Feeling Blue

I love...I said LOVE to entertain. Now, as far as cleaning the house in preparation, that's another story. Ah, to be loaded and hire that out. But, to plan the decorations and menu and then put it all together - well, that's something that makes my pulse quicken.

I had dreamed of having a Blue Dinner Party. Not blue as in sad. I adore the color Aqua. Like the shade of water in the Caribbean. It makes me happy and I thought it would be such fun to put together an outdoor dinner party with that color as the theme. So, a few years ago, I began planning. Along with shopping for decorations, that was the most fun. I even had invitations printed! A real splurge.

I picked the date, mailed out the invites and then it hit. The most extreme heat and humidity we'd seen in years. Even tough outdoor types were whining and staying in air-conditioning. Sick to your stomach heat. Hey - what could I do then? The invites were out and the guest list was set. So, we trudged on.

The deck above held the drink/appetizer table so they could all mingle there before we ate. Needless to say, they were troupers for sitting in the afternoon sun. I didn't make them stay there long.

Underneath, we moved the patio furniture over to the driveway for later star gazing.

On the patio, we set two tables. (And had the box fan plugged in - what a classy touch!)

I found some fun paper plates that drove the whole decor. I used the versatile white plastic table cloth roll under my placemats. I found the glass pebbles at a craft store and picked up the small vases on sale which I filled with blue hydrangeas. The napkin rings were easy. I stitched some white elastic into rings and then  hot glued the white glitter star on top. A tie-in to the star gazing mentioned above. Being a scrapbooker, I made the place cards with my computer, a stamp, and beach shell cut-outs. The food was on buffet tables  so they could feel free to go back for more. My adorable daughter agreed to make "puffs" to hang overhead along with our patio light strings.

As the evening sun set, the air cooled and the conversation flowed easily. Our guests lingered for a relaxed night of food and friends.

I'm getting a hankering for another Blue Night at our house. I have all the decorations, so...

 now the big question - what date can I pick that won't be sweltering, storming or unseasonably cold? 

Anyone feeling blue besides me?