Book Beginnings & Friday 56 -- Uncommon Criminals by Ally Carter

Book Beginnings on Friday is a meme hosted by A Few More Pages. Anyone can participate; just share the opening sentence, or two, of your current read, making sure that you include the title and author so others know what you're reading.  

Moscow can be a cold, hard place in winter.  But the big old house on Tverskoy Boulevard had always seemed immune to these particular facts, the way it had seemed immune to many things throughout the years.

The Friday 56 is a weekly meme hosted by Freda's Voice. Check out the rules and join in the fun.

Grab the book nearest you. Right now.
Turn to page 56.
Find the fifth sentence.
Post that sentence (plus one or two others if you like) along with these instructions on your blog or (if you do not have your own blog) in the comments section of this blog. Post a link along with your post back to this blog.

Page 56 is blank & page 57 starts a new section entitled:

2 days before the emerald arrives

Somewhere in Austria

This is the second in Ally Carter's Heist Society series.  I know they are frequently compared to Ocean's Eleven but the comparison is spot on -- this one had a little less of that ridiculous (but potentially wonderful) kind of streamlined hijinks, but still a fun book. 

A photo tour of my new apartment

A friend asked me a for a photo tour of my apartment and it was a good motivator to try doing some more tidying on this day off work when Fiona is with her dad.  (I'm writing this on Labor Day.)

It has been good to spend this first month settling in, trying to make the apartment what we want it to be (we've definitely got more work to do, but it's fun), and getting to know our neighborhood and community.

Fiona is just starting to settle into the school year and I am feeling very suited to my job (which is not to say I don't make ridiculous mistakes sometimes).  It's lovely to have a school that Fiona loves and a boss who simply laughs at my mistakes and then tells me how to fix them.

So, pictures:

Let's hear it for the purple wall!  <3

All the purple is the living room.  This window looks out on the coffeeshop's little patio.  (We share a wall w/ a coffeeshop.)

This doorway leads to our bedroom.

You can see the bedroom door in this one, too, as well as the yellow in the kitchen.

I'd love to paint the bedroom -- the green seems much darker to me in person than it does in this picture -- but I'm thrilled enough with the purple that I can deal with the green. :)

And this window looks out onto a brick wall.  :) Also the pathway that the coffeeshop workers use to enter the shop, and the back door to the used bookstore.

A bathroom with natural light *and* a clawfoot bathtub.  Contented sigh.  This window looks out onto an alley/parking lot, but there is also a fair bit of sun and green trees.

A very decent-sized kitchen -- we need a dish drainer, though.  :)

I should've gotten a picture of the outside -- our door is bright red and we have a small porch.  :)

Theme Thursdays -- School -- Magical Mischief by Anna Dale

Hosted by Reading Between the Pages

Rules:

*A theme will be posted each week on Thursday
*Select a conversation/snippet/sentence from the current book you are reading that features the theme
*Post it and don't forget to mention the author and title of the book
*Event is open for the whole week
*Link back to Reading Between the Pages

This week's theme is school.

 

The next morning, Arthur skidded to a stop outside the bookshop.  He flung his bike on the sidewalk and knocked insistently on the door until his knuckles hurt.  The reason for his urgency was the call from Miss Quint.  She had telephoned his house very early that morning, before any of the Goodenoughs were up, and left a rambling, incoherent message on the answering machine.  He had recognized her voice, high and hysterical though it had been, and he had heard her say his name and also the phrase "We're in for it."  As it was a vacation week, Arthur was able to head straight over to Hardbattle books without the worry that it would make him late for school.

 

~page 115, Magical Mischief by Anna Dale

Fiona and I are just finishing this one up.  Mr. Hardbattle's bookshop is losing money because of the magic that makes its home in Hardbattle Books.  Determined to find a more appropriate home for the magic, Mr. Hardbattle, Arthur, & Miss Quint join forces -- but while Mr. Hardbattle is traveling to various relocation possibilities, Miss Quint gets lonely and begins wishing characters out of books and into the shop and Arthur has to scramble to help fix the situation....  Fiona has liked it, I think -- I'm ambivalent...

 

Pictures from the last month -- I'll try to take more detailed apartment pictures soon!

I made "my" macaroni and cheese for one of our last meals at Jen's house.  Fiona made these cute little faces when she was helping me.

This is the last picture I took of Fiona before we moved to our new apartment -- and the last one before she decided to get her hair cut.  I think she looks so much like her dad in this picture (look at that nose!) especially whenever he has long hair. Very cute.

And here is her haircut (very coincidentally wearing the same shirt) and the purple walls we love at our new apartment.

Here she is showing us her missing teeth.

And hanging out with our friend Kolya at his grandma's house.  We think he is going to start attending Fiona's school soon, which will be super cool.

Fiona and her friend Caroline -- Caroline is just barely a month older than Fiona and they go to school together.  Caroline and her mom, Wendy, came over to see our new apartment and to go to the Comfort Cafe for dinner.

When they were finished with dinner, the girls went back up to the counter to look at the cookies and muffins.  Geno, the chef, asked them what they needed and when they said they were looking for dessert, he said, "Give me five minutes" and produced this crazy yummy strawberry shortcake with thick, cold, white chocolate mousse.  He made plates for Wendy and I, too, and I'd already devoured a good chunk of mine when I thought to take a picture. :)

More Caro, Fio, and a purple wall.

Wendy -- she always sparkles.

Me

Two pictures from the first day of school -- somebody was still a little tired that morning before we set off for the bus. :)

Our friend Phoebe sent us a fun package -- lots of Dorothy Sayers/Lord Peter Wimsey books and some cool crafty stuff.

A package from Amazon -- I have gift cards there from my mom, my aunt Vinnie, and my blogging friend Bev.  I'm excited that I still have a bit left to spend!  I told Fiona she could pick one of the things I ordered, and she has been very happy with her new play-doh.  I got myself a bamboo cutting board, measuring spoons, and Triscuits -- I'm really needing to restock my kitchen and this is an excellent start!  Oh, and the book was a separate package -- sent to me to review.