Violin & Cello Catherine Greer

Lovely surprises for you today...

Hello, friends!

This week, I’m ready to burst in with an idea that truly helps me. But first…if you haven’t been asked lately — how are you? How are you feeling in your body? How are you navigating your run up to the holidays? Are things stable and normal or a little off-kilter in your world?

Today we’re tree trimming (so early, I know) but we have sons and girlfriends here before someone heads off overseas for a uni (university) study trip, and this weekend was our window to share the family traditions. I’ve got a dinner planned with the Nutella Christmas Tree pastry for dessert — recipe below — and the Christmas lounging pjs are wrapped and ready for a Christmas movie night after dinner.

So…that’s me, starting to celebrate Christmas.

It makes me think of how much I love the holidays, and here’s the secret: I love to create joy.

This year, more than ever, when the news is terrible and life has honestly been unsettled for us, I want to drive up in the Fun Bus and create a beautiful holiday with all the people I’ve been given to love.

I want to fiddle with baking the treats my family loves.

I want to find and wear the matching pjs.

I want to pick up sweet and small gifts for girlfriends, and wrap them with care.

I want to celebrate — to throw some good back into this world, to make some dinners and play some games and laugh with people and breathe it all in.

The older I grow, the more I know that our lives are always changing. What we have is now, today, and the micro-moments of happiness we create.

No one has ever come to my door and handed me some happiness. I wish! Some days, when things are hard and extra “life-y” I wish this were the case…but I do believe we can open our own door, and hand some happiness back.

My plan in the lead-up to Christmas this year is to take every opportunity to hand out joy. And to sit back in a chair with my feet up and my cup of hot coffee, and marvel at all the amazing things we have:

  • People to love.

  • Hearts to warm.

  • Lights and sparkle and magic (and summer for us…and maybe you’ve got falling snow)

I hope you join me in feeling really good — in learning to feel even better — as we go ahead like all women do, and make the magic this season.

Love,

Catherine x

PS. The fun stuff!

  • Remember the pup who hangs out on the trolley at my local flower shop? There are TWO. I don’t know why this delights me so much…but think about puppies riding on flower trolleys, setting out the flowers every morning. Life is delightful, right?

  • The Nutella Christmas tree recipe - so easy and cute.

  • Hot tip: I was browsing ASOS.com in September, and found Christmas pjs at a huge, huge discount. I got sets of these for $15 and the quality is amazing. Who knew you could buy family pjs so early? I’ve put a reminder in my calendar for next year.

  • A perfect little girlfriend gift: these small cross-body bags. Honestly, the caramel one looks like it’s from Zshoosh for $150 but it’s Kmart and $10.

  • (A quick and respectful note on sharing budget-friendly options: over the years, I’ve had so many lovely emails from readers who, especially since Covid times, have lots of creativity and love to share, but not so much money. That’s why I try to be balanced here, and share what works for everyone. Hugs, hugs, hugs to you all. I hope today is flooded with opportunities for you and your families, and so much joy. 🩷🩷🩷)

  • Had to share - our picture book, Violin & Cello, was featured on Playschool last week. So sweet to be part of this Aussie iconic television show.

What are your best-loved traditions?

Hi everyone, and hello to all the new people this week! Thank you for being here, and sharing your time with me. ❤️

Can I tell you a little story about why we’re enjoying Christmas early this year?

In this blurry photo, my husband caught me standing beside our treasured Christmas tree…a tree with decorations we’ve collected over the past 25 years of marriage. Isn’t it beautiful?

When I was a little girl, my mum made Christmas magical. We didn’t have a lot, but we had a love for tradition. Out in the country in the middle of the Canadian prairies in the frigid winter, Dad would put up the blue lights on the house, and we always decorated the most fragrant live Christmas tree. I’m the youngest of six, so there were presents and chocolates and delicious baking…games nights and little grandchildren and Christmas music on the stereo on repeat. It was magic. Everything sparkled.

I repeatedly stole baby Jesus from the nativity and carried him around in my pocket until I was outed by my siblings—ha! But he was a baby, and so cute, and removable… I can still hear an indignant sister yelling, “STOP stealing Jesus!” Makes me laugh every time I think of it. 🤣

I loved beauty (still do!), so Christmas — with it’s lights and dazzle, hoar frost and snowy skies — truly delivered.

Today we live in sunny Sydney, and Christmas is summertime, with swimming and beaches…but I still carry the traditions of my family in my heart. Christmas music on repeat. Starting early. Getting out all the sparkle because I love it.

That’s me.

I remember the moment when my eldest son realised how to bring magic to the holidays. He was 20, and it was two Christmases ago. He sat beside me one night while I was gazing at the tree and said this.

I believe this is true.

In almost every situation in life, we have the choice to be the joy. We can be the ones to bring it, in tiny ways.

  • When someone is talking, we can say “Tell me more…”

  • Light a candle in the entryway, so the house smells beautiful when our people come home.

  • Use the cloth napkins and the dress hanging in the closet. Set out the good dishes for afternoon tea.

  • Do what we love (whatever that is). Share our unique loves with the world. For me, it’s making life as beautiful as I can with what I already have. For you, it might be giving other people a sense of peace when they’re with you, or being FUN, or listening, or…

I love the idea that we can all use what we have in our own two hands.

It may be that we can give a lot.

It may seem like a little.

But it matters that we share who we are and what we love.

Today, I’m wishing you the chance to share yourself. To bring the joy. Be the fun. As I wrote at the end of my book, Small Steps Are Perfect, “we need you here. Shining.”

Love Catherine x

PS. The fun stuff!

Can you get romantic?

Hello, friends around the world…I’m dropping by to send you a weekly dose of positivity and happiness!

Today, here’s a question: do you need a little “leading lady” energy?

If you’re feeling off or a tiny bit blah, could it be because it’s time to shift focus away from all the worries and concerns, and into a perspective of WOW?

I know that sounds simplistic, and yes, life is hard, but can you take a moment to bring your Leading Lady out for a stroll? NYT Bestselling author Gregg Braden wrote this, and it struck me.

It is so easy to forget that our life is ours.

That we are driving our attitude.

That in every second — in the commute, in the cup of coffee, in the conversation — we have a choice:

  • mundane or fun

  • worried or hopeful

  • bitter or sweet

As you know, my family’s gone through a difficult time, but also — the sun still shines, the morning dawns, we have today to enjoy or dismiss as if it’s nothing.

Choose.

It was a key word in my first novel for young adults, and I’m thinking of it again this morning. Today I choose sweet (not bitter). I choose Leading Lady energy. I hope you join me in getting out there and having some fun.

I hope something WONDERFUL happens to you today.

Love, Catherine x

PS. The fun stuff!

Focus on the sweet

Hello, friends, and welcome to all the new people this week!

I’m Catherine Greer, living in Sydney, writer and mother of two young adult sons (one on the verge of graduating from high school…yay!), wife of a guy who loves to read as much as I do, baker of cakes and macarons, lover of little dogs, and expert at celebrating everything. Honestly, if any little good thing happens to you, call me: I’ll be there to cheer you on.

It’s finally feeling like summer in Australia, and though the weather’s been heating up, I’ve been tired and worried.

If you’ve been struggling a little like I have, here’s a quick tip for BOTH of us today.

Let’s look for some joy. Here’s how:

The sweetness is always there. (So are the flaws.)

Today I choose to focus on the sweet.

Happy Sunday, everyone. In case you haven’t been told today, remember three important things:

  • You’re probably doing a better job than you think you are.

  • You have a beautiful heart.

  • Today is all yours to enjoy and savour. How? By searching for the sweet.

Love, Catherine x

PS. The fun stuff!

Have a gentle Sunday...

Hi friends. Thank you for all the beautiful emails this past week after my sad news. I appreciate you all, even though I didn’t have the emotional energy to respond and be present for my family. Thank you for your virtual (((hugs))) and thoughtfulness, flowers and cards. It meant the world to me.

For your Sunday, here’s something I read worth sharing. It’s a reminder from Dr Caroline Leaf on our desire to control the future.

That last line struck me as true: you need to trust your future self to handle future problems.

That’s why, right now, we can relax. Our future self will handle future problems. And also—perhaps even more importantly—that’s why we need to take our shot, and do the thing that scares us.

  • Make the call.

  • Send out the book proposal.

  • Reach out to a potential new friend (new partner?)

  • Sign up for the class.

  • Step outside the comfort zone that your mind has built for yourself, where you are safe, and the same, and you’re trying so hard to control your security.

It’s a cliche because it’s true: all the magic and growth happens outside our comfort zone.

Your future self will take care of you, no matter what happens: if you’re rejected, if you feel embarrassed or ashamed…and even if, like my beautiful sister and her family, you experience loss that seems too devastating to face.

Your future self will be wiser, stronger, and there for you.

I hope you have a beautiful Sunday.

Love, Catherine x

PS. The fun stuff!

  • For sisters everywhere: this made me laugh so much, and I needed it.

  • I told you I’d report back on these shoes. The verdict? I love them for summer. They’re a bit narrow, so I used my shoe stretcher and it worked so well. Why are they good? Because they’re flats that look like wedges. You could walk for days…

  • But I also love these stacked wedge sandals available in Australia—brilliant for wide feet—and so, so comfortable. The photos don’t do them justice. Affordable, not leather, but so comfortable and cute.

  • If you want a fun middle grade novel for a Christmas present, my English writer-friend Susie Bower just released her third book and it’s fabulous. Find it here — also pictured with our beautiful Violin & Cello on sale today for $19.99. (If you could rate and review, that really helps authors!)

But should you?

Hi everyone, and hello new people this week! Just a quick photo of me to remind you who is sending you this weekly Love Our Age newsletter. I’m Catherine, writer, mother of two young adult sons, wife, and Aussie-Canadian living in Sydney.

Twilight is my favourite time of day…as you can see from this snapshot outside our home. There’s something so lovely about turning the lights on where you live and looking inside your nest. You notice all the warmth there, the chaos and the love.

The people and things you treasure, the safety and warmth you create…

As women, we do so much. I often think we’re the beating heart of our families, our group of friends.

Why, then, is it easy to overlook all the good in us, to zero in on the ways we should be improving?

All the external messages (media, celebrities) and even the internal messages (our own minds) tell us we should be faster, better organised, more patient, better at self-care.

We should be more confident, energetic, and work harder.

We should rest! We should know how to take care of ourselves! And at the same time, we should make sure we’re loving all the people we’ve been given to love.

But here are two important, introspective questions.

Who are we when we stop performing?

Who are we when we stop ‘shoulding’ all over ourselves?

We’re valuable. We matter. What we love matters, too. So does rest, which we all deserve.

That’s all — and it’s enough to remember on this beautiful weekend in September.

I hope you have a relaxing Sunday.

Love, Catherine x

PS. The fun stuff!

  • It’s Spring in Australia, and Fall in the northern hemisphere. Time to reread my favourite poem by G.M. Hopkins. Remember? “Margaret, are you grieving / Over Goldengrove unleaving?”

  • Favourite mascara (people keep asking me…this one looks so natural!).

  • Twilight in Iceland — the sky!

  • I write books! You might have read my nonfiction for women (The 10 Minute Fix and Small Steps are Perfect.) Violin & Cello is my new picture book with illustrator Joanna Bartel (busy with a new baby!) and Alex Lau, composer (busy at uni!). Out now in Australia in bookshops and at Amazon and Booktopia. Pre-order in Canada, America and here in the UK.

Try this happiness tip...

Good morning from Australia, where the blossoms are out and we’re enjoying spring! This week I’ve been thinking of an idea I heard about and loved.

It’s not self-care. It’s exquisite care.

Before you tell me, yes, yes, but I have so much on my plate…take a second, please, and think about yourself.

What if we took exquisite care of ourselves — what would that look like?

Exquisite care.

Let me tell you a quick story. I was driving home in the rain from a long day of errands, and I thought about exquisite care. What did it mean? How could I do it when I was stuck in traffic? Then I remembered I love peaceful music in the rain. So I put on This is Goldmund and drove and listened.

That’s exquisite care. (For me.)

Today, how would you take exquisite care of you?

It’s the little things, baby.

Quick — think of what YOU love. Your special list. Here’s mine:

  • Baking something.

  • Hot coffee. Even better, in an English bone china cup, with a saucer.

  • Being in nature and not hearing traffic.

  • Reading before bed. (Ohhhhh, getting into an already-warm bed!)

  • Perfume.

  • Dressing up to show my respect for someone’s event, or to respect what I love to do. (Example: I always dress up for my Thursday night dance class. I’ve turned it into ‘date night’ even if it’s only the class and the drive home with my husband. I have the clothes anyway. I love the class. Exquisite care, for me, is loving the entire experience and showing that I value it.)

You get the idea. Exquisite care doesn’t need to be self-care (bubble baths, all that time, etc etc). It means thinking about what matters to you. Maybe it’s not dressing up or hot coffee, but it’s something.

Do you even know what it is? What is your exquisite self-care?

Thinking of you all around the world today, and sending you love.

Catherine xx

PS. The fun stuff!

How To Write a Picture Book ❤️

Hi everyone!

Today I want to share my new picture book, VIOLIN & CELLO, with you. I’d also like to tell you about the process, in case you’ve always wanted to give it a whirl…and why not? Why not you?

Here’s what happens:

  1. You write a story (no more than 500 words in total). But here’s the trick — it has to be compelling, unique, and fun for kids, with a child-centred hero who solves their own problem. And yes, even a children’s story has to focus on a problem because that’s what story is: conflict. Whether you’re writing a novel or a picture book, your hero has to want something they don’t have.

    Five hundred words sounds so easy, but often a story can take months to create!

  2. Email your manuscript to a publisher who is accepting submissions (check their websites). How to find a publisher? Look at picture books you love — who published it? Also, if you don’t know which picture books are doing well in the current market, that’s the place to start! Go to a good bookshop to browse and buy books you love.

  3. Success! Let’s talk about this, because so much information around writing is about dealing with rejection. (And let’s be real: rejection happens A LOT.) But if a publisher loves your manuscript, they’ll call you — so exciting — and say they’re taking your story to an acquisitions meeting! This is usually a monthly meeting where editors take a short list of perhaps eight great titles and decide whose books will be selected to be published. Publishing houses can’t publish every worthy manuscript…

  4. The publisher then pairs you with an illustrator of their choice. Look who I was paired with for VIOLIN & CELLO…the exceptional Joanna Bartel from South Australia! (It’s rare to be an author who is able to illustrate, but many illustrators go on to write and illustrate their own stories.)

Joanna created concept drawings, and we discussed them. Her vision was perfect for my beautiful story set in a big city about two young mystery musicians who’d never met…

Then Joanna spent many, many months creating beautiful illustrations for the book, while my editor and I perfected the story.

And…VIOLIN & CELLO is a world-first…because this is the first picture book worldwide featuring violinists and cellists. The talented young Australian composer, Alexander Lau, composed The Mystery Friends duet for young cellists and violinists to play. The music is part of the story.

5. Publication happens about a year after signing a contract. Authors and illustrators split a 10% royalty from every book sold, which is around $1 per book sold for each creator.

If writing a picture book is something you’ve always wanted to do, now is the perfect time to get started!

And if you’d like to cheer us along with our beautiful new picture book, here’s how:

  • VIOLIN & CELLO is out now in Australia! Ask at bookshops or order online.

  • Spread the word — if you know any child musicians, this is the first picture book worldwide featuring violinists and cellists. Please tell your school library, your child’s music teacher, and musical friends. ❤️

  • Pre-order in Canada, America and here in the UK — coming in early November!

  • You can gift a book to a little musician, to a local school or to your library.

Thank you, my friends, for sharing. It means the world, truly. Enjoy your weekend.

Love, Catherine x

PS. The fun stuff!