A Little Bit French, A Little Bit Southwest...and A Little Newlywed Game?

I’m blessed in many ways, but one of those ways is my wonderful friendships. My family is fortunate enough to be in a group friendship with four other families. We’ve all been friends for a dozen years or more – some as many as 20 or more. We’ve been through thick and thin – watched each others children grow up, graduate, leave for college, come home, get “real jobs”, get married and have babies. And one way we support each other is showers…..for everything. Weddings, babies….you name it. But, one unfortunate young couple was so busy before their wedding nuptials, and our schedules were so hard to coordinate we finally gave up and opted for a “Newlywed Partay” instead. So we waited until after the big day had passed and all the hoopla had settled back down and finally were able to celebrate.

Our good friend Barbie opened up her beautiful home for the event.

And this is where the little bit French comes it.

She has a spectacular home with a wonderfully large living room filled with antiques, great textures, French furnishings…..and a touch of Southwest. Notice the picture above her fireplace? An unusual mix, but it works beautifully.

Barbie graduated from college with three degrees, one of which was interior design, so notably reflected in her gorgeous home!

If you look closely you can see our group of “moms” in this picture she keeps on display. Our group nickname is the “Rita’s”. (We came up with that one day while sipping on margaritas on a hot Texas summer afternoon years ago. Senioritas sipping on margaritas. Get it?!) All the hubbies and kids refer to us as “the Rita’s” – and have for years.

Another little touch of France here with these cool wall accessories on the way to the den. Notice her window dressings? It’s berry vine. How creative is that!?

When you move into their den/game room you see where the main Southwest Theme really comes in. Look at this great paneling. Barbie and Cindy (another Rita) did this technique themselves. Doesn’t it look cool?

I had to throw in her cool kitchen backsplash. Very cool.

And, I’m incredibly jealous she’s managed to keep her backyard looking amazing in this stifling Texas heat.

We did what we moms do best – created a great spread of food, some catered by the fabulous Woody B’s Barbecue and some made by us.

After a great meal we moved to the living room – with the “newlyweds” front and center – to have some fun and play our own version of the Newlywed Game! Just a fun little something to put them on the spot!

Barbie put me in charge of the game so I headed out to one of my favorite places to gather the props – The Dollar Store! – and picked up these signs. Then I printed off their names and glued them on.