Jacqueline Bosselaar of Het PR Bureau aims to make all relationships relevant. Relationships between organisation and customer, between journalist and director or between brand and consumer. Every relationship speaks for itself. Flirting is part of new relationships and, for adult relationships, trust forms the primary principle!

Het PR Bureau operates in the news industry. They  help positioning brands and organisations in their competitive markets of lifestyle & fashion, FMCG, health care, professional services firms and non-profit. In order to improve their image & fame they develop smart, creative but moreover hands-on PR strategies and activities, making use of their qualitative and extensive network of editors, bloggers, stylists, business friends and celebrities.

How would you describe your business in exactly three adjectives?
Creative, ambitious, real and always tuned for opportunities.

People may be surprised to know
…that my mom is from the tropical island Aruba.

What or who inspired you to start your business?
My positive minded dad who never is afraid of anything, my friend Barbara who managed to acquire one of her first and dream client Gucci, and my business partner Marnix who is successful without taking himself too seriously.

Who is your role model or mentor?
My business coach and sparring partner Marjolijn. I have worked with her from the very moment we started our agency. She is my best business decision ever.

What business mistake have you made that you will not repeat?
Working for a big-name-client who refused working on the basis of an equal relationship.

How do you spend your free time?
Snowboarding, cycling and tennis (all in good weather conditions), traveling and city trips, photography, reading magazines.

What is your indulgence?
Shoes, traveling, and my two months old son.

Where is your favorite place to go with your girlfriends?
De Nieuwe Anita, Café Nassau, De Bakkerswinkel, and… home.

Hillary Clinton
During the last decade, she was First Lady, Senator, serious presidential candidate of a major political party, and Secretary of State, First former First Lady to hold major elective office, January 2001 (Senator from New York); first woman candidate for U.S. president to almost win a nomination from a major political party (declared candidacy January 2007, conceded June 2008) and first former First Lady to serve in the cabinet, in her capacity of U.S. Secretary of State, confirmed January 2009. All of this after her presidential husband cheated on her for the whole world to see. Need I say more?

Oprah Winfrey
Oprah was the first black billionaire, as reported by Forbes in April 2004. Although she is not in politics or changing laws, her power and conviction is known the world over. She has used her power again and again to shed light on good causes on everything from women who are sold into slavery to animal cruelty. Her latest endeavor is getting people to stop talking and texting on the phone while driving. She puts massive amounts of money into charitable causes and her show is now approaching an unbelievable 25 year run. In 2009 she announced that the The Oprah Winfrey Show will end in 2011. It’s hard to find a woman who doesn’t know who she is.

Melinda Gates
Melinda Gates is the co-chair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which is the largest transparently operated private foundation in the world. The foundation is “driven by the interests and passions of the Gates family.” The primary aims of the foundation are, globally, to enhance healthcare and reduce extreme poverty, and in America, to expand educational opportunities and access to information technology. The foundation, based in Seattle, Washington, has an endowment of US$35.1 billion as of October 1, 2008. The scale of the foundation and the way it seeks to apply business techniques to giving makes it one of the leaders in the philanthrocapitalism revolution in global philanthropy. In 2007 its founders were ranked as the second most generous philanthropists in America. Bill and Melinda were also named Time magazine’s Persons of the Year in December 2005.

Michelle Obama
Because Michelle is the first African American first lady and the first wife of an African American President, she has an influence and gets attention that prior first ladies may not have received. Michelle represents the loving, working mother who came from difficult circumstances, had the opportunity to attend an Ivy League school, and achieve great things in the causes that she’s taken on as a lawyer, and now, as a first lady. Even her fashion sense is turning heads because she tends to wear little known designers, giving them well-deserved attention, instead of going for the more typical pricier names that everyone would expect. When Michelle decided to grow a vegetable garden outside the White-House, all of a sudden it was all the rage. Right now she is taking on reducing childhood obesity and encouraging children to have a healthy active lifestyle.

Ellen DeGeneres
Though it is easy to argue that Ellen doesn’t have half the achievements under her belt as any of the rest of these women do, her talk show and her name have become so synonymous with positivity and acceptance, it seems that laughter really is the best medicine. Besides being widely adored and accepted as an openly gay woman, Ellen and her talk show have won the daytime Emmy for Best Talk Show and talk show host 4 years in a row and the show averages about 3.0 million viewers per episode, according to daytime television ratings, which makes it one of the highest-viewed daytime shows. The refreshing style of her humor and the unyielding extent of her kindness make her a stand out woman of the last decade.

Information from wikipedia.com.

Nothing is quite as special as welcoming a new baby into the world. And well it can be easy and fun to shop from the traditional baby registry – many new moms CRAVE a different approach. For this week’s Best of we compiled a list of shops around the area that provide a unique selection of gifts for baby and mom. The Best of Baby Shower Gifts is sure to bring a smile to the face of the new baby – and the new mom of course!

Happyrainydays

Who said rainy days have to be depressive? Check these happy outfits, they will put a smile on your face. Pedaling through the rainy weather, Michelle van der Burgh and Astrid de Groot could just not find the right rainwear which is good, fun AND functional. So they decided to go make it their self. They have a special knowledge of materials and production quality. Its production aims to the highest quality. Check the

Het kleine warenhuis

This shop is filled with own designs and many homemade objects, also antique toys.
Everything in the shop is for sale but also to be ordered in any shape or color you want. The children’s gallery, the boxes, treasure chests, chandeliers with old toys and handmade jewelry can all be adjusted to taste or by agreement, made specifically for the customer. In  Het Kleine Warenhuis you can also find your own creative way. Stefanie Meijs, the owner of the shop, inspires and teaches crafts in workshops. She also hold  birthday parties for children in her shop.

Liv-inn

Liv-inn is for kids and moms, here you can find the nicest garments for babies and children up to 14 years old as well as nice gifts for moms. Every season they sell cheerful, colorful, beautiful clothing, from brands like: Lola Amor, Eager Beaver, Vingino, Mim-Pi, Seven Ones Even, Beebielove, Noppies, Tuuf’s World and Petit Bateau. They also sell beautiful toys for children under 4 years.

Madre Perla

We want wow. Every day and from day one. For girls and boys from the age of 0,  up to European size 128. And we celebrate imagination. We’re not afraid to express ourselves. On the contrary, we dress to express. Check their website!

Shak-shuka

The very own eco boutique filled with stylish organic and eco-friendly goods for baby, child and mama. They are out to dispel the myth that green and sylish are incompatible. Shak shuka aims to prove that eco-friendly goods don’t have to cost the earth. Check their beautiful daily blog, it includes tips on green living, recipes and raising a family organically, all with a sense of humor!

Zazou

Zazoukids is the Hippest web shop that offers branded children’s fashion, trendy accessories and baby shower gifts. Zazou has the total range, from elegant and simple basics to the newest trends and creative prints, not just the same old same old we’ve been used to seeing in the children’s department. They even have black! Zazou.eu stands for quality Dutch Design kids’ fashion, clothes and accessories that are creative, original, comfy, easy to care for, often produced in a sustainable manner and made of organic cotton. Balancing on the front line of fashion, their clothes exude style, cheekiness and a playful allure, in an array of colours that is always right on target.

Whether “it’s a boy” or a girl – these shops are sure to have a one of a kind gift for baby’s and moms of all styles!

Because we like to share ideas and thoughts with other women, specially about shopping, Constance Hage from Shoppen.blogo.nl & ladygadgets.blogo.nl writes two women blog-magazines: ”I like to keep my online Shopaholicfriends updated about fashion, gadgets, beauty and lots more. My opinions are objective and clear: what you see, is was you get! I try to give my readers a smile a day.”

How would you describe your business in exactly three adjectives?
glamourous, fun, inspiration

What are your most popular products or services?
My articles about Ugg boots/shoes and slippers, still (after a few years) the most populair boots around. I have more than 1.200 comments about Ugg Australia.

People may be surprised to know…
Once I have been given the names ‘Nerdina’ (a female nerd) and ‘Lady Gagadgets’ and I wear these with pride.

What or who inspired you to start your business?
My husband, who asked me 5 years ago ‘what do you miss on the internet for women?’. And my reply was: ‘information about shopping and gadgets for women!’

What business mistake have you made that you will not repeat?
I have had an online shop in 1999 for cosmetics, way to early and nowadays I would never open a shop again (online or offline). I can better write about them

How do you spend your free time?
Shopping, travelling, dining, writing and searching for new stuff.

What is your indulgence?
Shoes and bags: I have my own Imelda Marcos shoecloset and a bag fits always!

Where is your favorite place to go with your girlfriends?
Having a drink or meal in a (trendy) bar, on a terrace or in a restaurant or going to the beach and afterwards have diner together. I also like to shop with my girlfriends in shoppingheaven Shanghai!

What would we do without our girlfriends? They keep us sane when things get crazy, offer a shoulder to cry on when things get tough, encourage us to buy those shoes we just can’t live without, pig out on junk food with us after a bad breakup, and always, always make us laugh. One of our favorite things to do with our best gal pals is to pile onto the couch with plenty of buttered popcorn and indulge in a chick-flick movie-fest. Check out our picks for the movies to watch with your best girlfriends and start planning your next girl’s night in!

Beaches
Grab your tissues for this one. Its a tear-jerker but its also the story of a friendship that lasts a lifetime – CC and Hilary were totally BFF.

Thelma and Louise
Two best friends on a wild adventure, together until the end, and Brad Pitt? Sign us up!

Steel Magnolias
This one is another sob-story, but we love the story of this group of women who are there for each other through all of life’s ups and downs.

Bridget Jones’ Diary
Because Bridget’s kooky antics make us laugh every time and remind us everyone does silly things from time to time.

Fried Green Tomatoes
A testament to the strength of a woman and what she’ll do for her friends.

Breakfast at Tiffany’s
Because we all love Audrey Hepburn and we all have a little bit of Miss Holly Golightly in us.

Grease
A true guilty pleasure that we love to sing along to with our girls – a definite pick-me-up.

Sixteen Candles
Because we swoon over Jake Ryan and every girl’s high-school fantasy come true, every time we see it.

Dirty Dancing
Another guilty pleasure and classic that we know by heart and can watch with our girlfriends, time and time again.

Mean Girls
It may not be might not be your typical girl-power, female bonding kind of movie, but we all learn a lesson in the end – to support the women in our lives. Plus, its hilarious.

We could go on and on, but we’ll stop here and let you start planning which flicks to view at your next girl’s night. Hooray for girlfriends!

Our very own Melody Biringer had her closet raided! MyCloset.com, a website dedicated to airing people’s dirty laundry (literally), recently featured the CRAVEcompany founder in its scintillating Celebrity Closets installment. Among the hangers and hampers, a myriad of wardrobe gems were unearthed from all over the world. Woolen leg-warmers from Amsterdam, Ilse Jacobsen rain boots from Seattle, a bold purple dress from Vancouver, BC… how can that much cuteness exist in one closet? Lucky for us, Melody divulged a few of her shopping secrets and we can all check out her fashion favorites for ourselves. Below check out some of her most-cherished boutiques.

Moscow (moscowdesign.nl)
Runstraat 8, 1111 AA, Amsterdam, Netherlands

Horseshoe (horseshoeseattle.com)
5344 Ballard Avenue Northwest Seattle, WA 98107

Lambs Ear (lambsearshoes.com)
3516 Fremont Place No.inesgloves.com Seattle, WA 98103

Ines Gloves (inesgloves.com)
Oudezijds Achterburgwal 132 1012 DV Amsterdam, Netherlands

JC Studio (jcstudio.ca)
46 West 6th Avenue Vancouver, BC V5Y 1K1

sonja | clothes to live in (sonjatacoma.com)
2701 N 21st St, Tacoma, WA 98406

Switch Shoes (switch-shoes.com)
7871 Southwest Capitol Highway, Portland, OR 97219

For a truly in depth look into the world of women-owned boutiques, check out the CRAVEguide for a city near you. These books are brimming with local women you need to know, whether you want to satisfy a craving for your closet, appetite, business, or piece of mind.

Seduced by the wines of Golden Grapes and enchanted by the new spring collection of Joline Jolink the CRAVE entrepreneuresses came in masses to meet each other, meet the CRAVE concept and have fun.

The wines of Golden Grapes from South Africa were a hit for a good reason. Their superb taste accompanied the night, easing the rainy mood and the conversation. Thank you Suzanne Moen for sponsoring the night!

It was a privilege to be in a famous Dutch designer atelier and enjoy her new spring collection: “For women with something to do” – what a great slogan and how in touch with the women present at the party.  We thank you Joline Jolink for your warm welcome in your atelier and for baking your famous tart for us. The participant ladies there also received a goodie bag at the end of the evening with a surprise 25€ off of any purchase till 31 Dec 2010!

We met a lot of successful and gutsy lady entrepreneurs and we connected them with each other. Our ever growing Dutch female community has been enriched with the new ladies present at the CRAVE buzz party and we hope they will also be featured in our CRAVE Guide of Women entrepreneurs you MUST know.

Check out the pictures from the Buzz Party for a closer look!

Turquoise – We’re pretty sure this is on EVERYONE’S hot-list, along with other aqua-colored hues. This vibrant color turns every outfit up a notch, making you just exude that cool confident aura that will make you the center of attention. Splurge on a Jamie Joseph brightly colored stone ring. We love this Sea Blue Chalcedony Ring for a beautiful eye-catcher.

Light Pink – More specifically, champagnes and corals are two “light pinks” that won’t have you gagging on pastel and cotton candy. Champagne is the closest you can get to a nice neutral color while adding a little pop! And for coral, try some of Cara Lyndon’s hairpins, we recommend Coral Wheel . Whether your hair color is light or dark, this feminine flair will turn heads.

Yellow – In every shade and size. Add a dash here or there or a big bright bag to have everyone around you smiling. Evoking sunshine and happiness, everyone could stand to integrate this cheerful color into their wardrobe or even their home. Try a bright throw pillow to add to your living room, we like the yellow Gloria pillow from Henry Road. The great thing about throw pillows is, when spring is over, you can just throw them back into the closet until spring comes again!

Faye Cossar, the owner of Juxtaposition, was born and raised in New Zealand. After she finished her studies in England, she came to Amsterdam and she is living and working as an astrologer, business consultant and lecturer.

Faye makes horoscopes for individuals, bridges young astrologers to practice in her Amsterdam School of Astrology and is hired for workshops and lectures. Juxtaposition is a company that uses an old instrument with a new twist to give new insights in business. By combining the body of ancient esoteric wisdom together with the body of new business knowledge, interesting results can be achieved. It’s amazing to hear Faye talk about ‘macro’ society developments and how this can be studied and explained through astrology. All planets and signs have specific structures and characteristics, showing short and larger cycles and all kinds of different energy.

You can make horoscopes for people, companies but also for countries! In the area of her business consultancy Faye is advising on PR, timing, teams, culture but it could also be an advise on what colours or shapes would fit your company. After my two hour talk with this passionate woman, I can see so clearly how her added value on business matters. Because of her versatile studies, experience and background, Faye can look at your business and advise on situations from different angles. In our economy where companies need to start being human, join the conversation, work with the ‘sharing and caring’ principles and brands have ‘fans’ rather than consumers, it’s time for a different kind of consultant!

CRAVE Amsterdam was ‘born’ on the 4th of november 2009. The day our team shook hands and joined forces. Faye has made a horoscope for our concept. CRAVE Amsterdam has the sun in Scorpio. That means passion!  The ruling of Mars in our horoscope also shows ‘communication’ and of course: networking.  Faye was pointing out our strenghts but she could also put her finger on things and situations that we had struggled with. It’s nice to see and know about the relations and energy the different signs have and what it’s like to work with different signs. It has nothing to do with wrong or right. It has everything to do with understanding a bit more what people (or companies) are moved by, what drives us or what stops us. Dear Faye, thank you so much for your insight: Astrology rocks!

Text by: Isrid van Geuns

How would you like to own your personal luxurious piece of garment  and pay only a small sum for it ? Or  buy a great piece of furniture from Victorian times that will complete your living room with great style ?
Or just spend a fabulous afternoon in Amsterdam, “diva – touring” with your girlfriend and enjoy a nice champaign afterwards? She takes you antique shopping in hidden gardens, alongside countless canals and in quaint, gabled-roof houses.  The Diva opens doors to secret stores open only by appointment & she even takes you inside a private residence where you shop daringly for delicious antiques in a Grand Dames living room!

Toma Haines is one fabulous lady who is guaranteed to make you laugh while shopping for the best antique piece you can find! She has connections with the best Antique Dealers across Amsterdam, Den Hague, Antwerp, Berlin and of course Paris. She designs her life by her motto: “People should walk into your home and know who you are, where you have been, what you feel and what moves you.” Turning her hobby into a career, Toma started her own business - The Antiques Diva™ Exclusive European Shopping Tours.  Taking a clue from Napoleon, she crowned herself, coming up with quite possibly the coolest job title in the world – Chief Executive Diva.   She works with 3 international guides offering 1-day and multi-day “antiques, vintage, home decor and lifestyle shopping tours” in 5 languages and 4 countries – The Netherlands, Belgium, France and Germany.

The Antiques Diva Tours is taking Europe by storm, showing clients favorite European cities, hitting the best antique shops, flea markets, vintage boutiques, lifestyle and home decor stores.  And they’re doing it «Diva Style» with a shopping sack in one hand and a champagne glass in the other!  Diva Tours takes cultural cruising to a new level, letting the destinations reveal themselves through retail.

How would you describe your business in exactly three adjectives?
Vibrant.  Youthful.  Timeless.

What are your most popular products or services?
Mid-tour brainstorming sessions sharing uses for unique finds, offering alternatives, do-it-yourself and repurposing suggestions for living with antiques!

People may be surprised to know…
I love modern abstract art.  The juxtaposition of intense color combined with patina of aged pieces is poetry in 3D.

What or who inspired you to start your business?
My readers: before my business was born, I started writing a blog (www.antiquesdiva.blogspot.com) and from it, readers demanded tours.

Who is your role model or mentor?
In Paris I lived near Yves St Laurent and window-peeked into his apartment, studying masterly combined styles and periods.

How do you spend your free time?
Antique shopping!  I’m fortunate that my favorite pastime and business happen to involve me doing the same thing!

What is your indulgence?
Champagne on a Tuesday afternoon for no reason at all.

Where is your favorite place to go with your girlfriends?
Paris for Girlfriend Getaways! We shop, we antique, we wine and dine and take tea at the Ritz.

Mention CRAVE while booking her reservation and get 10% off!! Reservations by email: toma@antiquesdiva.com