Hey, happy weekend!

Hello there!

Today is our 3 year blog anniversary — I hope you’ve loved getting a little happiness every week for 156 Sundays in a row, without fail (whew!). I appreciate ALL of you! Welcome to the new people, and thank you for reading!

This week, it’s time to celebrate. My birthday’s on Thursday and I love getting wiser! May is always a good month for me and I’m so glad it’s nearly here.

Because here’s the truth: April has been hard. Can you relate?

For me, a major project has finished up — my book is out in the world — and I need to figure out what’s next. I’m not sure where I’m headed with my new writing project. I’m not sleeping that well. I’m working a lot more now, too (one day a week in the city, some work from home, plus other freelance projects). And winter is coming…

I’ve found myself in a tailspin, overthinking everything, feeling stuck. Worrying.

So here’s what I learned this month thanks to my American friend, Kristen — and I thought it might help you, too.

When times are tough, Kristen told me, here’s the best question to ask ourselves:

When life hands you lemons, what is the gift?

When your kid is in pain, what is the gift?

When you’ve been disappointed, what is the gift?

When you’re worried about something, what is the gift?

I should tattoo this on my wrist. It’s such a great question. It’s helped me so much this month as I get myself back on track.

If you’re feeling a little down, if something has happened, if you have a deep worry that you haven’t shared with anyone, I hope it helps you, too. What is the gift inside your problem?

Enjoy your weekend, everyone. Have some fun — and be fun to live with!

Love Catherine x

• Picture book writers — did you know about this e-book? It covers everything I learned about writing picture books and getting a book deal for Jacaranda Snow .

• On sale today only for 50% off to celebrate my blog-anniversary! Learn more.

• Want to write your novel or nonfiction book? My online class starts this week, 1 May. Learn more.

You're Doing Better Than You Think You Are

As the year draws to a close, are you distracted by what you didn’t get done?

When I start down that road, I also begin comparing myself to other people…

Instagram.

Facebook.

Friends and colleagues in real life.

Sometimes we come up ahead, and sometimes behind. Often we think, “I’m so thankful I didn’t have to walk through THAT!” and often — if we’re honest — we also think, “Where’s MY good thing? When is MINE coming?”

But here’s the deal: comparison is the thief of joy, as Teddy Roosevelt famously said.

And I will add this:

This is the season to be jolly, not to blame yourself for things you didn’t get done. Life is twisty and some things take time; we don’t always know why events unfold as they do. My wish for all of us right now is this…

Slow down.

Enjoy.

It’s okay to take your time. It’s okay to let things unfold. And remember: you’re doing better than you think you are.

I love this quote from Morgan Harper Nichols:

So as the year ends, let’s enjoy it. Let’s celebrate. Blooming ever-so-slowly is still just fine.

Love, Catherine

P.S.

• It’s almost finished Jacaranda Snow-ing in Sydney! Kerri from Adelaide @asqueezeoflemon sent me this beautiful Jacaranda Snow photo! Thanks, Kerri!

• If you’ve read the Notes to my picture book, Jacaranda Snow, you’ll know that jacaranda seedlings were given to new mums in Australia when they left hospital, and that’s why we have so many beautiful jacaranda trees. This week, a lovely fan of the book emailed me to tell me that jacarandas were also given to young birth mothers at adoption. I love Australia and our jacaranda kids. (If your local library or school library doesn’t have Jacaranda Snow yet, please ask them to carry it! It’s so important for our history.)

One Minute Happiness

Happy Thanksgiving! I missed our Canadian holiday this year, so I’m jumping in with the Americans. Generally, I go where the party is.

In honour of this beautiful American and Canadian tradition (celebrated in November and October, respectively), I’m making pumpkin pie and roasting turkey.

And I’m slowing down and getting grateful.

Want to know my ‘One Minute To Happiness’ Trick?

• STOP.

• Imagine plucking all the problems from your life. Set them aside (just for a moment).

• What’s left?

• Be thankful for it.

What’s always left, when I pull out the problems?

People to love.

Warm beds.

A roof, food, books, board games, libraries, fresh air, clean water. Our ability to choose our thoughts.

When I pluck out my problems and get back to basics, happiness always comes to me in one minute flat.

Enjoy your thanks and your giving today!

Sending love around the world from Australia,

Catherine x

PS.

• See & listen to the String Quintet in our music room playing ‘Jacaranda Snow.’ The piano score is printed in my new picture book!

• Jacarandas are busy snowing in Sydney, and everywhere I go I’m hearing stories of kids who’ve read and loved my picture book OR from people who were jacaranda babies. It’s not too late to get Jacaranda Snow for someone you love! Overseas buyers can purchase here; Aussie buyers please purchase here. Thank you for your support! The entire project has been a labour of love. Helene Magisson’s illustrations are gorgeous, Alex Lau’s music is divine and Educalme’s FREE online growth mindset course is amazing,

The Best Berry Shortbread Cookies

What’s better than family and holidays and cookies?

Yum.

You’ll definitely want to make these Raspberry Almond Cookies with White Chocolate Drizzle. Last year I made them for my publisher and carried them on the train. On that commute, strangers gazed at my cookies longingly. I made a blog-friend, shared the recipe with everyone, and became the most celebrated author in the city — ha ha!

Now you can, too.

And it’s quick and easy!

Whip up the dough in your mixer, thumbprint the cookies and fill with raspberry jam.

Bake for 10-12 minutes, cool and drizzle with white chocolate. The secret is to fill a ziplock bag with melted chocolate and snip off the end. It’ll give you more control as you decorate.

The recipe is here, from last year!

Enjoy — these cookies are perfect for Christmas and as giveaways that everyone loves. It will take you less than an hour to whip up a batch.

You are so welcome!

Love Catherine x

PS.

• In Sydney it’s Jacaranda Snow-ing — purple snow everywhere! I finished my book launches for JACARANDA SNOW this week. Thank you for supporting this beautiful project. (Books available here and in good bookshops in Australia).

• And for anyone who’s ever asked me about writing a picture book, I pulled together all the information you’ll need in this quick, comprehensive How To e-book, available now! You can find it here. It’s a clear, quick, no-nonsense guide.

3 (Realistic) Beauty Tricks

Ahhhh, beauty tricks! Today I’m sharing my top three favourites.

#1 Put chapstick on blisters

You’re out, you’re in new shoes and suddenly you have a blister and another eight blocks to walk? Grab the chapstick from your handbag and rub it over your blister. No, it’s not perfect and won’t work as well as a bandaid or changing shoes BUT it offers immediate relief. Reducing friction is the key. Also: yes, lipstick works and we all have that in our handbags. (Lotion doesn’t work as well.) You’re welcome! Feel free to share with all the young women in your life…

#2 Wear one colour

Not sure what to wear? Feeling insecure about your outfit or the fact that you don’t have anything new? I’ve been there, friends! I’ve found that if I wear all one colour — my go-to is all black or all white — I look pulled together, and I feel more fashionable, too.

#3 Slick on more face cream

Just my opinion, but my skin always looks better when I put on more face cream. I struggle with foundation so I don’t wear it. On me, I think it looks cake-y in my wrinkles and I just don’t like the way it feels. But face cream? Love it. This year I heard that L’Oreal and Lancome are made by the same parent company, and L’Oreal is so much more affordable. Want to try it? Step right this way for my favourite one. And if you’re wondering about my one beauty regret? I wish I’d been more careful in the sun.

#4 Bonus tip

You might be expecting something cheesy like “Smile!” Instead, let me say this: everything on your inside really does show on your outside. So when you’re worried or sad, take a deep breath and do this. Then relax your shoulders. You’ve made it this far, through every single one of your days. You’re going to be okay. Let your light shine in the world.

Enjoy your weekend, everyone! Sending you big hugs from Sydney in springtime. Thanks, as always, for reading … and hi to our new people this week. I appreciate you!

Love, Catherine x

PS.

More news on JACARANDA SNOW, my debut picture book — sorting out postal options now so I can post your pre-orders! Last night, I celebrated with Alexander Lau, the 18 year old who composed the companion piano quintet (piano score printed in the book)!

Here is the recording “Jacaranda Snow.” You’re listening to Alexander Lau (composer / violin), Yilan Yu (violin), Erik Rong (piano), Luke Poier (cello)…my son! Press play to listen. (Alex is 18. You’ll say ‘you knew him when…’)

Behind-the-scenes of A Picture Book

JACARANDA SNOW, my debut picture book with award-winning illustrator, Helene Magisson, will hit the shelves in Australia in September! It's about a little Aussie girl who longs to see snow -- and finds a way to make her own dream come true.

Right now, Wombat Books is pitching JACARANDA SNOW to three Canadian publishers, so I'm hoping that it will be on shelves in 'my home & native land' of Canada, too!

In the meantime, if you want a copy, you can get yours here!

Did you know...

• Jacarandas are native to Brazil and were introduced in Australia. In spring, their beautiful purple blossoms fall like 'snow.'

• There are jacarandas all over Australia and some in California, too.

• When an author's manuscript has been accepted for publication, the publisher chooses an illustrator for the book. (But from the start, I dreamed of being paired with Helene...and it happened!)

• It's challenging to write an engaging story in under 400 words! And it can take months/years and many revisions to make a "simple" idea work. And it's really tricky to get a book deal!

• Picture books are a labour of love! Illustrators and authors make 5% of the book sale price (usually less than $1 per book) and an initial print run is 2,000 copies.

• Illustrators paint (draw, collage etc) more than 16 paintings/ illustrations for a single book. You can see Helene's award-winning art here and buy gorgeous prints in her shop.

What's extra-special about JACARANDA SNOW?

Alexander Lau, a 17 year old award-winning Australian composer, agreed to compose a piano quintet for two violins, a cello and piano called "Jacaranda Snow." We hope to feature the debut performance at a Sydney book launch In November.

Alexander's piano score will be reprinted inside JACARANDA SNOW for parents, teachers and pianists to enjoy. There's never been a picture book like this one!

JACARANDA SNOW teaches Growth Mindset / Flow with help from Educalme! Kailey and Josianne, founders of Educalme -- a Canadian company that equips parents and teachers to create a calm, productive and positive classroom or family -- have created a FREE Education Resource Toolkit for JACARANDA SNOW. (coupon code inside every book!)  

Now every child who reads JACARANDA SNOW can learn about Growth Mindset and make their own dreams come true.

Educalme has a weekly podcast, The Balanced Educator, and offers amazing free resources and workshops, as well as useful resources for families AND classroom teachers. As a bonus, everything is in English and French. (Yay, Canada!!) Take a look at Educalme here!

<I'm holding the proof of our book! It will be a hardcover, A4 size.>

It's hard to believe that all this started with a story that came straight from my heart. I'm so proud, honoured and excited to share JACARANDA SNOW with the world.

Thank you Helene, Alexander, Kailey and Josianne and Wombat Books. We've ALL done our best to make JACARANDA SNOW a modern Australian classic. You're welcome to buy a copy for kids you love, or pick up a copy in a bookshop in September.

I'll post your book/s to you mid-September.

Love Catherine

PS.

• Teachers and parents -- check out Educalme! I wish I'd had this resource for my kids.

• So fun to watch Helene painting another illustration from JACARANDA SNOW!

• You can listen to Alexander Lau's music here. Seventeen! So talented!

How To Have The Best Birthday

Another trip around the sun for me!

I celebrated my birthday this week and, for the first time ever, I shared it with everyone. My sweet friend, Victoria Buda at Being Me Movement podcast has this incredible tradition. Every year during her birthday month, she tells people My birthday is going to be awesome. So I did the same and it was. I mean, look at me! Dog and cake. Friends. Family. It doesn't get better.

Will you try it? Are you willing to let people show you how much they love you this year? 

Then I gave myself the best $7 gift: No Lights No Lycra.

I love to dance (kitchen dance!) and I've been meaning to try this for ages. Two Aussie women started No Lights No Lycra as a community dance movement and it's completely amazing, of course. The heart of the movement is the belief that everyone can dance. I went for the first time in Manly the night before my birthday. Imagine it -- one hour of incredible music in this gorgeous old community hall with dozens of women and all the lights off, everyone doing her own thing. No heels. All ages. High vibe. Complete freedom.

Magic! 

Want to see if there's one near you? If it's not in your city yet, anyone can be an ambassador. It would be a fun weekly side hustle / easy business AND it provides an awesome benefit to your community. Learn how to start one up!

And one last bit of goodness! I can't wait to show you Jacaranda Snow, my growth mindset / flow hardcover picture book published by Wombat Books. Jacaranda Snow hits the shelves in September. I wish I could share Helene's brilliant illustrations, but not yet. Let me just say that the book is so pretty I cried! If you want to pre-order, you can buy it here. Sneak peek of a detail:

And most important of all, for all the new people this week, welcome! I appreciate you! Thank you, truly, for joining us. If a friend sent you this email, you can get your own here. A weekly dose of happiness from Sydney!

Enjoy your weekend. And, as always, have some fun...and be fun to live with!

Catherine x

Guess Who Is Illustrating Jacaranda Snow?

French-Australian artist, Helene Magisson!

I'm beyond excited to tell you that Helene has agreed to illustrate JACARANDA SNOW, my first picture book.

Helene's work is so beautiful! Before I knew who my publisher had commissioned, I had already imagined Helene as the illustrator of my dreams...and you'll see why.

from Beauty and the Beast (New Frontier, 2017)

Helene understands beauty. She sees it everywhere, and so do I. She's the perfect artist to bring JACARANDA SNOW to life.

Her training is fascinating; Helene studied history of art at the Louvre combined with a bachelor of painting restoration, including medieval illumination. Please, if you have time, read this incredible article (in Helene's own words) about her love of art!

The Gardener...available on Helene's website

“I use only traditional techniques: hundreds of different brushes, extra-large papers with strange smells, and thousands of different water colours... so my art studio is always incredibly messy! I never use pure water colour. I mix 2 colours (sometimes 3), always ‘playing’ with the amount of pigments so that the layers are never completely plain and flat. I like when it vibrates. I work on a few layers first with a rough brush and add 2 or 3 layers with soft brushes to polish the final aspect.”

— Helene Magisson

Helene has several picture books available now. Her first book was a new interpretation of the classic story, The Velveteen Rabbit. Her latest book is Slowly, Slowly with T.M. Clark.

• Visit Helene's shop

• See her portfolio of work

• Read more about JACARANDA SNOW

I keep daydreaming about all the kids who will get the chance to enjoy Helene's gorgeous art, wrapped up in my beautiful story.

Enjoy your beautiful weekend, everyone. If you're in Sydney, it'll be filled with JACARANDA SNOW. And if you've taken any JACARANDA SNOW photos, I'd love to see them: catherine@catherinegreer.com.au

Catherine x

P.S. Here's sweet Miss A, the daughter of my gorgeous writer-friend Tara, and their jacaranda snow! Tara's an emerging novelist and her fabulous blog is here...enjoy!

<Photo credit: Tara Ray>

Playing Big and Playing Small

This week on The Practical Minimalists podcast I had a heart-to-heart with hosts Heather and Eryn. You'll love these two American women and their work. I promise! Click on the link above to check out their podcast. You can read about Heather and Eryn here and follow them here on Instagram.

We talked about playing big and playing small.

You guys, we'd need a world of coffees at my kitchen table to talk about this.

In your life and mine, why are so many people stuck on playing small? Where did it come from?

• Are we afraid of being criticised?

• Do we have imposter syndrome?

• Do women eat the lie that we should be small and quiet and agreeable? And not take up space?

On the podcast, we get real and honest about... 

• parenting fails

• hiding our light

• playing big

• starting where we are

• and JACARANDA SNOW, my new picture book about kids and flow and growth mindset.

Today I want to whisper in your ear what I said to Heather and Eryn, "We need you to be as big as possible. The world needs you to shine."

You can listen to our chat on the The Practical Minimalists podcast by clicking on this link, or you subscribe on iTunes. Heather and Eryn's show is about so much more than living a minimalist lifestyle! If you want a sneak peek of the writer-friend-vintage-collector I mention, Jules Van Mil, you can see her vintage jewellery here. Enjoy!

Love, Catherine x

P.S. The jacarandas are snowing in Sydney!! (Here's the story-behind-the-story!) For all you beautiful Canadians and Americans, this is a jacaranda tree. Sending big hugs to my talented photographer-friend, Doug Frost...and to all of you. 

<Photo credit: Douglas Frost photography>

The Lively Show

So. Much. Fun!

It was a big week -- that's why I'm sending you two blog posts (with love).

I had the chance to join podcaster Jess Lively on The Lively Show to talk about an online course Jess teaches, Flow With Intention Online. At it's heart, it's a class about optimism and flowing downstream rather than struggling up. (I've written about that idea here and here.)

Jess Lively is this amazing American world-traveller, podcaster and entrepreneur. She inspires and teaches, and she also generously donates funds to build schools for kids in developing countries with Pencils of Promise. She's interviewed so many of my heroes, like Liz Gilbert (author of Eat, Pray, Love and Big Magic) and Brene Brown (author of Daring Greatly). Jess is very expansive in her thinking -- she loves science and some out-there stuff -- and I love that she's all about helping people live with more joy.

Click here to listen to me talk about my new book deal & Jess' online class...fun-spiration from us to you!

Happy weekend, everyone. 

Catherine x

PS. There are also many, many other fabulous interviews with Jess and a range of lovely people, celebrities, thought leaders and entrepreneurs at jesslively.com.

Jacaranda Snow

Have you ever been so excited that you're up at 4am?

Hello! That's me right now. I've had the biggest week, where -- honestly -- my dreams are coming true. What I want more than anything is to inspire you and light you up about yours. That's why I want to tell you about the picture book I've been working on since 2015...

JACARANDA SNOW is an optimism and flow book for kids. It shows kids that they're in charge of one thing, always: their thoughts.

By choosing their thoughts, kids can change their worlds. Better-feeing thoughts lead to better-feeling kids. Right? Right.

Now over to you. And your dreams...

You are beautiful, just as you are today. You are enough, right now, like this.

But maybe you're a flower with this tiny ant crawling across your petals. The ant has the power to drive you crazy. You can ignore it, swat it away, pretend there are no ants...but still: it's there. That's your dream, you know, the one you aren't telling anybody about? Because you're too old, or too young, or too unknown (or too famous?) or too serious or too tired or too much of a perfectionist to start??

That dream of yours is the ant, crawling around your brain, trying to remind you of this: I AM HERE! Little but mighty. Irritating, but busy!

Are you taking steps or waiting? Are you walking forward, or avoiding?

Let me gently say, making your own dreams come true is so worth it.

Dreams have a way of wanting to get OUT into the world. And I know this: if I can free mine at 50, you can free yours, too.

<My puppy eating the Wombat puppet that my publisher sent me. My book contract's on the table! Yay!>

Thanks for all your cheerleading of my journey! Thanks for being on my side!

Feel free to share your thoughts in the Comments or send me a message on Instagram.

Catherine x

PS. Want to celebrate with me? And help?! Pre-sales help a publisher see if people are interested in a book. To read a blurb and order JACARANDA SNOW, you can go here.

We'll post JACARANDA SNOW to you mid-2018, with love from Sydney! JACARANDA SNOW will be available online and in shops as well.