10 things i couldn't live without this week:

1. finding the perfect party favors for the start of the goodie bags for the boys party.

2. finishing the ms. z dress.

3. a night full of bunting. i have been working my butt off on diy party decorations.

4. finally finding quinoa..i have been searching for a while, should have known target would have it.

5. the start of the 20 days of praise. this little project has been so fun. i hope the hubs likes it as much as i do.

6. all the positive feed back i have received this week from friends and family and strangers.

7. an impromptu trip to ft. myers for my sisters high school graduation. it has been such an honor the past few years really seeing paige come into her own. she is an amazing young woman with such a bright and postive outlook on life. i know that her future is going to be full of amazing things. everyone should be so lucky to have someone like paige in their life.

8. an o'donovan family game night with the grandparents and my parents and sisters. you can always count on a great time, lots of laughs, and for me this time....victory! (this was the first time ever, that i've been on the winning team playing celebrity with my family!)

9. my grandmother, whom i call nanny, gave me a ceramic dish that my great grandmother made in her last few years of life. the dish was full of treasures: a cross that she wore everyday, her wedding band and claddagh ring, and some earrings my great grandfather made. my great grandmother was incredibly talented. she could paint, made all kinds of ceramics, she was obsessed with violets (hence turquoise violets and my violet obsession), and an amazing homemaker. i spent a great deal of time with my great grandparents when i was a child. they were my best friends, teachers, role models, and they provided a magical place for my childhood. i miss them both very much, but i feel them with me every day.

10. my nanny also gave me a stack of pictures. pictures of my childhood, from when my parents were teenagers, their wedding, and from when my dad was a boy. tucked in the stack was a picture that i saw right away and was so thankful to receive. it is a picture from when i was the boys age. it's me and my great grandfather, exactly the way i remember him.