Pink and red all over.

Our Valentine's party was last night-- right on Valentine's Day itself, which somehow hasn't happened before. Has it been that long since Valentine's Day fell on a Saturday? We had about thirty friends and neighbors here, nearly all dressed in something pink or red. Our friend J came in a blue and white shirt, telling everyone that neither pink nor red were his colors, but he was wearing red undershorts, he said. We all took him at his word, telling him he didn't have to prove it. If our dear friend Frankie were still here with us, I can just hear what she would have told J at that point-- "Come on, darlin'... show us your pink shorts and they'd better have hearts on them!"

What a great night it was... everyone came in the door smiling-- must have been the heart balloons on the porch, plus I dressed up the little Mexican lady statue in red Mardi Gras beads and red hearts. That statue has been on our street for years and years, once belonging to our across-the-street neighbor H who moved up near Austin. I bought the Mexican lady (actually I think it's a goddess) at H's yard sale before she moved, and she's become the greeter on our front porch, getting some sort of accessory for each party and holiday.

The Valentine decorations, the balloons, the candles.... the living room, dining room, and breakfast room were all decked out in pink and red. Candles all over the place, balloons floating up towards the ceiling, pink and red hearts everywhere you looked. I even took a pink ruffled shawl and dressed up the Venus de Milo statue next to the fireplace-- she looked heavenly.

As always, our potluck-dinner menu was amazing... all sorts of home-baked desserts, two huge tossed vegetable salads, chicken casseroles, vegetable dishes, seafood dips, Tex-Mex foods. When we started these potluck dinner parties some years ago, I tried to keep track of who was bringing what, so we would end up with an equal number of sweets and savories. That quickly got out of hand because people would change their minds at the last minute and bring something totally different than what they had originally planned. It's best to just step back and tell everyone to bring their favorite dish, or their favorite party food... somehow it always works out just fine. Besides that, it's a potluck dinner, not a gourmet sit-down dinner party.

For the party favors, all the ladies got a heart-shaped candy dish filled with Dove chocolates.... all the candy dishes were different-- some with covers, some without, some very modern-looking, other very traditional. I searched the little resale and consignment shops for pretty porcelain or glass candy dishes with a heart design, and tried to match each one with the personality and style of who would receive it. When the local Hallmark store switched owners last year, I bought just about all of their Valentine gift bags-- for about 26 cents each-- and all of those favors were wrapped up in pink tissue paper and tucked into small red shopping bags covered with white X's and O's-- they were cute even before they were unwrapped. The men received boxes of candy or bags of chocolate pecans.

Some of our friends and neighbors called us today, to tell us what a great party it was... and they all said virtually the same thing---- all the parties tend to be great, but last night's was over-the-top and just special somehow. "Did you put something in that pink punch?" "Was there a secret ingredient in those chocolates?"

Everyone just walked into the door smiling last night and stayed smiling. The hearts, the candles, the balloons, the food.... it was all that and more--- the company. We truly have a wonderful group of friends and neighbors. All the decorations and candles and food in the world won't make a perfect party unless you have an outstanding list of guests. And we truly do have that. We are very blessed.