{Giveaway is Closed}
When I started blogging back in early 2007, there was a special friend named Sandy who I connected with early on in the blogosphere. She is beautiful inside and out, as well she writes a beautiful blog and I had the pleasure of meeting her at the last 2 Blissdom conferences. She is just as genuine in real life as she is on her blog.
(me and Sandy at Blissdom)
One of the things that I noticed right away from Sandy’s blog is that she encourages her readers to open up their homes and entertain. Have people over. Share meals and share stories. Get to know others on a deeper level by sharing a meal. I love that and really would like to get better at it. Sandy really encourages that on her blog and now, in her new book, The Reluctant Entertainer.
Sandy was nice enough to send me a copy of her book and it is just beautiful. Every woman’s guide to simple and gracious hospitality is the tag line and it certainly delivers.
Chock full of Sandy’s own recipes, as well as real-life entertaining stories from Sandy’s family and home, this book is such a useful tool for opening up our doors to others. It’s filled with her own beautiful photos too that you will love.
I grew up in a Pastor’s home and we were always having people over to our house. My mom thought nothing of inviting a couple of families over after church on Sunday night for a meal. It might be nothing more than warming up left-over ham for ham sandwiches, chips and fruit, but it was a very memorable time for me, savoring friendships with those families and sharing a meal together. Food just makes everything better!
Sandy’s book is so useful as she goes through all the reasons why women do not want to take the time to have folks over these days. It does seem like the world has gotten busier and busier, with not enough time taken to slow down and savor friendships. Sandy’s book will definitely help you see the benefit of entertaining and getting out of your comfort zone. I would love to get better at this! We have people over very sporadically, usually twice a year for a big group.
Do you find yourself saying any of these things?
- I don’t know how to cook.
- My food never turns out.
- My house isn’t up to par.
- I’m just too busy.
- We can’t afford it.
Sound familiar? If you’ve had these thoughts, then this book is for you.
If you’d like to win a copy of Sandy’s book, just leave a comment here and tell me if you are a frequent entertainer or are you like so many and reluctantly open up your home to others. We all probably have some improvement to do in this area, I know I do.
I will have TWO copies to giveaway, so just leave a comment! I’ll draw a winner on Sunday evening.
I enjoy people but very, very rarely entertain as I never know what to cook, feel that I’m an inadequate hostess and also that the house is not up to par (as Rhoda wrote). I would say the house is messy. LOL But I really would like to have people over and enjoy their company and be less concerned about my entertaining skills.
I really would like to win this book as I think it would help me and build my confidence.
I “entertain” about once a month which basically means I have my family over for Sunday lunch. My Dominos group comes over about twice a year, I would love this book…sounds just like something I need to get me more inspired to do some real entertaining.
I am just now beginning to learn the fine art of homemaking and have learned much about entertaining from my Mother in Law (a true southern lady). I know I would enjoy and definitely benefit from the knowledge in this book.
I NEED this!! Every season I make a promise to myself to entertain more-but I don’t. Would love to win.Thanxs, Sharon
And of course there are a gazillion comments.. What a great and timely give-away! I’d love to be in the entries. With a fast pace life I admit lately there hasn’t been time…or energy left to prepare. I’d love to have her insights! Thank you!
I want to get better at entertaining and would love to win this book!
I love to entertain but I still find myself reluctant because of the reasons you listed. I’m thinking that I’ll have to clean up more, the food won’t be good enough etc. I’d absolutely LOVE to win a copy the Reluctant Entertainer. Thanks for the giveway!
I am very social and love to entertain, but for some reason it doesn’t happen as often as I’d like, so I have to admit I’m the reluctant entertainer. I would la la LOVE to win a copy! Thanks!
I would love a copy of Sandy’s book. We entertain fairly frequently. Our ideal would be inviting others into our home at least once a week, but we do usually have company over at least 2-3 times a month. We really enjoy inviting others into our home! And my husband loves it because it’s one of the only times I make dessert. 😉
We entertain often, if you consider teens and young adults from church coming over… When it comes to peers though I often struggle with feelings of things not being quite up to par. I look forward to what I could learn from Mrs. Coughlin and her experiences. Thank you for introducing her to us.
I love both of your blogs and I hope I get to meet you at Blissdom this year! I entertain a lot and we tend to do smaller gatherings since our house isn’t that big, but they are always fun. I am looking for more ideas!
I would love a chance to win this book and get over, “my house isn’t clean enough” to have people over. Thanks for the chance to win!
To be honest, I have a real fear of entertaining. I am a single woman with a small condo which doesn’t measure up to my married friends’ large homes. I’m not confident in my cooking skills, althought I know that not all entertaining is about being a gourmet. Sounds like I would really benefit from this book!
I use to entertain a lot and have got out of the habit. Would love this book to give me a push to doing something I have always enjoyed.
*Plus today is my birthday and what a nice present
I am a reluctant entertainer! I rarely have parties at my house because I feel my decor isn’t perfect. I’ve been following her 31 days series and am hoping to win the book! I need it desperately!!
I would so love to have this book for encouragement and ideas. I have always wanted to entertain and except for my immediate family and the 1 time I hosted Thanksgiving for my husband’s immediate family, we just don’t entertain. I would love to entertain friends, and host spur of the moment get togethers and just parties in general. Thank you for hosting this giveaway and I hope I am lucky enough to be chosen.
I like the idea of having people over and just having a good time, but time seems to be an problem….perhaps can get some ideas from Sandy’s book.
I do not entertain as often as I would like and really should try hard to change that…I really think that a lot of us think if we don’t have Filet Mignon or another great entree we think we can’t socialize…I now am leaning towards that if you have ‘whatever’ you have in the kitchen you can make a meal and make it memorable… Would love the book for some inspiration 🙂
We finally have a great house for entertaining but just never get down to doing it. It is partly because of being too busy but also because of not knowing where to start and being overwhelmed. I look forward to reading this book!
I am most certainly reluctant to entertain!