Celebrate

Missing you! Here's why....

Hello friends, and hello new friends! I’m Catherine Greer, lover of waking up early, hot coffee, girlfriend chats, writing and baking. Sharing the gorgeous photo of my new book taken by the talented American photographer, Karen Pavone — link below. (Karen truly captures soul pictures and portraits!)

This morning I’m writing to you at 5:30am and I’m missing everybody. You! Myself! Girlfriends and sisters and family. My son who’s off travelling for work.

Winter has been a time of introspection for me. I feel like I’m pulling everything apart, looking at it, and trying to fit it back together. I’ve got more questions than answers.

In case no one has asked you this weekend, how are you? (How are you REALLY?)

When things feel overwhelming for me, I try to get a bird’s eye view of my life. This always starts with my One Piece of Paper solution. I grab a sheet of A3, and write everything down in categories:

  • Family?

  • Work?

  • Home / House?

  • Writing?

  • Health?

Then I list all the bullet points of what’s going on. Getting it all down on one sheet of paper always helps me figure out my next steps.

We’re half way through the year…so what else do we want 2025 to hold? It’s so important to take stock and realise who’s driving this Formula One car around the track! Ha!

It’s me: I’m driving.

It’s you.

And to extend the metaphor a bit, we’re all mature enough to know that there are circumstances like the road and the weather and how well the car continues to work. But nonetheless, some of where we end up is definitely up to us.

Let’s do what we can to make this second half of the year shine.

Love, Catherine x

P.S. The Fun Stuff!

An Easy Way to Get Closer

Hello my friends! It’s Catherine Greer, author of The Bittersweet Bakery Cafe, writing to you from Sydney Australia.

I don’t know about you, but I love everything about making a home wherever we are. The latest for us was carving out a spot in the back garden for a simple firepit, and spending hours out there with a bag of wood.

We have two young adult sons, one just finishing uni now, one who flies home on weekends with a suitcase of laundry and a desire to be in a kitchen (instead of living in a hotel with his a corporate job). And I’ve found this magical question to ask to make us feel a little closer.

Try with anyone and you’ll see them light up.

At work “What was the best thing about your weekend?”

In general: “What’s been the best thing about being at uni / a new mum / starting your job / moving house / traveling to Portugal / getting up earlier?”

It’s an easy way to get a little closer to the heart of the people you love.

Happy Sunday!

I hope something unexpected and absolutely lovely happens to you today. (If life’s been wobbly, I’m here in Sydney cheering for you. Nothing’s ever easy, but we’ll get there, my friend…)

Love, Catherine x

P.S. The Fun Stuff!

Hello, new people. Here’s where I list what I’ve been loving. 🩷 Disclosure: I don’t earn a commission, except every few months I might get a $5 Amazon voucher. So this is just the stuff I love…for fun…for you.

  • Gourmet Safaris: SO FABULOUS. Founder Maeve O’Meara is a beautiful reader who loved The Bittersweet Bakery Cafe and she invited me to be her blind date on a food safari in Marrickville. Maeve runs Gourmet Safaris…Sydney, Australian and International foodie tours. You guys, AMAZING. Better than amazing. It was a full day of meeting the artisans, sourdough English muffin bakers, Italian cheesemakers (burrata!), butchers, coffee roasters. Honestly, BRILLIANT. Please go! If you want to meet new friends, take a solo trip (worldwide) or learn more about Sydney, Australia or the world. I LOVED IT.

  • Get the sourdough English muffins from This is Us at Harris Farm. NO preservatives. Baked originally in a kitchen, now in a factory in Marrickville. Like eating HEAVEN. There is zero comparison between the grocery store ones and these. 10/10 recommend.

  • The travel duffle bag - everyone’s talking about this.

  • The Bittersweet Bakery Cafe is now in Indigo. Also here in Canada. In Australia, in all bookshops, at BigW and Amazon. Here in America and here in The UK. THANK YOU - your support means the world!

  • Finally, today, leaving you with a favourite Mary Oliver poem. Joy is not made to be a crumb.

Hello, Happy Sunday!

New friends — so excited you could join us this week! I’m Catherine Greer, author of The Bittersweet Bakery Cafe, and I’m so glad you’re here. Every Sunday I share what I’ve learned during the week…and I hope it helps you, too.

I had a thought yesterday…a bit of worry around all the things.

You can fill in the blanks, but my thoughts ran away with “During this time of when your new book is launching, why haven’t you done MORE exercise, writing, walks, meal planning….” and on and on it went.

And then I thought this.

I won’t, and neither will you.

If today is the day you’re celebrating mothering of any kind…or even if you’re not, maybe it should be a celebration Sunday.

You’ll never look back on your life and wish you celebrated less.

I hope you have a brilliant day, and that you take the time to love all the people you’ve been given to love.

Catherine x

P.S. The Fun Stuff!

  • If you’re mothering in any way—pups or kids or friends or friends’ kids—I hope someone makes you feel like Mother’s Day is for all of us.

  • New friends, can I tell you about my book? Women are LOVING it, so that’s keeping me happy. Canadians 🇨🇦 - The Bittersweet Bakery Cafe is now in Indigo. Also here in Canada. In Australia, in all bookshops, at BigW and Amazon. Here in America and here in The UK. THANK YOU - your support means the world!

  • You know how much I adore our beautiful Queen Victoria Building in Sydney. Here’s a quick and fabulous history tour.

  • I love this slim, super handy rolling cart. Japanese design. So useful!

  • And this collagen balm stick - think moisture stick for your face, but kind of like the loveliest lip balm you’ve ever smelled. But for your face, and not sticky. It’s wild. I love it.

  • The most useful iridescent YAY sign - perfect for all your celebrations. It’s so pretty in real life. Trust me. (Photo is a bit awful, really, but this sign is perfection).

How do you like to celebrate?

Good morning, my friends!

I’m up at dawn doing the final party prep for my book launch party…but first, thinking of you. Wish you were here to sit with me among the clutter and the un-frosted cakes, the last-minute vacuuming and the table cards that say gluten-free and lamb and sage sausage rolls and carrot cake!

As the youngest of six, it always feels a little odd to be front and centre…but The Bittersweet Bakery Cafe deserves some celebrating. Wish me luck! It’s supposed to be 37C in Sydney today.

How do you love to celebrate?

The easiest way to have guest over, for me, is to put out a spread and let everyone self-serve. I like to set up a beautiful table with a table cloth and a bit of glitter (links to the sparkly table runner and YAY sign below!) and always a white tablecloth because food just looks better on white.

I also use the white IKEA side plates and boxes of champagne flutes, and all my white platters of various sizes. Savoury food always includes fresh sandwiches (I have boys, and they have friends…so something delicious and hearty to fill them up), along with some kind of quiche (today it’s carmelised onion and feta), special homemade sausage rolls, various wraps (easy to make and slice into pieces) and always a big platter of fruit.

Then I bake an assortment of cakes for a dessert table (Carrot Cake, my famous Dark Chocolate Cake — both of these recipes are in The Bittersweet Bakery Cafe), my white chocolate raspberry shortbread cookies (also in the book)…and off we go!

Today my oldest son, the cellist, and his friends will be playing music together…and we hope to do some singing, too. I’ve got a song sheet with a few favourite tunes, and my son’s picking up one of his friends who is interning at the hospital (how did high school Stephen become old enough to be a doctor???) — so he’s on deck for piano show tunes!

Wish you were here today to celebrate with me!

So much to do, and it’s just hit 7am for me…so off I go, into party-land!

Love Catherine x

P.S. The Fun Stuff!

  • The IKEA side plates - perfect for parties.

  • The boxes of champagne flutes.

  • Sparkly silver table runner — these are perfect. Buy two. Silver is prettier than the gold.

  • YAY light up sign — photo is horrible on their website but SO CUTE in real life. I love this! You can use it for any occasion.

  • Flowers are a gift from my publisher, and they are OUTSTANDING. From Lush Flower Co in Sydney. If you’re sending flowers, these ones are worth your spend.

  • And, of course, the hero today: The Bittersweet Bakery Cafe! Your support, reviews and love mean the world to me…and make it so I get to do this all over again. (Canada 🇨🇦 - my publisher doesn’t have distribution or pricing sorted out yet. Please hold on…news soon, I promise.)

  • Author-talk with the lovely, extremely talented and bestselling author, Monica McInerny…I was so lucky. Fan girl moment!! Watch here. We reveal a LOT of secrets. Monica’s many, many books are here.

International Women's Day...and us!

Happy Sunday!

Ohhhh, my friends! Come over to my kitchen table today in Sydney and I will share my figs. I’d love to slice them for you fresh, and serve with some beautiful soft cheese and biscuits. Or I would poach in a rich caramel sauce, and set a gorgeous white bowl in front of you with a cup of tea.

Can you tell I’m feeling a little bit stretched at the moment? And female friends are ALL I want around me: friends and sisters and friends-like-sisters and female colleagues and smart women in shops. I want the sisterhood this week because I’m tired, and that’s what International Women’s Day is all about.

We lift each other up. We carry the load for one another. I had this image the other day that all of us know how to greet each other: we sling that backpack of rocks to one side, we pop our heavy baby on the opposite hip, and we look into one another’s eyes and ask, “How are you? (How are you really)? What can I carry for you?”

That is what it is to be women.

Way back from the dawn of time we’ve been doing this for each other. And it makes me think of Julian of Norwich, the first known woman to write a book in English.

So many of you here are English and / or you love to travel, and I wonder if any of you have been to the fabulous exhibit in the British Library: Medieval Women: In their own words? Julian of Norwich’s The Revelation of Divine Love is in that collection, and this is the first book definitely authored by a woman. Julian was a mystic who lived from ~1342 - 1416.

She wrote these brilliant words that still resonate with women today.

I wonder if there were women before 1360 who were able to get the supplies to write their own books? I wonder how hard it was for women to get any tools to create art?

We’ve come such a long, long, way…and we stand on the shoulders of giants who just kept pushing. Julian wrote a BOOK when she’d never seen another woman do it before her. That’s why her reassurance still reaches us today. I say it to myself often: it’s the repetition that’s the wisdom. “All shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of things shall be well.”

  • ALL things - the big things

  • And all things - the everyday

  • And all manner of things - the tiny, the hurts and worries and niggles that maybe mattter only to you

ALL OF IT shall be well. Somehow we grow through it, and come out on the other side.

Thinking of you all on this beautiful Sunday. I hope you are well. Thank you for being here with me, and for being internet-friends.

Love, Catherine x

P.S. The Fun Stuff!

  • Chatting with a favourite bestselling author on Wednesday night at 8pm AEST — Monica McInerny! Link is here for our Facebook Live chat. Please join us! (Irish friends, that’s 9am on Wednesday morning for you!)

  • Learn a little more about the exhibit at the British Library, Medieval Women In Their Own Words.

  • Thank you for all the love and patience while I launch The Bittersweet Bakery Cafe into the world. Reviews are dropping now, and women are loving it 🩷. But here’s the behind-the-scenes…we’ve got to get this book into women’s hands one by one. When you’re Lee Childs or Liane Moriarty, there are stacks of books everywhere. When you’re a debut author, not so much 😊 and this makes sense because publishing is a business and big names sell. The best way for women to find my book is through you! If you’d like to…and if you enjoyed the book:

    • Tell your book club, your female friends and share a link.

    • Request it at your library.

    • Gift a copy to someone, if that’s in your budget.

    • Write a review.

  • What’s the big rush? Launch week is so, so important. And more behind-the-scenes: bookshops simply can’t carry all the new releases indefinitely, so it’s important to support a book early if you can. I’d like to get a chance to write another one!

A To-Do List for This Week (not kidding!)

Hi everyone,

It’s Catherine Greer writing to you, Canadian-Australian author and copywriter, lover of little dogs, not a fan of painting. You’re receiving this newsletter because you signed up possibly via one of my books. THANK YOU for being here every Sunday.

This week…I have a To Do List for all of us.

Ready?

Going back to basics always works.

We know this, but sometimes it’s very hard to get back there. If that’s you (or me), we already know that numbers 1 and 7 are the most important, with the quickest results.

I hope you have an unexpectedly AMAZING week ahead, with good news popping up that you never saw coming.

Love, Catherine x

P.S. The Fun Stuff!

  • Up first, book launch info! Do you live in or around Melbourne? Want to meet up? I’ll be at the amazing Castlemaine Fringe Festival on Saturday 22 March. Tickets are here.

  • Do you live in or around Sydney? If you and a plus one would like to attend my book launch on 16 March, email me (Free event, with books available).

  • In Australia, you can preorder The Bittersweet Bakery Cafe here. (Still only in Australia! Hang on…getting there for our overseas readers!)

  • This salad is happening tonight for dinner. Oh…wow.

  • A foot peel that works (maybe too well)?? Here it is, at an amazing price. Made in Japan, and wow! Okay, you will do this for 60 minutes and think…nothing has happened. Then weirdly, a week later you will shed all your foot skin like a snake. And you’ll be left with the softest feet imaginable. But trust me…I’m not lying about the “one week later ALL your skin will shed.” It’s messy, but worth it.

  • Going a little bit country today. Can’t beat this one…

A Little Big Magic

Hi friends,

I’m writing to you very quickly in the middle of a busy weekend. I’m attending a creativity workshop given by Elizabeth Gilbert, author of many books, including the wonderful Big Magic.

Here’s a very quick shot of Sydney Town Hall above, and of the workshop below. There are around 1,000 of us attending, so the energy has been massive.

I’ll share more when I’ve had time to digest, but until then…if I had to choose a favourite Liz Gilbert quote, it would probably be this.

If you’re feeling a little wobbly or unsure about all you have on your plate, it might be time to look at your life this way.

The impossible decision you made? Maybe you did it right. Maybe you should simply trust yourself to move forward and figure things out. And if it all doesn’t seem as perfect as you’d like, maybe that’s okay, too.

We’re here and we’re learning. How are we supposed to do anything other than put one foot in front of the other, and see where we land?

Enjoy your weekend, everyone. I hope you have a brilliant rest.

Love, Catherine x

P.S. The Fun Stuff!

Those Lazy In-Between Days

Hello from the in-between days between Christmas and New Year’s Eve! Is your fridge finally un-crowding? Has the lounge room been tidied now, with gifts mostly put away?

We’re playing games, watching movies at odd times of the day, and finishing up the leftover Christmas baking.

And I’ve been reading and writing.

One book that’s caught my attention this holiday has been Oliver Burkeman’s Four Thousand Weeks. The premise of this book is that we have, roughly, four thousand weeks in a lifetime. But what’s really got me thinking is Burkeman’s assertion that things are never, ever going to match the perfection in our minds, so we might as well accept that…and get started. He writes about how it’s better to choose curiosity over worry.

2025 will not be perfect, of course, and everyone has their worries. But it’s a good reframe to approach this year with curiosity instead.

I’ve been thinking about these three questions:

  • How can I take smaller steps towards my next goal?

  • What are the everyday things I do that actually make me feel good?

  • If I had to plan the perfect date with myself, where would I go and what would I do?

This little space of downtime is the perfect week to think about 2025 with some curiosity and joy. Things may not unfold exactly as we want them to, but we can know what we love…and what makes us feel good…and try to do more of that.

I hope you have a beautiful weekend.

Love, Catherine x

P.S. The Fun Stuff!

  • Four Thousand Weeks might appeal to you if you like to think about how you’re using your time.

  • I’m loving the look of the jewellery from Mejuri. This ring!

  • Yum, this Asian-inspired cucumber salad is a ‘need to try now'!

  • Our favourite game of the holidays….you can play with up to eight people. So fun! The game board is in the photo above today. A tip: it’s from the 1940s and when we were kids on the farm, we played this with pennies, so we went to the Aussie bank and got bags of five cent coins. Way more fun than using game chips. It’s 85 years old now, so it might be a little hard to find, but you can also look for Michigan Rummy.

  • Santa brought me new runners…let’s see how I go with these in the early mornings of 2025. If you have wider feet, they may work for you. Now on an even better sale here in Australia!

Have Yourself a Merry Massive Christmas

Hello, my friends around the world. We’re heading into a hot and lovely Christmas in Sydney. It’s time for family fun and holiday cheer, and all of us rubbing shoulders together in a world that’s magical and bright, and also possibly noisy and busy.

Last night I arrived home from walking Evie to find a giant Costco bear on our roof — a hilarious and huge Christmas gift from one of our sons. So we’re the house with a bit of this going on…plus a massive bear on the roof!

Ahhhh, Christmas!

If you’re lucky enough to be with some of the people you’ve been given to love, I wish you so much laughter…movies and treats, snacks that you definitely don’t need at night, and starlight walks to look at the sparkle in your suburb or neighbourhood.

I hope you have a moment to pause in the morning before everyone else gets up, and appreciate this time of year.

All the joy.

All the work.

All the love.

I don’t know why, but I keep thinking about all of us women spread across the world…and the kind of lives we lead and what we do to contribute. We work, we love our people, we get stuff done.

We gather up the heartache in a suitcase and walk miles with it to help someone else, and often we carry the joy and pain of our families and our friends.

We live. We care. We keep going.

When I think of you, I think of these words from Maya Angelou…a woman who knew a thing or two about living.

This Christmas, while you share your song, I hope you have a wonderful time — and that you’re appreciated and celebrated for who you are, and what you do.

I’ll see you on the other side of this beautiful holiday season.

Love, Catherine x

P.S. The Fun Stuff!




Time to Turn on Some Fun.

Hello, my friends. Yes, ten days until Christmas — and here’s the tree in Martin Place, Sydney. We’ve had some beautiful, hot weather and songs on repeat about snowfall and a cosy Christmas.

In my mind and heart, I am more than ready for a Christmas break. Work finishes this week — hooray! — and soon it’ll be time to sink into the season of joy.

I don’t know about you, but for me it’s time to have some fun — and be more fun.

Here’s my quick list:

  1. Put on a dress. It’s so simple, but it always makes people feel good to see a woman in a lovely dress. (Little kids especially love this. Why? It sings out, “Let’s celebrate!”)

  2. Ask for what you need. I’ve prepped the family that I want more games nights, less movies. More laughs, less of couples watching tv. More help in the kitchen. More help running up to the shops for groceries. Ask, ask, ask…and delegate where you can.

  3. Notice the joy. Sit by the tree. Look at decorations in your favourite shop. Wrap the gifts and think about the person who will receive them.

  4. Use puff pastry. Seriously, make that Christmas tree with Nutella and puff pastry. Fill puff pastry squares with spinach and ricotta. Or cut it into strips, sprinkle with cheese, twist and bake. It’s easy to pull something warm from the oven.

  5. Be imperfect. (This one’s for me. As a novelist, I love having control over the ending…but life is decidedly imperfect. So go on, CATHERINE…let things unfold. See what happens. Live in the now, and not an imaginary Christmas holiday).

  6. Walk a lot. Walk off the puff pastry. Walk to meditate. Walk with someone or by yourself if you need a reset. When something’s wrong, walking never makes it worse.

  7. Use the ‘pretty’ everything - that’s why you have it stored in the cupboard. The best glasses, the best dishes, the Christmas crockery and napery. You do have a little more time right now, and it feels good when things look pretty.

I wish you were here this morning while my house is quiet and everyone’s sleeping. I’d invite you out to the patio for our coffee by the pool and a loooooong girl chat about how it’s going.

If things are easy, I’d celebrate with you. And if things are hard, there’s this: remember who you are, and how hard you work in this world to bring your people together. You keep things ticking over, and you’re still going, and you’re about to gather together with some of the people you’ve been given to love.

I saw this beautiful hand-lettered sign this week, and I wanted to share it with you here. Made by Lori Hetteen - link to her work below. If we could see inside the heart of you, this is what we’d find: effort and weariness and beauty, a woman who has tried so many times to make the world at least a little shiny, someone with a huge, huge, beautiful heart.


Take care, and I’ll see you next Sunday. Sending you so much love from sunny Australia.

Catherine x

P.S. The Fun Stuff!

The Bittersweet Bakery Cafe proof is here!

Hello, my friends. It’s time for an update about all the things. Wish you were here to have coffee with me at my kitchen table. If you were, I’d hand over the Advance Reader Copy (ARC) of my new book, launching in March 2025.

The Bittersweet Bakery Cafe is looking fabulous and I’m so happy with the cover design. Last weekend I had a virtual meeting with my Reading Team and I filled them in on the behind-the-scenes so they’d have the first look at the cover. (Thank you, thank you! Loved meeting up with you!)

Here’s one more peek at the final cover for you. The designer and publisher were aiming for something that pops online, with strong typography and a modern feel.

This one will hit the shelves on 4 March, so that’s just 90 days away! I’m excited about everything that’s to come.

  • We’re finding the right actor for the audio book — hooray!

  • We’re planning the marketing and PR activities!

  • The final version was sent to print on Friday!

Here’s what you’ll find inside: laughter and sorrow and wildly unique people, Aussies and a gorgeous white sand beach village, a woman’s struggles to find her new home, a bit of DIY on a beautiful but dilapidated apartment, a mouthy teen who needs some love, a little hint of romance, shocking betrayals, new friends, a midlife reinvention and more.

The more is…my favourite family recipes are included in my beautiful book. All the cakes I make and love, and quite a few extra treats, too. We’ll talk again in upcoming months…I’ll let you know about pre-orders and how you can get a copy. Thank you for being excited for me.

But now, over to you…

the holidays are coming!

How are you doing in your holiday prep?

I am behind! Too behind! But the tree is up, a few gifts are wrapped, and I’ve done a bit of shopping online this year. I’m truly looking forward to a break from work, and time to relax with family and friends.

This week I read something beautiful about women:

It’s true.

Holidays are absolutely a labour of love, and women stand at the centre. Spokes in the wheel, the strength and the planning and the getting people places — this is what we do. It’s who we are.

Over upcoming weeks, I promise to give you a few hints and tips that I use to bring the joy at holiday time…with the hope that I can make your load a little lighter, too.

As always, I’m wishing you a beautiful weekend. If no one has asked you yet today, how are you (really)? And if you need comfort or joy, I hope you find it in the simple things:

  • Step outside for a walk

  • Light a Christmas candle

  • Put your feet up and rest a while

Love, Catherine x

P.S. The Fun Stuff!

When Life is an Avalanche

Hello, my friends. Hi if you’re new—I’m Catherine Greer, author, copywriter and baker, lover of Christmas, mum of sons, slightly-tired woman heading into the holiday season.

How are you? (How are you really?)

Today’s been challenging, and I’m not sure how to handle it. Someone in our extended family whom we love so, so dearly has a very big health worry now, and life feels like an avalanche.

When things go wrong, the worst of it—for me—is the shock. Just when I desperately need to think clearly, I can’t—and everything’s frozen. I try to chip away at that block of ice in my brain, searching for something: a way forward, an idea no one else has had, some small way to help.

Life is so long and full of opportunities, and also so very short.

Today, if everything’s okay, it’s the perfect time to say thank you.

And if things are hard, there’s this: I hope you get your dreams.

Take good care out there, and I’ll be back next week with a happier note in your inbox.

Love, Catherine x

P.S. The Fun Stuff…

  • For each one of you this morning, this song is us. 🩷 Thankful.

  • We had a beautiful weekend away for my son’s graduation in the Australian Army. Thankful.

  • Today we’re decorating the Christmas tree, so we’ll have quiet early mornings with the tree lights on. Thankful.

  • I’m making a turkey dinner for the family, and I absolutely love the new KMART range of Christmas table linens. I mean, can you even believe this $10 tablecloth with Aussie bottlebrush? It’s so soft and so Christmas-ey. And these napkins? And these red velvet bow napkin rings? I know. So pretty.

A Day Early for a Special Occasion

Hello, my friends! And hello to all the new people this week. Normally I send my newsletter on a Sunday, but we’ll be travelling down to Canberra to a special event.

Our oldest son, a lawyer who will soon be working as a consultant at a global firm in Sydney, is graduating from the Australian Army reserves. He’s spent the past year getting qualified, so it’s time to welcome another Lieutenant into our family.

We’ll be at Duntroon, at the Royal Military College for a celebration dinner.

Life evolves so quickly…and of course with kids, we remember every age they’ve ever been as they grow into adulthood. I cannot believe I have a son trained for active duty. I can’t believe that his life could go in a very different direction from what I hope it will. (May this never come to pass…)

But a wise friend told me this once when we were talking about our kids.

So, we celebrate.

We celebrate his bravery, and a willingness to serve his country. We celebrate a young man who I very much hope lives to be old, arthritic and playing cards in a beautiful nursing home in his nineties one day, with grandchildren he adores and a full and long life.

For all the mamas out there, deep breath. This — whatever this is — is their journey. And we’re so, so lucky to be a part of it.

I hope you have a beautiful weekend. I’ll pop into your inbox as usual next Sunday. (Is it time for us all to think about the holidays? I hope so!).

Take care! Love, Catherine x

P.S. The Fun Stuff!

  • Yep, I’m wearing the shoes I mentioned last week in silver (photo above) so I can walk across grass and stand all night if I need to. Here they are in white. My silver ones are sold out online.

  • Also, this dress. A few seasons old, but it’s a winner. I’ll take a velvet wrap because I think the night will be chilly.

  • I have my eye on this dress. Nice for work in navy? Or fun in yellow? Elegant always looks best…is it a sign that it’s called Catherine?

  • This swimsuit coverup set (wide pants and tied top) is perfect for the young women on your Christmas list. The girlfriends around here are getting it under the tree!nSo cute with a brown bikini. (Those days were so much fun! Maybe I’ll give it whirl this summer.) And this copper bikini is super cute, too.

Easy Tips for Quick Entertaining!

Hi my friends. I hope you’re having a relaxing weekend!

We’re in the middle of jackhammering — literally — while a couple of builders are replacing pool tiles this morning, so I will make this short and sweet. (And send apologies to our neighbours…so gracious when I texted them with a heads up about today! Thank you!)

After making an impromptu breakfast for six, I thought it would be fun to talk about my quick and easy entertaining tips.

I love welcoming people into our home, and the trick is to keep it easy. Here are my top tips:

  • Always keep a few staples on hand in the freezer or pantry. My list includes:

    • Cannellini beans, a jar of sundried tomatoes, frozen spinach — for this quick dish for lunch. Recipe is linked for you below.

    • These croissants (again, linked below) — you will be so grateful I told you about them and the link is below. The pain au chocolat are also incredible.

    • Hummus and carrots, for an easy snack or roasted and displayed beautifully as a side for dinner.

    • Nuts - I love the mixed nuts from Aldi in the green foil package.

  • Cut greenery from the back garden. Sometimes I use rosemary and often the leaves from a camellia bush. In Australia we’re lucky that there’s always something blooming if you search around. But bare branches are also beautiful. See below.

  • Quick clean — for me, this is guest bathroom, vacuum the kitchen and set the table.

  • A tablecloth and napkins always makes your home look special.

  • Light some candles, even in the daytime. I love it when our home smells inviting.

That’s it. People care far, far more about us than about our homes anyway. It’s never about how perfect things look, or what you’re serving. It’s about inviting people in with an open heart.

Even if you are stressed and tired and it would feel easier to cancel altogether or go to a cafe, it’s lovely to BE the love you need in the world.

While the jackhammering carries on here, I’m going to hop off and tidy a few things. Thanks for joining me this morning, and I hope you have a beautiful Sunday.

Love, Catherine x

P.S. The fun stuff!

Want to be on my Reading Team? 🧁🩷

Hey, hello! And happy Sunday! I’m dropping in this morning with a quick update. How are you doing? And if no one has asked you yet today, how are you really?

I’m gearing up to get painting again. Not the fun kind, the home improvement kind! And I’m nearing the final copyedits on THE BITTERSWEET BAKERY CAFE. Yay! I make myself laugh every time I read it, but also if I’m honest, I am SO HOPING all of you will love this one as much as I do.

The book opens here—at the Sydney Opera House at dawn.

Publication date is 4 March 2025. You can expect laughs and fun and recipes, too…and a smart and sassy story set in Sydney, Australia and the South Coast of New South Wales. 🩷

Here’s an invitation for you all

So here it is: a beautiful invitation for those of you who are interested…soon I’ll be setting up my Reading Team, and I’d love to invite you to join.

What is a Reading Team?

  • Amazing people who are interested in receiving a package of goodies related to an author’s book, including an ARC (an Advance Reader Copy).

What do people on your Reading Team do?

As part of a Reading Team, you’ll do three things.

  1. Read the book early — that means before launch date on 4 March.

  2. Write a review — easiest place is Amazon and I can help with the tech, if this feels tricky for you.

  3. Post a photo on social media — and / OR tell your friends about the book, or gift a copy to a friend. (I know that not all of you are on social media, and that’s totally okay.)

That’s it. You can be from any country at all, but note the packages will differ a little bit because I’m not sure yet about the budget and postage.

Are you interested?

Email me here if you’d like to be on my Reading Team! There’s no commitment at this point, but I’d like to cap my Reading Team at around 25 spots.

Happy Sunday, everyone. And here’s a big huge hug and thanks for your ongoing support.

Love, Catherine x

P.S. The Fun Stuff!


Hello from Australia! 🇦🇺

Hi there! It’s a beautiful sunny Sunday in Sydney: the coffee is hot, it’s a rest day after a busy work week, and we’ve got a 20 YEAR OLD with a birthday to celebrate. Around here, that means I’ve already made my best, easy chocolate cake and I’ve chosen a theme for birthday dinner.

We’ve decided to go Mexican…recipes linked below! Chicken enchiladas, nachos, Mexican rice and something green. (I always have trouble figuring out what veg to serve on Mexican Night. Do you??)

Time seems to be running, but also there’s always so much to do. I can’t believe the days of being a mother of teens is now behind me.

  • All those weekends of picking up skateboarders at 10pm, loading them into the car, bringing them home for a poolside barbecue and cannonballs and laughs that went late into the night.

  • Regular sleepovers for five of my son’s mates…and all those air mattresses from Kmart and the matching duvets spread across the floor.

  • The spontaneous dinners of homemade mac and cheese and burgers and hastily cut-up carrots and hummus.

That’s the old season, and now, with a twenty year old uni student doing his second placement in Sport and Exercise Science…we’re onto the new.

It reminds me of an important lesson for us all.

It is so, so easy to want to hang onto the past. The life we have, the job, the kids this age, the perfect holiday, perfect health, our own youth, a family home.

But…we’re swept along by the tick of the clock into something new.

That was then, this is now.

And though it takes a little effort, reality tells us that we have to move on. It’s best to embrace it with excitement and dreams of promised joy.

I hope you have a beautiful weekend — with some peaceful moments to consider where you are, and where you’re going next.

Love, Catherine x

P.S. The Fun Stuff

  • All about amazing Grace! My dear friend Jenny has an incredible granddaughter — smart as a whip, so pretty, and waiting for help from the most brilliant medical researcher we can find. Grace has a rare genetic condition, ADCY5, and we’re raising $120,000 so a brilliant young Aussie researcher can help. We’re so close now at $86,178. (Our shortfall is $33,000 AUD but just $22,000 USD). If you want to help, Grace’s story is here.

It's Mothering Sunday - plus more!

Hi everyone, and happy weekend!

Today is what I like to think of as Mothering Sunday…and it’s so important to say that if you’ve ever mothered anyone (kids or replacement kids or friends or people who need you, or beautiful furry besties like little Evie in this photo), then this message is for you.

I woke up today and I was so lucky…one of the girlfriends stayed over and she was up at the crack of dawn working on her tertiary Dental Assistant studies. My own kid wasn’t up yet. And she threw her arms around me and said, “Happy Mother’s Day. You’re an amazing mum.”

She’s not mine, but I’ve mothered her.

You’re probably the same — you’ve mothered friends and random kids and the elderly, and pets and even partners.

Here’s the truest thing I know about Love.

Love is what you give away.

It’s not what you wait to get.

I like to try this in action. When I’m low or blue, I give away as much love as I can. I throw it like confetti. I bury love like seeds. I fling it out my car windows and aim it at people’s tired faces when I see them in the mall.

So here’s my little tip for today. If you’re like me, and right now you need a little more love and care, GIVE YOUR LOVE AWAY.

It will float right back to you. But even if it doesn’t, it’ll make the world a softer place to be.

Happy Mothering Sunday.

Love, Catherine x

P. S. The fun stuff!

  • I’d love your support before the new The 10 Minute Fix II hits the shelves. If you love the first one, will you share a copy with someone else? The best-loved The 10 Minute Fix is here in Canada, in America, in the UK, in Germany and in Australia.

  • Love journalling? The 10 Minute Fix Journal is gorgeous, and every page is different, with over 200 writing prompts. You can get your journal here in America, in Canada, in the UK and in Australia.

  • And if you think this grey jumper is for you, it’s here and it’s so warm and cute. Also comes in cream.

  • Missing all my Canadians today. 🇨🇦 Just had the longest chat with one of my sisters….I’m the youngest of SIX kids! Remember how good it feels to reach out to the people you love.

Try this little tip today...

Hello, friends. How are you?

(And in case no one else has taken a second to ask, How are you really?)

I hope you’re taking a breath just now, and thinking of what you need, and what you might need to give to yourself.

  • An earlier bedtime?

  • A big salad filled with all the things you actually like?

  • A quick hand massage?

  • A treat?

It’s so easy for women to forget to do these little things for ourselves because we are always so busy looking after everyone else.

Case in point: take a look at this lovely little statue near Collaroy Beach in Sydney. She’s called The Knitting Girl and Care Package by artist Richard Stutchbury. It’s a war memorial that was so simple and moving it took my breath away. And yet, this little knitting wartime girl reminded me of this: women always care, care, care, care, care.

We’re taught to be the holders of care from the time we are little girls.

Sometimes I ask myself why it is so easy to forget about ourselves for months at a time. We seem to just…slip off the list.

Maybe you’re different than I am (more focused? more vigilant?) but I can easily forget to put myself on the list with health and movement and doing simple things that make ME happy. So here’s a reminder for you today: do that small thing you love. Do it for you, and with joy.

Enjoy your weekend.

Love,

Catherine x

P.S. The fun stuff…

  • Sydneysiders — I went to The Collaroy for their salsa night. There’s a free class every Friday night and I love the vibe of Australians having fun. Just a thought: is it time to try something new-to-you?

  • How are your feet? If you have problems, you need to try toe spacers. I absolutely love these, and I’m so happy to report back that with four months of daily use, they have absolutely helped me get stronger feet and walk pain-free.

  • Making this delicious cake for my birthday brunch today. Yes, I’m celebrating with family and friends…

Wishing you a wonderful holiday...

Hi everyone,

The gifts are wrapped, my family is together this year, and I’m ready to settle in and do a few last things for the holidays.

Rest.

Have fun.

Be fun.

And this — my most important value, and the message I always share.

What else is there, anyway?

Health isn’t guaranteed, and good fortune flows up and down, but love is the constant that we have some control over — how much we love, who we love, and who we treat as family, through blood or friendship.

From my little family in Sydney, Australia to you, I’m wishing you the best and brightest Christmas. (My boys are so tall and grown, I feel positively SHORT these days…but I’m still 5’7”, haha!)

These are my people, my whole heart. And of course, this little Christmas Evie is absolutely included in our circle, too.

I’ll see you on the other side of the holidays, my friends.

Thank you for travelling with me, and I wish you and yours the most amazing holiday.

Love Catherine x

P.S. The fun stuff!

  • This is the most beautiful Christmas song ever…you can listen here on Spotify or here on Youtube.

  • Ohhhh, I made Nagi’s Christmas Baked Salmon last night and my photo isn’t that gorgeous but WOW, it’s worth it!

  • I’m taking a little break now — and I’ll see you after the holidays! Not sure when I’ll be back, but I’m thinking mid to end January. Sending love to you until we meet again. ❤️

Two cosy things.

Hi friends,

Dropping into your inbox this morning before the rush begins around here — we’re celebrating the 18th birthday of my son’s girlfriend — yay for adulthood, finishing school and possibility! Before a beautiful dinner, we’re hosting a relaxing day around the pool.

Sydney’s going to be a balmy 30 C, and I can’t wait for a day filled with young adults laughing. It feels like just the thing we need more of in the world right now.

Before I head off to make the Cardamom Tres Leches cake (delicious, you should try it!), I wanted to give you two cosy things.

Ready?

  1. Use the good <insert yours here ♥️♥️). For me today that’s the good crystals candlesticks and lovely tapers. The Latina birthday girl’s favourite colour is red. For you, it might be tea in the bone china cup and saucer, or showering with the heavenly cake of soap you got as a gift. Would you consider using one of your special things today? You’ll get a little thrill of cosy joy.

  2. Keep moving forward. Change always happens, so get your sneakers on, and keep your eyes wide open. (This one’s for me more than for you — are you listening to yourself, Catherine??) Remember to KEEP MOVING. I love this beautiful quote from American poet and author Maggie Smith, who wrote the book by the same name.

No matter what we want, life always has many endings…but that does bring beginnings. And of course there will be the next adventure…so we might as well be ready for change.

If your weekend is peaceful, I’m so glad. And if you need a little lift, I hope you’re appreciated by all the people you’ve been given to love.

Happy Sunday!

Love Catherine x

P.S. The Fun Stuff!