painting on a deadline

My family arrives tonight for a little McCarthy reunion. In anticipation, Mike and I have been feverishly getting our home prepared, a task that included painting our two first floor bedrooms.

Mike is the more experienced painter of the two of us, but, as it turns out, I am a painting maniac. Mike focused on the details, and I hit up those walls like a graffiti artist on the run. Needless to say, we made the perfect team.



The blue room didn't turn out to be the color that we were in expecting, but we adjusted to it quickly. It reminds me of the Mediterranean or, as Mike put it, a Tiffany box. The yellow room is the Monet or Giverny room, named after the poster of his water lilies and green bridge in the corner of the room.

It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood...

I must mention the sheer joy Mike and I have in regards to remaining in our current neighborhood. We are moving only one mile eastward so to remain in the heart of Longfellow.

At some point, Longfellow neighborhood has become THE HOTSPOT for Macalester alum AND nearly all other comparably creative, hilarious, and good-to-the-bone folk. (For those of you reading this who, to your misfortune, do not live in the Longfellow neighborhood- it's not that I don't think you are also wonderful. Rather, this here is a battle cry to convince you to move into our neighborhood TOO!). I regularly claim that Mike and I were the first to start the diaspora from uptown to our convenient, more residential spot (but still close enough to stores like 612 Xclusive, thank god). Yet, it's likely that our two close friends who first bought homes in the area were the real trendsetters.

Last night's events offer a perfect portrait of the Longfellow spirit. Allow me to set the scene:

After over 18 inches of snow accumulation in less than a 24 hour period...

After 2 shoveling sessions...

After digging out 2 vehicles from one side of the street and then digging out spots to move them to on the other side of the street (gotta love Minneapolis snow emergencies)...

After countless hours spent indoors packing up our upper duplex and cleaning the awful grime off of kitchen appliances that spent much too long collecting oil grease on top of the fridge...

After throwing away countless appliances whose grease was all too much for us (Yes! No more George Foreman! Remember this is MOLLY posting...not Mike. He might have some other words about this choice if actually blogged once and a while. Yup, you HEARD me, Mike!)...

The neighborhood gang exchanged text messages from our warm little caves and decided it was high time to join forces at our local pub, Merlin's Rest. As a central location, all parties trudged through the snow to warm up over scotch, beer, fish and chips, Harvest stew, and sausages. The walk was lovely; Lake Street was quiet except for the occasional stuck vehicle (which my good Samaritan could not pass without a shove or two).

Merlin's was cozy as could be and everyone was just delighted as one friendly face appeared after another. Really, it was the kind of night that we all long for as we grow up. We crave community and friendship, and unfortunately, for many, this is just not feasible due to career or other choices.

Fair warning, this post is about to get super sappy. Proceed with caution! One of the things I love about Mike is his stability in terms of his friendships and relationships with his family. Our decision to buy a house in Longfellow was pretty much all Mike. He had a premonition that we would buy this house even before we went inside and considered where a music studio could go. Mike wanted to stay right where we are.

This quality is something I value in my marriage and life because, admittedly, I get wanderlust sometimes. Every so often, I am ready to close shop, buy a green trailer, move to Australia, and spend my days surfing with Mike and Rachel, leaving everything behind. However, Mike's ability to find and manifest loveliness and joy within our HOME and within a stable COMMUNITY reminds me that maybe I just need to rearrange the furniture.

So! Longfellow it is! I am looking forward to all the future gatherings that reiterate the warmth of camaraderie, the need for stable companionship and, not to be discounted, the beauty of a glass of scotch or a stout on a cold, snowy night.

Snowed In! One weekend before the big move!!!!

Thank goodness moving weekend is NEXT WEEKEND! Mike spent the morning shoveling (we get a discount on our rent as the "care-takers," or rather, "care-taker," of our little duplex unit) as I walked around with Rachel bounding through snow banks.



Now we are warming up and thinking about which room to conquer in terms of packing! The process hasn't been too bad thus far, but we have our share of goods still left to sort. To be honest, ll I really want to do is knit, drink tea, and listen to holiday music! But, nevertheless, we really need to start getting serious about this moving thing, so I will set aside my projects and gift wrapping for now!

Well, we have some big news...

No, not a baby! Yes, a house!

We had the inspection completed yesterday and no surprises, so I think we can officially announce that we are buying a home right here in Minneapolis! Of course, I had to bring small wonder along on our inspection.

Believe it or not (and you probably won't believe it if you know the McCarthy parents at all as their ability to dwell on any decision is remarkably predictable), Mike and I only needed to tour the Craftsman Style Bungalow once before putting down an offer. Actually, Mike was ready to put down an offer with or without viewing the house first. He was just set on continuing to live in our Longfellow neighborhood, close to many dear friends and the Mississippi River. To be honest, I couldn't agree more with his taste. The bungalow was on the market just for a day and we jumped on it. In this economy, I know the sellers must have been rather pleased!

Here are some photos and videos (with written commentary) taken during yesterday's inspection:


Soon to be carried over the threshold...Notice our inspector and his rad ladder in the background. Next up, a quick video of the backyard (backyard includes: patio, little mud room and backdoor, rain barrel, compost, one car garage with room for the canoe, basketball hoop, and a couple of parking spots...and a fence for the ray ray!):



Now a couple glances inside the house:



"My house...it's never going to be this clean, I think." -Molly reports from kitchen.



Guest bedroom (1) with look into hallway:



And 2nd floor master bedroom:



Wow, both Mike and I are super in love with this place and we cannot wait to make it our home in mid-December! More soon...

Autumn Planning!

School starts this Monday morning! The annual opening day certainly throws me and Mike, headfirst, into autumn. Personally, I love this time of year. I've read again and again that many people consider labor day the new "New Year's Eve." I can buy that.


As Mike and I prepare ourselves (and our newlywed-ness) for all the professional, work-related events and goals, we have created a list (over beers at Longfellow Grill, of course) of things we'd love to do together as the trees are changing color.

Here's a glimpse:
Labor day weekend @ a lake (yay! thank you Alma and Peter!)
Long bike ride to Redwing for picnic lunch
Late summer camping trip (with Rachel!? It would be her first camping trip...)
Chili and cornbread night (maybe the perfect evening for writing some of our wedding thank you's!)
Movie Club (like a book club...except no pre-work- just a movie and some critical friends)
Mad Men Halloween Party

Today, We are super excited because we are picking up our new canoe today from REI! The canoe is a special gift from my Grandpa Len. My mom once said that Grandpa Len can be summarized through three major parts of his life: a boyscout, a marine, a Catholic. I might add stellar dad and husband (and grandpa!) to that list. Among his many talents, he would write the most beautiful letters to my sister and I. He'd decorate the envelopes with calligraphy and drawings of flowers and animals. When he signed off, I could always count on his regular reminder: Work hard, play hard, pray hard. More than ever, it's a motto that I try to practice as much as I can.


Anyway, Grandpa Len, who can't talk very well anymore but who can still sing and whistle, bought Mike and I a canoe for our wedding. It's green, pretty light, and a real classic. Although my mom wants us to name it "Gitsch" for my grandma (Jean Gitschier), I think we might name it "Lenny."


Photos to come!

Finally, a dinner worth mentioning.

Back in Minneapolis for over a week, it was high time for some quality cooking. This summer, we have been getting our first CSA share from Ploughshare farm. For those of you unfamiliar with CSA's, it's basically heaven in a box for vegetable lovers. We've been really lucky with Ploughshare; we get a "mini-share" and we are never able to finish all the veggies in one week.

This week's box had SWEET CORN!!! This is great news; I can actually eat like five ears of corn in one sitting. Tonight, I just had two.



Half-joking, Mike and I like to tease each other with sly remarks like, "Now, that's husband level." The compliments are always a bit tongue in cheek because, ya know, our Macalester education taught us a little about the perils of hetero-normativity, but, to be honest, we are also genuinely appreciative when we step up our game for each other.

Hence, the homemade bread. That is wife-level.