Dear Operation Beautiful Ninjas:

For the past few months, I’ve been blogging about the upcoming Operation Beautiful book for tween and teen girls, Operation Beautiful: For Best Friends.  The book has undergone a title and cover change!  We loved the old look but the new one is even better.  I hope you love it, too.

Introducing… Operation Beautiful: One Note at a Time. 

Front

Back

The book will be released on December 27, 2012 and is currently available for pre-order at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Indie Bound.  If you love Operation Beautiful, pre-ordering is a great way to show your support!

The follow-up to the original Operation Beautiful book, Operation Beautiful: One Note at a Time is targeted to 8 – 14 year old girls and addresses topics such as body image, bullying, cliques, puberty, relationships, community service, and gossiping, all via the message of Operation Beautiful Post-Its that were written by tween and teen girls, as well as adults reflecting on their own teen experiences.

If you’re interested in the original Operation Beautiful book, which is aimed at older teens and adults, it is available now at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Borders, and Indie Bound.

As always, thanks for the support!

Caitlin Boyle

Post-It Phrase of the Day: “Almost everything–all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure–these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.”

We need YOUR notes! Post a note, take a picture, and e-mail your story to Caitlin at OperationBeautiful@gmail.com.  Each note goes up on the site for thousands of others to read and enjoy!

Beth found this inspiring image online and wanted to share it with all of you!

Stacie said, “I found this picture written on a bathroom stall where gross, mean things are usually written and thought I would share.”

Candy wrote, “I was at the 1A Kansas State Champion tournament for about 12 hours thinking that I looked ridiculous because I had to run back and forth in a huge school. Then I go into the restroom and find a sticky note on the mirror that made my day. Whoever posted this note, thank you. “

Tori posted all of these beautiful notes! What an Operation Beautiful Ninja!

The new Operation Beautiful book is available for pre-order. Operation Beautiful: For Best Friends is targeted to 8 – 14 year old girls and addresses topics like friendships, bullying, love, life, puberty, parents, finding a passion, and healthy living. If you’re older, check out the original Operation Beautiful book!

Post-It Phrase of the Day: “You are beautiful, no matter what they say!”

We need YOUR notes! Post a note, take a picture, and e-mail your story to Caitlin at OperationBeautiful@gmail.com.  Each note goes up on the site for thousands of others to read and enjoy!

Ashlee posted this note:

Jordyn wrote, “Me and my best friend Jayce are so inspired that now, at our middle school, we post sticky notes saying stuff like,"No need to look in this mirror your beautiful enough" or "I love your beautifulness." We do it more than once a day!”

Michelle wrote, “Here is a picture of my first post-it that I put in the teacher’s lounge restroom at my school!  Next week is Teacher Appreciation week and I’m going to post in random places!!!!! May is a tough month, but ALL the staff at 7th Street Elementary is Beautiful!  They deserve to know it.”

Belle wrote, “I put these in every girls’ bathroom at my high school.”

Evelyn wrote, “My school is bursting with notes today! It’s definitely lightened the whole mood of the school and I’ve included my favorite one in this email. I like it because in the morning, almost every girl goes to do their make up in this bathroom, I thought it was very clever! This is an amazing operation and it’s making such a big difference in a whole bunch of me and my friend’s perception of ourselves!”

Kayla found this note in one of her classes at University of Oregon:

Madison wrote, “I know this isn’t a post-it, but I found it written on a park bench yesterday.”

The new Operation Beautiful book is available for pre-order. Operation Beautiful: For Best Friends is targeted to 8 – 14 year old girls and addresses topics like friendships, bullying, love, life, puberty, parents, finding a passion, and healthy living. If you’re older, check out the original Operation Beautiful book!

Post-It Phrase of the Day: “Small efforts add up to make a big difference.”

We need YOUR notes! Post a note, take a picture, and e-mail your story to Caitlin at OperationBeautiful@gmail.com.  Each note goes up on the site for thousands of others to read and enjoy!

Amanda wrote, “I am a junior at Salem State University in Salem, MA. In the dorm I live in we have a small work out area and when I went to put in my thirty minutes I saw this awesome note on my machine! It was so inspirational and really made me feel good as I’ve been struggling with self image issues.”

Michelle wrote, “I went out with my friends last night when I found this in one of the bathrooms. Changed my whole night.”

Andrea posted this note up in Target!

Elizabeth put these notes up all over her neighborhood:

The new Operation Beautiful book is available for pre-order. Operation Beautiful: For Best Friends is targeted to 8 – 14 year old girls and addresses topics like friendships, bullying, love, life, puberty, parents, finding a passion, and healthy living. If you’re older, check out the original Operation Beautiful book!

Post-It Phrase of the Day: “Don’t judge each day by the harvest you reap but by the seeds you plant.”

We need YOUR notes! Post a note, take a picture, and e-mail your story to Caitlin at OperationBeautiful@gmail.com.  Each note goes up on the site for thousands of others to read and enjoy!

Audrey, who is 13, wrote, “I found out about Operation Beautiful in the car with my mom in the fall of 2010. Right after she told me we drove to Target and got two post-it pads, I’ve been posting ever since!  I always carry around at least ten pre-written post-it pads with me at all times.  Whenever I leave the house I put some up.  Posting them makes me feel so happy inside, I like to think of myself as a secret empowering ninja.”

Summer posted these notes:

Hannah wrote, “I posted this note on a beach in Sandpoint Idaho, hoping someone else will come along and be encouraged!!!!!”

Jennet wrote, “I’ve, with the help of The Blaine High School have started a club, called Operation Beautiful.  The club consists of about 20 regular members, and 40 official member out of a small school of 600.  Here are some of our notes!”

The new Operation Beautiful book is available for pre-order. Operation Beautiful: For Best Friends is targeted to 8 – 14 year old girls and addresses topics like friendships, bullying, love, life, puberty, parents, finding a passion, and healthy living. If you’re older, check out the original Operation Beautiful book!

Post-It Phrase of the Day: "You end up wherever you are supposed to be… just look around and you’ll see.”

We need YOUR notes! Post a note, take a picture, and e-mail your story to Caitlin at OperationBeautiful@gmail.com.  Each note goes up on the site for thousands of others to read and enjoy!

Crystal posted these notes in her bathroom:

Amanda wrote, “I am a 21 year old college student at the University of the Sciences in Philadelphia.  My Operation Beautiful journey began in November 2011.  I am a student ambassador for the school so one night I had to go to admissions and do an online chat with potential students.  While I sat in admissions waiting to start the chat I noticed that whoever sat at this desk had what looked like an eye exam.  But instead of it being random letters it spelled “You are beautiful beyond words” then at the very bottom it said www.operationbeautiful.com.  So as soon as I got back to my apartment I went on the computer and looked at the website.  Once I started reading everything I couldn’t stop.”  She decided to do a Capstone project for her major about Operation Beautiful – here are the results!  (She took pictures of some of her notes before posting them and documented where they would go as part of her assignment.)

Courtney wrote, “I found out about Operation Beautiful through a friend and had to see it. I’ve been through bullying, insecurity, and wanting to attempt suicide…this site is my savior! My guidance counselor at school has been helping me, too.”

Paula wrote, “One of my insecurities are my toes. During a soccer game, I hurt my foot really bad and both my toenails came off. The doctors all said the same thing… to wait for them to grow back but it is going to take a while. Now I’m afraid of wearing sandals to the beach, or wearing nice shoes that are open toe, without people staring. My mom told me that this was a blessing from God to teach me to be humble.  Through this and Operation Beautiful, i have started to have a new perspective on my toes!”

The new Operation Beautiful book is available for pre-order. Operation Beautiful: For Best Friends is targeted to 8 – 14 year old girls and addresses topics like friendships, bullying, love, life, puberty, parents, finding a passion, and healthy living. If you’re older, check out the original Operation Beautiful book!

Post-It Phrase of the Day: "Life is what you make of it.”

We need YOUR notes! Post a note, take a picture, and e-mail your story to Caitlin at OperationBeautiful@gmail.com.  Each note goes up on the site for thousands of others to read and enjoy!

Valerie wrote, “Inspired by another persons post I made one for myself. It sat at my desk for two days inspiring me, then I posted it in my usual stall. Happy Thursday everybody. Stay beautiful!”

April wrote, “I decided what I would write on the Post It notes before I left the house to save on time (2 kids remember?) and threw them in my bag along with a marker. I would stick them wherever I had a chance to. We were headed to the community pool and the park today and I thought those would be great places to start. It was so inconsequential to get the Post It notes, a marker, write a message on them and leave it somewhere I would already be. After doing such an effortless act I felt AWESOME. I was just imagining who would see them and what It could do to their day or even week.”

Kelli posted this note:

Michelle wrote, “I found out about the Operation Beautiful program through a friend and decided to incorporate it into a sculpture project for a college sculpture class. Our project was to create an instillation that conveyed a message and interacted with the space it was in. I wrote about a hundred different positive notes on post-it notes and placed them in the school bathroom on the mirror. I also wrote a few negative notes and crumpled them up and left them on the counter. I came back an hour after setting up the post-it’s and three had been taken. After a class critique, I decided I was going to leave them up and leave post-it’s and a pen in the bathroom to see what happened. About a day and half later, I came back and there had been about 40 more put up, and the negative notes had been thrown away. I love how this has turned out!”

The new Operation Beautiful book is available for pre-order. Operation Beautiful: For Best Friends is targeted to 8 – 14 year old girls and addresses topics like friendships, bullying, love, life, puberty, parents, finding a passion, and healthy living. If you’re older, check out the original Operation Beautiful book!

Post-It Phrase of the Day: "If you want to be happy, be.”

We need YOUR notes! Post a note, take a picture, and e-mail your story to Caitlin at OperationBeautiful@gmail.com.  Each note goes up on the site for thousands of others to read and enjoy!

Summer posted these notes:

Nichole found these notes at Texas Woman’s University.

Sin wrote, “This particular note is one I left in the UPenn bathroom closest to their mental health center (that I go to myself). I believe that everyone is not only beautiful in his or her own way, but amazing as well, for how else could we make it through this life?”

Jocelyn wrote, “I just wanted to say that I’m a 8th grade girl, living with insecurities every single day of my life, I’m short and kinda stubby but I’ve learned to smile even when it seems like it’s the hardest thing to do. My teacher, who introduced me to Operation Beautiful, made me smile even more. She would post sayings about loving who you are in the bathroom in my school, and honestly…I’m so glad that she did. I’ve been scared most of my life of what other people thought of me and how they saw me, but now I can smile from the inside. I don’t have to be afraid anymore, i love the way I am!!”

Esther wrote, “I posted this message the other day on the keyboard in one of my classes, and I found it stuck to my computer today with a response written below! I was so excited that somebody found it and even responded! I gave the sticky note to a friend for her to keep. I’ve also been posting random sticky notes at school and at my church!”

The new Operation Beautiful book is available for pre-order. Operation Beautiful: For Best Friends is targeted to 8 – 14 year old girls and addresses topics like friendships, bullying, love, life, puberty, parents, finding a passion, and healthy living. If you’re older, check out the original Operation Beautiful book!

Post-It Phrase of the Day: "Do all things with love.”

The new Operation Beautiful book is available for pre-order. Operation Beautiful: For Best Friends is targeted to 8 – 14 year old girls and addresses topics like friendships, bullying, love, life, puberty, parents, finding a passion, and healthy living. If you’re older, check out the original Operation Beautiful book!

Anonymous posted these notes:

Laura wrote, “Today, I was given a note that changed me. All it took to seriously change the way I have been thinking was a short phrase written on a sticky note. It read "Sometimes you’ll never know the true value of a moment until it becomes a memory." I know that doesn’t sound like much, and getting it in an Arby’s bag wasn’t necessarily what I expected as my life altering moment, but it means a lot to me. Just to think that someone else, a stranger at that, could change things without even knowing what I’m going through. I’ve hit a rough patch in life and have had several low points over the last couple weeks and the things I’ve considered doing couldn’t make anything better. I know the girl that wrote this wouldn’t be expecting to make this big of an impact and I wish that I could thank her. Now that I know what could happen by a small kind gesture, I will also vow to make a difference to someone. Operation Beautiful will make more of a difference than you’ll ever know."

Kaycee-Louise sent in this photo:

Check out this wonderful Operation Beautiful video!

Jen wrote, “I teach seventh and eighth graders in catechism and we focused on Operation Beautiful tonight. We made cute cards and then spent the rest of class spreading them around town.”

Love Operation Beautiful and want to participate? Post a note, take a picture, and e-mail your story to Caitlin at OperationBeautiful@gmail.com.  Each note goes up on the site for thousands of others to read and enjoy! Make a change in this world… it starts with YOU!

Post-It Phrase of the Day: "Beauty might bring happiness, but happiness always brings beauty."

The new Operation Beautiful book is available for pre-order. Operation Beautiful: For Best Friends is targeted to 8 – 14 year old girls and addresses topics like friendships, bullying, love, life, puberty, parents, finding a passion, and healthy living. If you’re older, check out the original Operation Beautiful book!

Clara Ruth wrote, “I am a girl in fifth grade, working on the way I see myself. Operation Beautiful has truly changed my life. It has gave me something to look forward to at school and other public places. I have spread the word everywhere I could. Social networking applications, and of course all my friends, who are participating in Operation Beautiful as well.”

Meg wrote, “I’m 14 years old.  My self esteem was, of course, crushed by the media.  Looking at all the magazines at the stores, seeing models with perfect skin, perfect hair, teeny tiny bodies, and only skinny people being picked for certain things.  I was always in between sizes for clothes, always trying to find some gorgeous (and modest, because I like modest clothes) dresses for dances, but could never find any that would fit.  Every dress I saw that was modest was either waaaay too expensive or never in the right size.  The neighbor kids and girls at church always made an annoying and very loud point that I was overweight by pointing it out to other people (especially the boys), and saying it straight to my face.  It really hurt, I had pimples all over my body, hair that was ALWAYS fizzy, and a lot of people kept telling me that I wasn’t beautiful.  It didn’t help that my mom had me on diets by the age of 6 and kept changing them back and forth.   Recently, from my older sister, I discovered Operation Beautiful.  I can’t tell you how much of a difference it has made in my life.  It has raised my self esteem to the boiling point, and who knows, with time it may boil over and just spill out!  I’ve been smiling daily, I have a new attitude, and I’m just not pointing out all the negative things that I used to.  I’ve been reading all of the post-it notes and just smiling at myself.  I’m actually working on a project that has to do with your blog.  I plan to make a huge stack of these and put them up in every public bathroom I visit, and when I go to a friend’s house, I’m going to post one there as well.”

Caitlin posted these notes:

Summer posted these notes:

Love Operation Beautiful and want to participate? Post a note, take a picture, and e-mail your story to Caitlin at OperationBeautiful@gmail.com.  Each note goes up on the site for thousands of others to read and enjoy! Make a change in this world… it starts with YOU!