SHINDIG 2016 — Life Well Blended

UPDATE as of 8/12/16:

Ticket sales for #Shindig2016 are open at Brushfire! Seating is limited and it’s a first come first serve basis, y’all. Your $25 #Shindig2016 ticket includes a Chick-fil-A lunch and a sweet treat baked from a recipe found in the Hungry is a Mighty Fine Sauce cookbook! You can order your #Shindig2016 t-shirt when you order your ticket! Heads-up, they’re $15 on Brushfire but they’ll be $20 at the door!

 

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I get to speak at a lot of different events, and you can color me grateful for that. Whether someone has me at their place for storytelling and humor or to share an inspirational message straight from my own faith journey, I’m all in! I do my best to serve in whatever capacity I’m invited to fill. That said, for a long time now I’ve been dreaming about having my own SHINDIG and I’m delighted to announce that the time has come, y’all. My storytelling cookbook Hungry is a Mighty Fine Sauce hits the shelves October 1st, 2016 and it’s impending arrival is offering me a perfectly tailored opportunity to host my very first SHINDIG!

Why a SHINDIG? Because I’m pumped about the release of my first cookbook but I’ll be honest– book launches can be beyond boring for all involved. That’s why I’m wrapping a ladies conference and a girl party around this one and calling it SHINDIG#2016!

What’s a SHINDIG? Combining several online definitions I’ve come up with this doozy: A SHINDIG is a fun, noisy party that can often be unpredictable; similar to a hoedown, a SHINDIG is thrown to celebrate something and it usually involves dancing, music, and food.  Check, check, and check, y’all! I’ll be speaking twice that day, once before lunch where I’ll do humor and storytelling and once after lunch where I’ll talk about my walk with Jesus and encourage you in yours! 

My BFF Rhonda Perry will be handling the music for our event! You can expect to hear everything from Celebrate Good Times (thx Cool and the Gang! We’re so 80’s girls!) to Shake by Mercy Me. (I double dog dare you not to move something on your body even if you’re just tapping your foot!) We’ll laugh, sing, and share stories ’til the cows come home. Or at least from nine to three. Of course, there will be plenty cookbooks available to purchase and I’ll be delighted to personalize them should you so desire. Special thanks to Books-a-Million in Monroe, LA for agreeing to handle sales for the day! In addition to the cookbook booth, we’ll have vendors offering some great shopping with home goods, jewelry, and darling clothes with dedicated times for you to browse their offerings!

Ticket sales will go live on Brushfire six weeks out from our event. I’ve tried to make it affordable at $25 a person and that includes your lunch from Chick-fil-A! You can order your Shindig t-shirt for $15 — if you order it online while you’re purchasing your tickets. Shindig shirts will be $20 at the door. Speaking of registration…you’re going to get a goodie bag at the door with a treat prepared from the Hungry is a Mighty Fine Sauce cookbook. How cool is that?

Special guests? Oh, I’m so glad you asked about that! Mary Snyder from Compassion International will be with us along with my daughter Jessica Maher, the super popular food blogger known as Kitchen Belleicious. Also joining us will be my talented daughter-in-law Carey Tomlinson who took the beautiful photos for the cookbook. Carey will be snapping party pics throughout the day and throwing them up on social media! But, that’s not all! Drum roll please…

Many of you are familiar with a group of women I call The Golden Girls, my mother and her sisters. I’ve talked about them in my humor books, on the radio and during personal appearances, to the delight of my audiences who have fallen in love with our family matriarchs. Well, folks– get this– I’ve talked the Golden Girls into making an appearance with me on stage where I will interview them for your enjoyment. It should be a blast. (And I should probably get them to sign waivers or disclaimers, or something!)

In other words, my SHINDIG will defy convention. It won’t be a strictly secular event but you won’t be able to squeeze it in a sacred box either. I see it as a day where I get to live out loud my growing desire to have ONE well blended life that gives glory to God instead of having a segmented life that barely overlaps on the edges and I get to invite YOU to share it with me. To say I’m excited would be an understatement of ginormous proportions.

When is SHINDIG #2016? SHINDIG #2016 will be held October 8th, 2016 in the B.D. Robinson Conference Hall at the Civic Center in Monroe, LA. Online tickets will go on sale soon and you’ll need to watch for them because space is limited and fire marshals are serious type people.

Now, do that precious little social share thing y’all do so well and spread the word because as we say around here, “It’s on chicken bone!”

Hugs,
Shellie