as Whole Foods expands its brand’s goodwill by providing useful “toys” such as this one.

This application provides recipes through some pretty smart filters: I can search for recipes by course (I’m always stuck for good ideas for appetizers), category (“Quick [...]

Very cool free photo apps that empower Photoshop-disabled people, like moi, to render basic photos into something you might just want to place on your wall. In this article I am going to show you even more websites where you simply upload your photo and start playing. You can add one element or more, depending on what you like. If you don’t like what you see, you simply undo it.

By Shari Bonnin, Contributing Editor
Maybe you’re like me and haven’t quite got the whole layers, cropping, lassoing and all other Photoshop intricacies and just want to find easy ways to achieve certain effects with photos or maybe you are great at Photoshop but want some shortcuts.
Recently I’ve become very nostalgic because of Facebook; re-connecting with many old friends, digging into my old photo boxes, pulling out my Polaroids and thinking how cool that would be to be able to have that look again. Well, I’ve done some research, and here are some *FREE* photo effect websites that can help [...]