Bookshop

Lego Bookshop–The Second Half

Time for the second half of the newest Lego modular building! After building the side for which the set gets its name (the bookshop), I turned my attention to the attached apartment building. The fifth set of bags contained a minifig and the foundation for the home, which included an awesome staircase!

A second minifig was included in the sixth set of bags, and the main living space for the home, including a lovely cabinet and charming tea set, plus a really cool window, were added:

Structurally, the seventh set of bags didn’t add a lot…mostly it was just a framework, with some pretty big gaps. But it did include the bedroom, with a fun build of a bed, and a cute little dresser. (It did not include a bathroom, which is troubling to me, because I really don’t feel there are enough bathrooms for all of the minifigs that frequent my modular Main Street!)

The final set of bags finished off the exterior of the bedroom, and included a fun little balcony, plus an amazing way to build some shingles for the front side of the building around the windows:

Probably my favorite part about this set is that the two halves can be separated and displayed however you want. I mixed them up here, just to show how each arrangement looks, but in the end, when I finish my modular Main Street (for this year, anyway), I’ll have them in two completely different locations, and not connected to each other at all!

I still have last year’s modular garage to build…I’ve been holding on to it for almost a year, and I’m hoping to get started on it soon, so I can add it to the Main Street, as well, and share an updated photo of my current design!

Lego Bookshop–The First Half

I’m taking a departure from my usual Lego modular building summaries to try something new. Since the new bookshop splits down the middle into two buildings, I’m going to look at the building process for each half. First up, the eponymous bookshop. The first set of bags (there are four sets for each part), contains one minifig and builds the foundation for both the shop and the birch tree out front:

The second set of bags finishes off the first floor of the building and contains another minifig:

No additional minifigs in the third set of bags, but the second floor does contain the living area of the upstairs apartment, including a really cool grandfather clock build:

The fourth and final set of bags does introduce another minifig (the bookshop owner and resident of the aforementioned upstairs apartment), and my favorite parts of the whole build so far, the bedroom, which includes a really cool chameleon piece with a tank, a lovely autumn birch tree, and an awesome roof!

The other half of the building is residential, which my modular Main Street really needs…I’m looking forward to putting it together!

The Top Five–Things I’m Looking Forward to in 2020

Here we are, at the beginning of a new decade! I thought it would be fun to come up with a “Top Five” of the things I’m most looking forward to this year. I kind of wish I had something really big on my list, such as a family vacation like the one we took to Florida in 2018, or a trip to London, but I really don’t need grand events to come up with things I’m excited about! So here are the things I’m thrilled are coming up in the next year (more or less in chronological order):

  • Lego Modular Bookshop–I always look forward to the release of the new modular building on January 1st, but I’m especially excited about this year’s set, because like the Pet Shop, it is a building in two halves, which will offer me lots of options for displaying it on my Main Street! Actually, I was so excited about the set, I was in line outside the Lego Store 20 minutes before they opened this morning, just to make sure I got one of the 29 sets they had in stock (I did)!
  • Animal Crossing: New Horizons–I feel like I’ve been waiting for a new Animal Crossing game forever. Sure, I’ve played (and enjoyed) Pocket Camp for the last two years, but it’s not a full game, and it’s just not the same. So if you’re looking for me on March 20th, I’ll be living the island life with my animal friends!
  • Katheryn Howard: The Scandalous Queen–One of the highlights of every year for the last several years has been the release of the latest book in Alison Weir’s Six Tudor Queens series. We’re nearing the end, with the last book set to come out in 2021, but until then, May will be a great month for reading for me!
  • Tokyo 2020–Everyone knows I love the Olympics, and I’m especially looking forward to this year’s summer games, because our whole family has an interest in Japanese culture. It will also be a bit bittersweet for several reasons, including the fact that it will be the closing bookend on Turkey and Bunny’s homeschool summer school experience (summer school began in 2008 with the Beijing Olympics), but in spite of that, it’s still going to be a fun time!
  • Great North American Oktoberfest–I actually thought this event, which is the first in what appears to be an annual event traveling to different cities, was going to be held in 2019 (and, as it turns out, I was right…originally it was scheduled for last year), so you can imagine my disappointment when we didn’t get to attend. I’m hoping that it won’t be postponed again, and I will be able to enjoy this experience in St. Louis in the fall!