The root of the problem

So, Jason had a fun day yesterday. We've been having problems with the sink in the basement -- it overflowed a few times while doing laundry and we thought the drain was probably clogged with some lint. When the sink overflowed again that morning, Jason thought it might be a good idea to get a professional in. I had plans for the day to meet up with my friends from high school and to go to Lindsay's baby shower, so Jason and Molly settled in to wait for the plumber.

Approximately 5 hours later, I see a text message from Jason asking me to call home as soon as possible. It's not like him to be dramatic, so I ran outside to place the call. I assumed it was probably something to do with the plumbing, but was not expecting for him to tell me that the clog in our sink was due to ROOTS growing in our pipes. What?! Apparently we're going to have to rip out and replace all of the clay pipes that run underground between our house and the sidewalk. So what we thought was going to be a $100 quick fix is now going to end up being a very very (very) expensive project that will require us to tear up half of our landscaping. Boo.

Oh, and did I mention that somehow, while all of this was happening, Jason managed to break one toe and injure another? Yes, his pinky toe is completely black, and a toe on the other foot was somehow impaled by a stick in the yard. Think he might have been a little distracted yesterday? Poor guy!

I felt terrible that Jason spent the entire day dealing with this mess while I was having fun with my friends, oohing and ahhing over cute baby gifts. And odds are, he's going to have to keep dealing with it all week as we get estimates and then start moving forward with the work. I think I owe him one. Or ten.

Welcome to the suburbs!

Oh baby!

Finally -- the news is out and I can blog about it. Archie and the B are expecting a baby! I've known for a few weeks, but they were waiting for my parents to come in town again to officially make it public and tell the rest of their friends and family members. Hurrah!

It turns out they share a due date with my friend and fellow blogger, Kylie. Who knows, maybe we'll all run into each other in the halls of Northwestern's Prentice Hosptial next March :)

It goes without saying that I am extremely excited to meet my new niece or nephew. Apparently my parents feel the same way. They've been thinking about buying a place in Chicago or Evanston for a while now, but after finding out that they're going to be grandparents again, they went ahead and pulled the trigger on a condo in Evanston. More good news! Can't wait for spring!

Go U NU!

One of the many perks of our location in Evanston is living so close to Ryan Field, home of my beloved Northwestern Wildcats. Jason is still trying to raise Molly as a Nebraska fan, but after yesterday's tailgate and high five with Willie the Wildcat, I think we may have a little Northwestern fan on our hands. 

Susie, Sean, and Sean's dad Joe also have season tickets, so we met them a few hours before the game for beers (juice for Molly) and sausages. Jason unfortunately missed a big chunk of the tailgating having to deal with University police after a student accidentally backed into our car (doh!), but Molly had an excellent time stuffing her face with pretzels and dancing to music in the parking lot. 

Conflicting loyalties

Discovering the joys of tailgating

Even Jason got into the game, which Northwestern won 22-13 vs Boston College. The score is a little deceiving, since we led most of the game by just a few points and had trouble getting in the end zone. But our record so far this season is 3-0, and I think we have a good chance to win the next 2 games vs South Dakota and Indiana. The true test will be the game vs Nebraska on October 20. Go 'Cats!

Keep on dancing till the world ends

Congratulations to Jake and Corinne:

They met in a bookstore and were married in a bookstore. How perfect?!

From start to finish, we had a wonderful weekend in New York. On Friday, the girls had a day of brunch and beauty in Soho, and then Marsha and Steve hosted an unbelievably yummy rehearsal dinner at Dos Caminos. We had so much fun hanging out with the O'Grady relatives, including my adorable nephew Will, and our new DeFranco family members.

Of course the highlight of the weekend was the wedding, pictured above, at the Housing Works Bookstore Cafe. Jason and I went back and forth in the weeks before the wedding, trying to decide if we should get a babysitter for the later part of the evening, or just press our luck and hope that Molly could tough it out until the end. I don't know what we were so worried about because apparently, we have a little party girl on our hands!

Aunt Corinne, you now have another Britney fan in the family:

Molly danced like that all. night. long. She danced so hard she ended up with a blister on one foot. And she was SO mad at me whenever I would try to tear her from the dance floor to take a break and drink some water or just give up the spotlight for a few minutes. Come on, Mom!

I finally got her in a cab and back to the hotel around 11 or 11:30pm. About two minutes after walking in the door, and right in the middle of a diaper change, Molly threw her duck over her face and passed out on the edge of the bed.

Partied out.

If this is what Molly's like at two, what's she going to be like at 18?!

Work in progress

We spent some time sprucing up the place today, so thought I would share a few pics on the blog.

Our lovely house

Front porch furniture -- my favorite place to sit and read the paper. Heaven!

Side/back view of the house. You can see our new car in the drive!

Back porch furniture. Not much room to spare...

Front room. This will eventually be a living room. For now, it's Molly's play room

Jason's lair. Posters are up!

Dining room view 1

Dining room view 2

Family room/office. Cluttered desk not pictured :)

Kitchen view 1. A little low on counter space, but I shouldn't complain!

Kitchen view 2

Basement/TV room. You can see in the background that Jason is making efforts to organize his CD collection... that project might take some time

Master bedroom

Tandem room view 1, with my new "Cute as a Button" love seat from World Market

Tandem room view 2

Guest room. Obviously, I will not be winning any decorating awards this year

I think it's pretty obvious whose room this is

Molly room view 2

As you can see, we're fairly settled, but still have some work to do furnishing the living room and tandem room and decorating...just about everywhere. I'll post new pics as we make progress!