Profile: Annmarie Gianni

Annmarie is the creator of our favorite skincare line Annmarie Skincare and a dear friend of Bumbleroot. She recently spent some time with us to share her newest adventure - farm living. 

For a limited time, Annmarie Skincare is offering our Bumbleroot community an amazing offer. For only $10, you receive an aloe cleanser (our absolute favorite cleanser!), anti-aging serum, anti-aging oil and a Kaolin Micro Exfoliant (retail: $40). Shop here.

You and your family recently moved to a farm. Do you remember the moment you decided to make a move from town living to farm living?

We have always talked about wanting land, but never focused on that land being farmland. So, we honestly just followed the owls. Seriously, every aspect of our adult life, my husband and I have had some pretty strong signs for our next moves and over the past three years, the signs have been coming from an owl. 

I love how the owl has come back into my life, or maybe they were always there, but I was just not ready to see them again. In 2nd grade, we had an assembly on wildlife and one of the creatures they were teaching us about was a white owl. I made eye contact with that owl that day and a sense of safety came over me. Almost like the owl was saying ‘I got you, girl.’’ I had a true connection with that beautiful bird that day.

It wasn’t until August 2017 that I remembered this story. It was when Lousie Hay had just passed away. I was lucky to have spent some time with her as we got to know each other a little bit. She was a big supporter of the skin care line. I feel that she knew how safe I felt with that owl and she brought it back around for me. We had some good friends over one night just after she passed, sharing laughs and tears on our back porch in Berkeley, CA. I happened to look up, as well as my husband Kev, and we saw a beautiful white owl fly over us from one Redwood tree to the next. We never saw or heard owls around us before and there were only two or three redwoods in our neighborhood. I truly think it was her visiting us -- reminding us that we were in a good place sharing stories with the ones we love and that we were safe. A few weeks later at her memorial service, we heard from others that they were visited by her as well, in all different forms of birds.

Moving forward to December 2018, Kev and I knew that we needed to make a move with our family, but we were a bit unsettled to where we should move to. California housing prices were just not comfortable for us, for the land we wanted. So, after a holiday party at a friend’s house in Connecticut (where we lived before and is much closer to our families) we both said this feels good. We could live here. On the way home, we asked for a sign, something that will help us make this big decision. Guess what we saw? A big beautiful owl flew right over our car… Louise letting us know ‘yes, go for it’. That was the very moment we decided to move out of the city and back into the country.

This property that we landed on has truly been our dream. A place where we have space, where our neighbors are our trees, where the kids can play in the woods and explore and challenge their creative minds, a place where we can grow our own food, a place where we can disconnect and get grounded, a place where we can work with our hands. A place that is home to many wildlife creatures, including a family of owls, who greeted us the first week we moved in! A place that was also home to a tractor, so we took that as our next sign to start a farm!

What do your mornings look like these days?

As a mom of two very, very active kids, the beginning of my mornings is focusing on them. I wake up around 6:30 to at least get up before our daughter. I stretch for a few minutes, take a few deep breaths, then make my tea. After I get my cup of tea I take a few minutes to look outside to see which wildlife are greeting us that morning. I then get breakfast going and start my broken record reminders… get dressed please, eat your breakfast please, take your supplements please, brush your teeth, please. Which ends up being more fun and productive if done in song form. ;-)  

Once the kids are off to school I try to go for a walk. I am not perfect and don’t do it every day and that is ok with me! We have a ¼ mile-long hilly driveway and it is so beautiful to walk it. I know my mornings will have to adjust once our farm is up and running, but I’m really enjoying these walks for now.

After my walk I do my skin care routine, which consists of our Aloe Herb Cleanser and a few other products that are on the horizon! Then, off to the rest of my day.

Has your relationship with nature changed, and if so, how? 

I have always had a connection to nature and have been attracted to healing plants. We never cease to be awed by what you can learn from her if we just pay attention. If anything has changed since moving, it would be me being more aware that I can benefit from slowing down even more, worrying even less, and literally let nature take its course. I’ll lay under our big sweet maple trees while looking up at the sky through the beautiful leaves and just listen. So far what I have heard from her is ‘be still.’ We don’t know what our plan is yet with the farm, but what we do know is in time the land will give us a sign. I am also trying to implement that in all aspects of my life, as I know my energy can be frantic at times whether because I am nervous, unsettled, or feel rushed from one activity to the next. This can come across to others, kids included, as I am not present or mindful. During those times I will stop myself go outside look around and remind myself all is perfect in this moment, as nature is. It’s a practice and I am continuously working towards it. 

Do you have a favorite poem right now?

“Just Imagine that”

You are smarter than you know

More courageous than you guess

Stronger than you feel;

You are healthier than you are aware of

More creative than you believe

More capable than you recognized;

You are more powerful than you think

More attractive than you assume

Wiser than you suppose;

You are more valuable than you have ever been told;

You are loved beyond your dreams

And you are able to make a difference

In the world that you have not yet begun to realize!

Just Imagine That!