Seven hundred partygoers planted a big Valentine's smooch on the American Heart Association Saturday night when they raised more than $1.2 million for AHA coffers during the Heart-Beat Ball.

As we've seen before, the ladies stepped out in red in a fashionable salute to the heart-themed gala that was held at the Hilton Americas-Houston. Taking bows on this colorful evening were honorees Port Commissioner Elyse Lanier and former Mayor Bob Lanier, Dr. Roberta Bogaev and Enbridge Energy Co.

Bobbie and John Nau chaired the gala that featured an auction of, among other things, seven paintings by Texas artists and a car of the high bidder's choice from Sewell Automotive Co.Carl Sewell Jr. was on hand to congratulate the winner who placed a top bid of $69,500.

Midway through the auction, John Nau and Enbridge Energy's Mark Maki interrupted the biding for a call for donations for AHA and added that they would match every $1,000 commitment. When all was said and done, the $38,000 committed was bumped up to a $76,000 windfall.

An eye candy hit with the gents in the mix were the Bud Light girls, dressed in heart-themed outfits. They sold raffle tickets for the mystery bags that contained between $100 and $1,000 worth of goodies, those a hit with the ladies attending.

Notables in the crowd included AHA board president Dr. Charles Fraser and Helen Fraser, Sue and Lester Smith, Nancy and Chuck Davidson, Jan Carson and Tim Connolly, Judy and Wayne McConnell, Kim and Dan Tutcher, Debbie and John Daugherty, Angela and Albert Myers, Drs. Hui-Ming Chang and Edward Yeh and Soraya and Scott McClelland, who will chair the 2013 Heart Ball.