Bittersweet: A Going Away Party

Some of our sweetest friends are heading off to a new adventure in Fredericksburg, Texas. The truth is, I am beyond excited for them and know that what they're off to is absolutely perfect for them. Plus, they're going to an awesome town with great food, great shopping, great wine, great scenery, so I know that we'll go visit. But, the fact they won't be able to grab lunch or come over for dinner or be so easily accessible is a little bit sad. Or, a lot sad. Sigh. However, that wasn't going to stop us from throwing a party sending them off and having one last night of fun with our friends!

Me and my friend Liz (and our husbands who were an amazing help as we got ready for the party yesterday) sat down and planned a fun night for our sweet friends. Neither of us are experts at this sort of thing but Liz came up with the cute idea of "We'll be so BLUE without you!". It was perfect. The party theme was a color. My kind of theme.

We had blue decor, blue cheese salad, blue velvet cupcakes, Blue Bell ice cream (but, let's face it... even if the theme was something else, we still would've had Blue Bell ice cream) and blue hydrangeas. For dinner we served lasagnas (when your friends are moving away, you need comfort food) and it all went so smoothly! We had a great turn out with lots and lots of babies and kiddos (I think I counted nine?) so it was a little bit of a madhouse but so fun nonetheless. In my mind, when planning this little shindig, I imagined a lot of people congregating in the backyard, kids especially, but it rained yesterday so that was not an option.  But we packed everybody in and had a blast. Here's a few pics of the event!


The guests of honor (left) with their hosts. And all those baby loves!

The mantle! I took down my Fall decor and replaced it with the blue hydrangea, a blue vase that I got from my Mom's house, that blue mosaic candle holder also from my Mom's. (When I am throwing a party, I go "shopping" at my Mom's house. She has tubs and tubs of party decor and I just like to go borrow from her. It's the best!  Also, I made that banner. Y'all, I know. ME. BEING CRAFTY. It was very foreign to me but I got some guidance from my Mega-Crafty friend Charlotte who coached me and told me what to buy and how to do it. And one night I sat on my floor while watching Scandal and I made this banner out of fabric and I tied it around some rope that looked like an albino dreadlock.

Fun fact: using all this bright blue brought back lots of memories as these were my school colors for high school. I  felt like I was decorating for homecoming! I wanted to get out all my mums!

Look at this cute sign that Liz brought! She said she found it at a garage sale for $7 and has used it again and again. I'm gonna need to get me one of those.

I did little with the dining room table as I assumed that I needed as much space as possible for a whole bunch of people to crowd around that table to eat dinner. But do you know that not ONE person sat at that table? It cracks me up. Everytime. Our dining room is a little removed from the kitchen and living room and people feel like they're leaving the party, I guess. So we just crammed people around and they ate on the floor and at the countertops, but that big dining room table and chairs are rarely used. Makes me laugh :)

Our front porch.

The fake bluebonnets and silver buckets were borrowed from my Mom. For those of you non-Texans, the Bluebonnet is the Texas State flower and were perfect for the evening since our guests of honor are moving into the beautiful Texas Hill Country!

I made this wreath. I KNOW. Who am I? This was another thing Charlotte told me I could do, so I tried it and I did it. Styrofoam wreath from Hobby Lobby, blue silk and chevron burlap ribbon, wrapped tightly around and stuck with pins... and that flower is actually a barrette and I just took off the hair clip part of it and glued it to my wreath.

This was on the entry way table. We bought a coffee table book about Houston and had all the guests sign the inside. It kinda felt like signing a yearbook. "Don't ever change! LYLAS!"

Liz made these and they were DELICIOUS.

Not pictured: Blue Bell Ice Cream. Also delicious.

The yummy salads that Liz made. Not pictured: Lasagnas. 4 pans. Almost all gone. SO. GOOD.

Also not pictured? The bread. Wanna know why? CAUSE I NEVER SET IT OUT. I REALIZED THIS MORNING THAT THERE WAS NO BREAD. And the bread was my responsibility. (Bangs head on table.)

It was such a fun, low key evening and we will miss our sweet friends! Now get these leftover cupcakes OUT OF MY HOUSE.