Do you love a book that serves up the heart and smarts together? Looking for a book that will inspire you, motivate you and want you to recognize other’s God-given gifts, build great teams and create a vibrant and nourishing environment…at home and at work? Do you love Chick-Fil-A restaurants and the unmatched customer care you receive there? Then you will LOVE “It’s My Pleasure ~ The Impact of Extraordinary Talent and a Compelling Culture” by Dee Ann Turner.  Dee Ann is the Vice President of Corporate Talent at Chick-Fil-A, where she has worked for over thirty years. 

I am honored to call Dee Ann Turner a friend. We have served the Lord together as members of a board of directors, and though we live states apart (she is a Georgia girl, and I am a Pennsylvania girl) we often muse about one day being next door neighbors. What fun it would be sitting on my front porch sipping Chick-Fil-A lemonade with her while chatting the hours away. Dee Ann has an amazing depth of love in her heart for people, and she is humbly brilliant. And now as an author she packs her gentleness, wisdom, tenderness and strength together in this one book!

“Businesses are built by growing relationships with customers. Culture is created by the stories those relationships tell. Two of the most important differentiators of a business are its talent and its culture. Talent energized by a compelling culture will drive organizational success and provide innovative growth opportunities for both the business and the individual. Based on her more than thirty years at Chick-fil-A, most of which have been spent as Vice President, Corporate Talent, Dee Ann Turner shares how Chick-fil-A has built a devoted talent and fan base that spans generations. It’s My Pleasure tells powerful stories and provides practical applications on how to develop extraordinary talent able to build and/or stimulate a company’s culture.”

We are giving away a copy of Dee Ann’s book this week — just in time for Christmas! Leave a simple comment here or just “like” my post on social media, and you will be entered!! I will announce the winner on Christmas Eve.

It’s my pleasure to wish you a Merry Christmas! May it be filled with serendipitous blessings!

Hello SerenDIPity friends!

Have I got a treat for you!! My friend, Sandra Joseph, at Mary & Martha ~ Meaningful Entertaining Made Simple and I are hosting give-aways together!! I LOVE Mary & Martha products! And yes…I have already begun my Christmas shopping! I placed an order with Sandra a few wees ago and I was SO excited to see the boxes on my porch shortly thereafter!

SerenDIPity and Mary & Martha have the same heart — MEANINGFUL ENTERTAINING!!! Gathering people together for sweet fellowship, delicious food and lots of fun! All for the purpose of nurturing relationships! 

I am delighted that we will be offering TWO give-aways here! Leave a comment here (below) – 1.) let me know you have visited Sandra’s site, 2.) tell me one of the items that caught your eye, and 3.)  be sure I have your contact information (email is fine). You will be entered to win one of the two sets below! Goodness & Love and Grateful Hearts bundle sets ~ attractive and practical ways to store and serve food! These also make great hostess gifts! (BOTH OF THESE ARE $65 VALUES!!!)

To win a copy of SerenDIPity ~ Celebrating Dips, Faith & Friendship, be sure to visit Sandra’s blog!

Please be sure to visit Sandra at her Mary & Martha Facebook page! She will keep you updated on new products and special promotions!

MEANINGFUL ENTERTAINING — that is at the heart of SerenDIPity and Mary & Martha! So delighted to partner with Sandra!

Have fun, and I hope you win!!! We will announce winners on Wednesday 8/13/14!

Have a DIPlightful Day

Sharon Sloan ~ author of SerenDIPity ~ Celebrating Dips, Faith & Friendship

Everyday Confetti by Karen Ehman and Glynnis Whitwer

Updated 1/21/2014 7:15 PM – Congratulations to our winner — Noreen Messmer – submitted comment on 1/17/14!

I am super excited about this new book EVERYDAY CONFETTI written by two friends — Karen Ehman and Glynnis Whitwer. I admire both of these women, each for their own unique reasons. This book they co-authored together is just icing on the admiration cupcake!

Really, they had me at the title — Everyday Confetti!! I would love to make everyday a little special for my family. This book shares very do-able and fun ideas to make everyday extraordinary for those you love. It also contains easy and inspired ideas for birthdays, milestones and holiday celebrations! Here is how Karen and Glynnis put it:

“The calendar is filled with special occasions and holidays that certainly call for a little confetti. But what about ordinary days? Those seemingly routine days when the calendar doesn’t indicate an occasion to buy a card, bake a cake or toss some confetti? By bringing a little confetti to an otherwise ordinary day, we can make it a celebration. A celebration of life, of each other, and, most importantly, of God’s goodness.

Our desire with this book is to spark your creativity and provide you with ideas for planning and implementing wonderful holiday and holy day celebrations with your loved ones. But we don’t want to stop there. We hope that with a little ingenuity and a slight shift in your spiritual perspective, you will learn to toss a little confetti into the everyday too — to be on the lookout for days and ways to make the ordinary extraordinary.” – Karen and Glynnis

Everyday Confetti is my newest favorite read! Karen and Glynnis speak part of my heart, and I love the ideas and recipes inside the pages of the book! I am already planning on giving this book as gifts with a package of confetti!!! I am honored to have two contributions in the book on pages 35 and 53. I hope you will take a look!

And I would like to do the same for one of you visiting here!! Just leave a comment, including your contact information, and you will be entered to win Everyday Confetti and a supply of confetti!!!

Photo credit: Plenty of Color

Check back in a few days when I announce the winner!

In the meantime, go toss some confetti and make today extraordinary for someone in your life!!

DIPlightfully yours,

Sharon Sloan

SerenDIPity is a hospitality idea ~ a unique dip party, a gathering for fellowship, food and friendship.

My husband, Jim, and I love to gather friends together for fellowship, to nourish existing friendships, to introduce special friends from different circles to each other, and for new friendships to begin. That is my heart ~ gathering and growing together. I am so thankful for the beautiful instruments of His grace in my life whom I call friends.

When I shared the idea of the SerenDIPity dip party with Jim, he was enthusiastic and excitedly said “Let’s do it!” As Jim and I prayed for God’s blessing, presence and favor over this idea called “SerenDIPity”, God answered our prayers beyond imagination. At each SerenDIPity, our joy is hearing the laughter of our friends and feeling the warmth of sweet fellowship. Our hearts are filled having so much love under our roof and in our home. We are so very thankful to the Lord. “We love because He first loved us.” John 4:19

One of the greatest pleasures of my heart is to gather family and friends together. Whether for a celebration, a Bible study or simply for fellowship, I love to gather together with loved ones. Whether a dollop or a dousing, the sweet fellowship enveloped in gathering together in friendship satisfies a sweet spot in our God-breathed souls.

Open your heart in hospitality! Satisfy the sweet spot! Host a SerenDIPity party!

Chocolate Mousse Dip by Cathi (Photo by Heather Beals ~ 2010)

My friend Cathi is a rich treasure in my life. Confident and content, she effortlessly demonstrates her faithfulness in friendship by praying with discernment and by speaking truth with love and grace and boldness.  Her walk with the Lord and her testimony give her a rare textured depth. I love her heart for the Lord and for family and friends.

Cathi’s Chocolate Mousse Dip won rave reviews at SerenDIPity. Her delicious dessert dip was inspired by the Coffee Ricotta Mousse recipe from Moosewood Restaurant Cooks at Home book (page 307). You’ll want to make this one!

 1 pound ricotta cheese

½ cup confectioner’s sugar

2 tablespoons instant coffee granules

½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 tablespoon brandy (optional)

For the chocolate twist, add 2 tablespoons of unsweetened cocoa powder

In bowl of a food processor or using an electric mixer, whip all of the ingredients together until smooth and evenly colored. Serve immediately or cover and refrigerate until serving. (I like to chill it in the refrigerator before serving!)

Cathi served hers in a large bowl with butter cookies for dipping.

SWEET SerenDIPity! This one is DIPlicious!!! Enjoy!!

I am honored to be guest posting over at The Better Mom today! Be sure to pop over for lots of good fun!

Dedication

With deep gratitude to the Lord for each and every good gift He has given, this book is dedicated with big love to the family and friends with whom God has blessed our family ~

“A great group of people!”

This great group of people has made SerenDIPity dip parties so special.

One of the most meaningful compliments Jim and I received after a SerenDIPity party was from our friends Rich and Lisa who said the celebration was the gathering of “a great group of people”. God has chosen for us and blessed us with loving family and amazing friends. For each unique one, we are forever thankful. We are humbled by His goodness to us.

And so this book is humbly and enthusiastically dedicated to the instruments by which God reveals to us His beauty ~ our family and friends ~ a great group of people who have graced us with their presence in our hearts and home.

You have made an indelible impression in our lives. You have doused us with love, and our hearts are dripping with thanks. You have splashed us with encouragement over and over, at just the right times. YOU, your creativity, your talents, your enthusiasm and your love have made SerenDIPity what it has become. You are loved. SerenDIPity is dedicated to you.

“Lord, You establish peace for us; all that we have accomplished You have done for us.
O Lord, our God…Your name alone do we honor.” ~ Isaiah 26:12-13

Through this whimsical but sincere offering called “SerenDIPity”, my heart’s prayer is that God’s Word and His Name will be exalted above all else and in all things. The Lord serendipitously inspired me with the idea for SerenDIPity. My desire is to honor Him and bring glory to His name. Anything I have accomplished, He has accomplished through me.

May His serendipitous blessings and pleasant surprises be yours in abundance!

Dip in and enjoy!