You Can Do It!: The Merit Badge Handbook for Grown-Up Girls [Paperback]

Lauren Catuzzi Grandcolas (Author), Yvette Bozzini (Illustrator), Vaughn Lohec (Foreword), Dara Near (Foreword)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 10, 2005

You Can Do It! is the vision of Lauren Catuzzi Grandcolas, a heroine of United Flight 93 and a woman who was an inspiration to all who knew her. Lauren's dream was to create the ultimate self-empowering resource, a book to help women of all ages realize their dreams. Inspired by her beloved Girl Scout badges, nurtured to publication by her family and friendsled by Lauren's two sisters, Vaughn and DaraYou Can Do It! is the merit badge handbook for every grown-up girl who's said, "I wish I could..." Jam-packed with practical advice, here is step-by-step instruction and kick-in-the-pants encouragement for achieving 60 exciting badge activities. Start your own business, go back to school, speak in public, play a musical instrument, fix the carwhatever the ambition, each activity features a female expert to mentor the reader and guide her to success with clear how-to, practical resources, and the wisdom of experience. Learn a new language with Susan Carvalho of Middlebury College, take a great photograph with Lauren Greenfield, climb a mountain with Annapurna expedition leader Arlene Blum. These 512 can-do pages are about dusting off fantasies, overcoming fears, and achieving long-held desires. And to top it all off, the book includes 60 colorful badge stickersa fun reward for goals accomplished. With its warm and encouraging message, You Can Do It! will help women everywhere discover that, yes, they can!

A portion of the proceeds from You Can Do It! will go to the Lauren Catuzzi Grandcolas Foundation, which supports charitable causes and scholarships for women.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Amazing things happen when Woman taps her inner Girl Scout. In You Can Do It!, Lauren Catuzzi Grandcolas and friends present an engaging cast of female "mentors" who share their expertise in activities ranging from money management to firewalking. Fanning the can-do spirit kindled during her own scouting years, Catuzzi goes beyond the badge with this concept; wealthy information and the book's visual charm encourage women to embrace their aspirations and, in turn, to build self esteem. All who completed this commendable handbook following Catuzzi's tragic death deserve applause.
 

Read our interview with Vaughn Catuzzi Lohec & Dara Catuzzi Near

Want to fly airplanes? Break a habit? Learn photography? Grandcolas demystifies 60 popular activities here. Low-key visualization and a biographical page featuring a talented mentor kicks off each chapter. Badge steps follow, conveying all the necessary how-to's. Margins contain revealing anecdotes, plus thumbnail definitions for mastering each skill's language. For example, the wine appreciation chapter offers brief descriptions of common whites and red, tips for ordering in restaurants, a glass guide, and suggestions for creating a wine journal. The final step--stocking your own cellar, in this case--concludes with a hearty "Congratulations!" and tips for venturing "Beyond the Badge." A pageful of resources including books, magazines, web sites, and related organizations completes each chapter. For those who groove on such things, 60 silver-dollar-sized merit badges await earning (okay, they're just really pretty stickers at the book's end). Never motherly nor professorly, You Can Do It! fuses straight talk and wry humor to keep the read enjoyable, and success within reach.--Liane Thomas

Start Exploring You Can Do It! Today Discover Sample Badges and Related Reference Books Below

	Badge # 3 - Roam Where You Want to This badge helps you "define your dream trip, prepare for takeoff, and wind up with a departure date, itinerary, and perfectly packed bag. Consider St. Augestine's words: 'The world is a book; those who stay home read only one page.' ...Get ready to say bon voyage. You can do it!
	City Walks: Paris City Walks: New York	Big Sur To Big Basin: California's Dramatic Central Coast Bed And Breakfast Ireland	Sonoma: The Ultimate Winery Guide Second Edition The Wine Lover's Guide to the Wine Country: The Best of Napa, Sonoma, and Mendocino
	Badge #21 - Get down to the Knitty-Gritty Whether you're a trendsetter hankering for a hand-knit PDA cover or a traditionalist after a tea cozy just like Grandma's, this badge will have you in stitches - and a new scarf - in no time. As your fingers fly, you'll soothe your soul, relax your mind, and satisfy your creative urges. Get ready to get hooked. You can do it!
	Knit Knack Kit Knitting Pretty
	Badge #27 - Get Well-Read Being well-read means different things to different people. It usually assumes some depth in a specific subject area or breadth across an "established" list of classics. But there is no right or wrong to any great love affair. The purpose of this badge is to open doors to a lifetime enriched by reading on your own terms, without any literary presumption or prejudice. You can read whatever you like, and as much (or little) as you like, so long as you stay true to the call of what really interests and delights you. You can do it!
	This Is My Best: Great Writers Share Their Favorite Work 1906	Campfire Collection: Thrilling Chilling Tales Of Alien Encounters This Life She's Chosen	Small Town Odds: A Novel
	Badge #28 - Dine In Imagine this... When afternoon turns to evening and stomachs start to growl, you invite your friends to stay for supper - and bowl them over with your baked ziti...How did someone who used to find cooking for people intimidating turn into such a gracious gourmet chef? By keeping a panic-proof pantry, learning to rustle up a few reliable dishes, and refining your repertoire. Grab an apron. You can do it!
	Pie Pie Pie: Easy Homemade Favorites Big Book Of Easy Suppers: 270 Delicious Recipes For Casual Everyday Cooking	Salmon: A Cookbook Cupcakes	The Wine Lover Cooks Italian What's Cooking Recipe Box
	Badge #29 - Know Your Best Cellars There's a difference between drinking wine and tasting wine. When you are drinking wine, it blends with the experience to become a poignant memory. When tasting wine, the process of swirling, sniffing, sipping, and spitting is educational. It's fun to buy, order, serve, and savor wine. Learning what you like and a willingness to experiment is all you need to get into wine. Grab a corkscrew. You can do it!
	Sonoma: The Ultimate Winery Guide Second Edition The Wine Lover's Guide to the Wine Country: The Best of Napa, Sonoma, and Mendocino	Napa Valley: The Ultimate Winery Guide--Revised and Updated, Fourth Edition The Wine Lover's Journal	The Wine Country Deck: 50 Best Northern California Wineries The Wine Deck: 50 Ways to Choose, Serve & Enjoy Great Wines
	Badge #33 - Hang Ten Imagine this... You stride purposefully down the beach, board under your arm, sun on your back, smile on your face. When you reach the water, you gracefully throw down your board, ease yourself onto it, and begin paddling into the clear blue of sea and sky. Thoughts of deadlines and duties recede with the shoreline. You have just one thing on your mind: catching a wave and riding it sure and strong. If this is your beach-chair daydream, this badge will get you up, out to sea, and on a board. You can do it!
	The Girl's Guide To Surfing The Perfect Day	Maverick's

Review

Many of the badges are based on adventures from Lauren's own life: taking her husband sky-diving to celebrate her 30th birthday, earning her emergency medical technician credential, learning how to kayak and Rollerblade. Other badges are more practical, such as getting personal finances in order or quitting smoking. "Lauren worried that women got too caught up in their 'To Do' lists instead of their 'Dream to Do' lists," says her husband Jack. "This is her final gift." Book proceeds will be donated to a foundation supporting Lauren's favorite charities. Newsweek

"...it is more than just a life-maintenance manual - the emphasis is very much on breaking through personal boundaries and trying something new." London Times

"You Can Do It!: The Merit Badge Handbook for Grown-Up Girls, for all Girl Scouts at heart, embodies the spirit of sisterhood." USA Today

Grandcolas was an experienced sales and marketing professional embarking on a writing career when she died on United Flight 93 on 9/11; her husband, family, and publisher rallied together to complete her outstanding debut, which encourages middle-aged women to do the things they have always dreamed of doing. The text-patterned after a Girl Scout manual-is made up of seven "badge" categories (e.g., "Dare," "Create," and "Learn") that are further organized into activities such as learning to skydive and care for one's car and building family rituals or breaking bad habits. Each badge takes readers through the task from start to finish and includes excerpts from professionals in that field. A bibliography of books, magazines, and web sites for further information is included. A pure pleasure to browse, this is the perfect gift for those celebrating 40th birthdays and beyond and will enjoy a high circulation among public library patrons. Highly recommended. Library Journal

Not long before 9/11, Lauren Catuzzi Grandcolas posted a motto on her refrigerator door: "Get busy living or get busy dying." The 38-year-old marketing executive, pregnant with her first child, had recently started work on a book encouraging women to pursue their dreams—no matter how outlandish—even as they struggled with the daily demands of children, marriage and career. Grandcolas came up with a set of "merit badges for grown-ups" and even hung her old Girl Scout sash above her desk as inspiration. Before she could finish, Grandcolas was killed aboard United Flight 93. After her death, Lauren's husband and sisters gathered her notes and met with her agent. This week, Chronicle Books will posthumously release "You Can Do It! The Merit Badge Handbook for Grown-Up Girls." "She truly, truly wanted women to get out there and taste life," says Vaughn Lohec, Lauren's younger sister. "But it's bittersweet that she can't be here to talk about the book herself." Newsweek

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 512 pages
• Publisher: Chronicle Books (April 10, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0811846350
• ISBN-13: 978-0811846356
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7.8 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (45 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #156,051 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

75 of 76 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I've been waiting for this one..., April 29, 2005

By 

Hollywood (spotted in Berkeley) - See all my reviews

This review is from: You Can Do It!: The Merit Badge Handbook for Grown-Up Girls (Paperback)

Okay, I'm a guy here. And I can't tell you how many times I've spoken the phrase this book takes for a title to my incredibly accomplished sweetheart who, despite her successes, is never quite confident enough to chase down her dreams. "You can do it!" I've been saying for years. "Look what you've already done!" So when I came across this book and saw that it was an intelligent, results-oriented, motivational manual (it's more than just another "self-help book"), I decided to let someone else have a go at her. At first she rolled her eyes and said, "Nice try, honey." (I also got a kiss for being a thoughtful, if overly optimistic, boyfriend). But then a week later she sheepishly came over to me, sat in my lap, and spoke the words, "I got my first badge." Well, let me just say that it'll be a while before I'm in the doghouse again. My thanks to all the inspiring women who contributed to this kick-in-the-pants bible. From now on I get to say, "SHE DID IT!"

29 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars With this book, you CAN do it!, April 21, 2005

By 

Linda Painchaud-Steinman "PARK EDGE BOOKS" (MA, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: You Can Do It!: The Merit Badge Handbook for Grown-Up Girls (Paperback)

You CAN do the thing you fear! Or the thing you never thought you had time to do. Just use this book as your guide/mentor, and whatever pursuit you've "always wanted to try" becomes possible.

Whatever it is you've been longing to do, you'll probably find it in this big, encouraging book, which breaks down goals into small, easily achievable steps.

Recommended for girls/women of any age who want to finally get on with DOING the things they've been waiting to try.

Reviewer: Linda Painchaud-Steinman, Park Edge Books

Side Note: The author of this book was a victim of September 11. She was on flight 93. The details are in the book's poignant introduction (written by her sisters).

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing gift book - so much fun!, April 11, 2005

By 

Suzanne Strawbridge (Raleigh, NC) - See all my reviews

This review is from: You Can Do It!: The Merit Badge Handbook for Grown-Up Girls (Paperback)

I have given this book as a gift a few times and it is an all-time favorite present! I plan to give it again and again to all my friends. So many of us say "I would love to try (blank)" and this book gives you the guidance and inspiration to actually do it! It also gave me ideas to try things I had not considered before. What great fun!