Blog Posts by The Succulent Wife

Love Word Heart Feature Vday 2012Is one of your New Year's resolutions to fall in love all over again with your significant other? As one of Michael Leunig's quotes states, "Love one another and you will be happy; it is as simple and as difficult as that." My husband and I say 'I love you' probably 20 times a day and although we mean it, we may have lost some of the passion in the words. Sometimes it takes a little effort to really demonstrate our true love.

By Amie Valpone, Gluten-Free Recipe Contributor, Culinary Marketing Consultant and food writer at the gluten-free blog, The Healthy Apple.

Looking for a healthy spin on a classic winter comfort food? Here is a 'lighter' recipe for stuffed mushrooms that is gluten-free, dairy-free and vegan. They are filled with lots of fiber and natural sweetness in each bite. Whether you're preparing these for a football game on Sunday or a dinner party on Saturday night, they're sure to be a crowd pleaser.

By Audrey van Petegem, Senior Editor

Happy New Year! I am very excited about this year! I am turning 50 and I am truly embracing it! Here is a video about my plans for this year:

Holiday GG 2011 almost forgot gg

Eeeeek! Tomorrow is Christmas Eve and you just realized that you still have a few people you need to buy for!! No need to panic. Here are some great ideas that keep on giving up to a full year (although monthly, three, six and nine month subscriptions are also available) - showing them that you did not forget them after all. Whether you put a card under the tree of send them an e-card from afar, these gifts will thrill anyone on your list. And, p.s. you may just want to treat yourself! We're totally ok with that.

Notanotherbill

Not Another Bill - For people who dread going to the mailbox. This one will have them checking the mail to see what (delightful) surprise they will receive this month. Just let NotAnotherBill know for whom the subscription is for and where they would most likely be found (i.e. shopping, in a gallery…) from a list of choices and they will receive a unique gift (from Europe) with an explanation of why and how it was chosen for them. Start the

We have all heard about UNICEF, an acronym for the United Nations Children's Fund (the I for International and the E for Emergency were dropped in 1953).UNICEF has been around since the 1940′s and was initially created to provide for children in countries that had been devastated by WWII. Today, UNICEF operates in more than 150 countries and provide humanitarian relief to focus on saving children's lives with services such as maternal and child health, food security and nutrition, HIV/AIDS prevention, water and sanitation, education and child protection. UNICEF is funded by both, government and public donations. It is an organization that humbly helps those in need without making a lot of noise about it. The organization relies heavily on contributions from corporations, schools, young people and the general public.

It is simple to help and every penny makes a difference. Here are a few of their programs:

Unicef Box

Trick-or-Treat UNICEF Boxes - With Halloween just

By Tara Riceberg, Guest Contributor - Party Planning & Entertaining

Throwing a Halloween party doesn't have to be spooky. With these tricks, your guests will be treated to a frightfully fun time!

1. Pre-shop the stores for inspiration and for budgeting your money. It only gets expensive when you don't have a plan and buy things spontaneously or last minute.
2. Create a subtheme to really focus your party and planning. Imagine "Halloween Party" becoming "Antebellum Gothic" (what would have become of Scarlett had Rhett not returned?) - Replete with moss covered columns, dead roses, faux silver platters and tons of candlelight. Decorate with three main colors (black, white and silver) and add a fourth (red) for a punch.halloween create sub theme
3. Decorating starts at the driveway. Switch your regular light bulbs to red ones to create an eerie

Top Documentary Films Logo

I love my book club. It consists of twelve mothers, of all ages, each with very different taste in books, but we love our monthly get-togethers. We laugh, we share and we talk - A LOT! Each year, we each sign up for a month to host the club. The host is responsible for choosing the book, hosting the event in her home and supplying food and drink for the evening. It is acknowledged by everyone that no one needs to bring a thing. That way, we are each only responsible for one book club event per year.

Although this is "officially" a book club, we have in the past ventured off to do other things, such as movie night, GNO and so on. Next month Danica, a young mother who just had a baby and low on personal reading time, decided to host a documentary film night. So, instead of reading a book, we will watch a documentary and discuss it at her home.

I told the group about this great website that would be perfect to help us make a choice for the evening. I was surprised that no

The mission of The New7Wonders Foundation, founded by Swiss-born Canadian Bernard Weber, has the express aim of documenting, maintaining, restoring and reconstructing world heritage under the motto: "OUR HERITAGE IS OUR FUTURE."

On July 7, 2007 (07.07.07) the New7Wonders Foundation announced that The Great Wall of China(China), Petra (Jordan), Christ Redeemer (Brazil), Machu Piccu (Peru), Chichen Itza (Mexico), the Colosseum (Italy) and the Taj Mahal (India), were the New Seven Wonders of the World (which we wrote about here).

Now the Foundation is asking for our vote again but this time on The New Seven Wonders of Nature. The 28 finalist are all natural phenomenons; from the Grand Canyon (of course) to Kilimanjaro. Which do you think should be in the top seven?

An announcement will be made on November 11, 2011 (11.11.11). I have voted for all that are on my bucket list (and the two that I have already seen). Go to New 7 Wonders of Nature to cast your vote. And to plan