Blossoms, RE Books, Aprons & The Nester’s GIVEAWAY Day!
Hey Friends, I’m super excited today because it’s a big giveaway day!
I’m getting closer to 1,000 posts here at RE, with my message of journaling about entertaining and hospitality going back to 2006. Yes, way back then, I shared this simple post:
With the best intentions, many of us think about entertaining, but never get around to it. Usually this happens because we don’t have enough time, we’re disorganized or our spouse isn’t interested in hosting a party, or even a small dinner! For many this blessing of gracious living for both the hostess and her guests never takes place, because of fear … fear of failure, unable to cook, unwilling to share their lives with others, fear of deepening friendships … they are intimidated and think the meal has to be perfect, or … they don’t have the lifestyle that says, “welcome.” (-my very first post on RE)
Hospitality doesn’t have to be complicated at all, and today’s little tip is to bring beautiful Spring blossoms indoors to spruce up your home a bit.
You might have read my post on forcing branches, but my real love is the elegant pink and white blossoms that are currently blooming in Oregon. Stunning!
Clip and put in water.
Arrange and bring indoors!
Along with these beautiful blossoms today, The Hip Hostess and I are offering an amazing giveaway for 3 WINNERS. (Thanks to The Nester if she sent you over.)
1 person will WIN all 3 of these items:
Signed Copy of The Reluctant Entertainer
Balcony Girls E-Book
Sheath Style Black a la Mode apron from The Hip Hostess2 people will WIN:
Signed Copy of The Reluctant Entertainer
Here’s HOW to WIN:
1. Leave a comment telling me what it is about hospitality or entertaining that bogs you down? Also, do you think your personality type affects your hospitality/entertaining style?
2. Join our Facebook pages and leave a comment telling me that you did (Reluctant Entertainer and The Hip Hostess)
{If you’re already a member, leave a comment. You guys get one too!}
3. Follow us on twitter and leave a comment telling me you did. (@SandyCoughlinRE and @TheHipHostess)
{If you’re already a follower, leave a comment. You guys get one too!}
This counts as three entries.
4. Facebook about the giveaway, and leave a comment, telling me you did.
5. Tweet about the giveaway, and leave a comment telling me you did. (using @SandyCoughlinRE and @TheHipHostess)
6. Blog about the giveaway, and leave a comment telling me you did.
It’s your choice to just comment, or do all six! So that is 6 chances total!
Contest ends midnight on Thursday, April 7th. Winner will be announced Friday morning, 4/8/11.
The Nester is featuring all of her sponsors today over at Nesting Place, so head over there for a kazillion more giveaways and chances to enter for some incredible prizes.
GOOD LUCK, Friends!
(I want to thank Debbie from The Hip Hostess for donating one of her classy aprons. The quality is superior. If you don’t have one, you’re really missing out. If you want to read more about Balcony Girls, go HERE. If you want to read more about my book, The Reluctant Entertainer, go HERE.)
Hello and welcome to my home and table!
I’m Sandy—lover of food, family, cooking, THE BIG BOARD, travel, and bringing people together. Through great recipes and connection around the table, we become better, stronger, and more courageous people. Feasting on Life is real, and every time we do it, we grow a little more. Read more...
I follow you both on facebook
I love entertaining, but space is an issue in my house. I have a perfectionist personality…everything must be perfect. I can’t wait to have enough space where we can seat all of our friends and family and we can have a perfect party. :-)
Just tweeted about the giveaway!
My biggest set back is space. I live in a very tiny apartment and it never seems like I have enough table space. Is it possible to host parties in an apartment? Another apartment living problem, Kitchen Space! I keep my meals simple and easy so I can cook before hand and reheat when they arrive, and not see how much of a mess I make when I have flour and sugar all over the place! :)
Does my personality effect my entertaining? Of course! I’m a very upbeat, hyper sort so the environment is normally very cheerful. However, when I’m in one of my “bad” days or a migraine hits an hour before, it can be daunting. Luckily, my friends understand now, but in the beginning? I would try to stay upbeat, but I know those dinners weren’t as much fun.
I always want everything to be perfect in the house. I’m too afraid to invite people over since they will think we’re living in the 80s with our small tv and dark wood kitchen. Of course, I don’t want people outside either since the landscape looks bad. I guess I want everything to be perfect and it never feels “done” enough to have people over.
I believe it is cleaning and trying to have a presentable house!
My housekeeping is what holds me back from entertaining – hopefully the move we are planning to make this year will give me more space, the ability to actually organize and a fresh start to my housekeeping habits!
I’m really bad at having everything come together for the meal at the same time, and at the right time. Plus I’m worried I won’t know what to talk about! My personality definitely fits into this…I’m a worrier!
I have three small children, ages 3,2, and 6 months – and I find that at the end of the day I don’t have much energy left to entertain. My husband also works long days and nights and it seems like a faux paux to invite couples over and then suddenly have my husband called in to work. BUT – I was wondering if you have any tips on politely getting people to leave. I have had problems with people who didn’t leave until hours after the meal, and that also makes it hard to work up motivation for entertaining. :-)
My biggest hostess flaw? I alow myself to feel more like a slave than a hostess. I resent the work at times and never feel like I get to join in on the fun with our guests. 100% attitude, lol. Thank you for the chances to win!
Already a Twitter follower!
I’m a perfectionist so I tend to get bogged down in the details and feel so sad when things aren’t the way I’d envisioned them turning out. It really overshadows what’s important about entertaining.
There’s always “something” that bogs me down, different everytime…the order of my home, how I’m feeling about myself, what clothes I’m going to where, who to invite/exclude, what to make…I’m always worried about something! :)
What bogs me down is the cleaning, preparing, cooking, entertaining, etc. In other words- everything!
I tweeted about your giveaway so all my friends would know, too!
Im now following you on Twitter also! Yay!
I liked you on Facebook! Yay! I hope I win!
Hospitality and Entertaining bogs me down because I get all baffled about setting everything up and making it look nice. I do think personality type has alot to do with it. I have a perfectionist personality, so it makes me want everything to be perfect!
We’ve always lived in small apartments and had no problem entertaining, but now our house is small and not laid out in a way that’s conducive to hosting. We tried it when we first moved, but we’ve gone from mostly young married friends (with perhaps and infant here or there) to couples with families. The kids make a small space feel even more claustrophobic! And when we sent the kids out into the yard they ended up throwing toys over our fence into our neighbor’s yard and into the gutters on our house. Yikes! It’s made me a little gun-shy to invite people over any more. One bad apple has spoiled my entertaining barrel!
The invitation is what is the most difficult for me. Once I make the invite I’m committed. Then I worry about the menu, the house, the conversation. It sounds crazy, but I prefer drop-in company. Once people are here we have a blast!
Two reasons I don’t entertain as often as I’d like to
1) time – I found a way around this though. I just get the gathering on the calendar. Then I “make” the time for it. Otherwise something always comes up.
2)my house – come over any day of the week and my house is total CHAOS. If I could just get better at a cleaning routine I could entertain more spontaneously!
What bogs me down is putting myself out there enough to invite people over in the first place. I would love to entertain a few friends but am to shy and nervous to try. I have a few good friends I know would come but would love to invite people I don’t know very well to get to know them better, but fear they would not show up…I know it is irrational but there it is..lol
With our kitchen re-do I have gotten bogged down, and I just need to shed the idea that I want it to be perfect, and enjoy the company of family and friends. Would love to win your book. You definitely make things look so easy and fun.
There are a few things that weigh me down. One is the food and the fact that there are age groups that I usually try to satisfy and they are spread out between older (80’s) to younger (2 and 3 yr olds). I would like to make food that satisfies all age groups. Then another is that I really do not have that much space in my home to host a lot of people and I do not want some to thing that I am not caring or concerned about them and not inviting them.
Part of the reason I do not entertain as often is because of my husband and his expectations. Am planning a surprise birthday party for him on Sunday. Wish me well!
Will post on Facebook in a few minutes!