I recently vacationed "up north" in Cable, Wisconsin. There was an inlet at the resort that was covered in lily pads. It almost felt as though I might be able to walk across parts of the inlet with all the lilies floating in the water. While I liked the image of the open lily with the sun shining through the petals, I felt it was a very common image. Water lilies close at night and I found a few that had not opened completely yet that morning. I like the image of the partially opened lily image more—it is a little more interesting. I did not find any frogs sitting on any lily pads though!!!

I had always wanted a fire pit. I used to camp quite a bit in my 20's and love the campfire. How cool would it be to have campfires in my backyard? And so, a fire pit was built. And only used maybe three times. It seems that I am terrified of building a fire and possibly burning my house down. I don't use my Coleman grill for the same reason. The fire pit languished, becoming a home for weeds and at one point, baby bunnies. One day, when I was complaining about the weeds in the pit, my mom suggested that I make it a giant planter. What a great idea! 

Ten 40 lb. bags of dirt, some muscle power and a lot of sweat later, my fire pit garden was born! I have salvia, dahlias, impatiens and a few other plants in there, including a tomato plan that is now taller than the tallest garden horse planter! A log that refused to burn in the fire pit was also added to the décor. What was an overgrown, weedy eyesore is now a beautiful addition to my backyard!

My daughter is getting married in August and last weekend, we celebrated with a 50's inspired bridal shower. My daughter always loved playing "dress up" as a little girl, so it was fitting that the 50's inspiration was incorporated into the shower theme. What a beautiful day we had—tasty food, sweet decorations and of course, wonderful friends!