#reading2gether with Bookroo

Good morning! Tomorrow is my FAVORITE holiday and I'm so excited to celebrate it with family, good food, and in the pool! Want to know something else that's great about this week? One of my favorite companies, Bookroo is having a HUGE sale tomorrow!! I have to share it with you because they are the absolute best and we love our subscriptions with them.

Friday Faves

Happy Friday everyone! This is just a quick post, sharing a few favorites and thoughts from this week. I have some posts scheduled for next week and some pregnancy updates- and the gender reveal! I tried to get them done this week, but it was just too busy with work, my crazy girls, and lack of sleep.

Fall 2016 Reading List

Happy Tuesday everyone! I hope you all had a great weekend! I have a few posts coming up in the next few weeks that I'm excited for. It's been so hard to find the time to blog lately. I'm trying to be more present at home and relax without doing 10 things at once so blogging has moved to the back burner for a bit. I'm hoping to work out and find a better schedule for working on posts, so I really appreciate your support! Blogging is so much fun for me and I love all of your comments and "meeting" each of you through social media. Thank you so much for following me along in my little corner of the internet.

Are you a reader? I’ve always been a pretty avid reader since childhood, I love getting lost in a book and always have a reading list a mile long. Recently on Instagram, I talked about a recent book I read that I recently enjoyed (Find Her by Lisa Gardner, I couldn’t put it down!) and asked for recommendations for my next book. There were so many great recs, thank you! I’ve added just about everything to my library’s reading list and put together a small list that I’m hoping to tackle in the coming months.



The only time I get to relax and read a book is during my lunch break at work. Now that I’m not pumping during my lunch breaks, I have so much more time to read and have been trying to tackle my list each week. I typically read a book a week (give or take depending on the length) and I've been so good at staying on top of my list so far. Here’s a peek into the books I have on the top of my list, in no particular order. I’m really excited about some of these, I’m hoping to read Behind Closed Doors and Orphan Train next.

InstaLately Link Up 12

In CA last week, it went from the 80s to freezing and raining. Boo. So I turned to my favorite Kiki La'Rue Jeggings (they're the best, I want every color!) and Lenore scarf with a classic white top and cognac boots. Such a simple and comfy outfit.

A close-up of the Lenore scarf on another day. It's really soft and so warm. I love it on a cold day.

One of my favorite polishes, Sally Hansen Petal Pusher. It's the perfect nude/pink and goes on great and is easy to build the color. PS That's our table runner underneath my hand, it's my favorite! I love it.

I started reading this book from JK Rowling, but I've since given up. There's a lot of characters and random sexual things that I just didn't care for. I read the Wikipedia about it to see if I should just stick through the story and it would get better, but after reading it, I don't think it's worth it. Have you read it? What was your thoughts?

The hubs and I babysat my little cousin and had so much fun eating donuts, playing Just Dance 4, and a game of my childhood favorite- Sorry!. When we left the hubs and I decided we have to buy the game for our place for game nights.

Lemon bars are one of my favorite desserts and when I saw that Trader Joe's had a thaw and serve for a great price, I figured why not. These were amazing! I was surprised at how fresh they tasted once they fully thawed out. We'll definitely be buying them again! 

I can't get enough of this song! I busted out the moves playing Just Dance 4 when we watched my cousin (before the game of Sorry!). I've been doing the moves all week. LOL. 

My favorite treat! The hubs and I had a date night Saturday and for dessert we had Pinkberry covered in fresh fruit. Preggo cravings satisfied! 

Sunday night we had our first dinner guests! Matt's parents, sister, and her fiance came over and we had a wonderful night. I made salmon with my own concoction of spicy mustard, honey, soy sauce, and lemon (so bomb!), baked potatoes, and a salad. It was nice to finally have a place of our own to entertain. After dinner we played Phase 10 and watched the SAG awards. 

Do you have Instagram? My username is Kristen_Lawler. Link up with Jenn and share your photos!

5 Favorite Things

Reading has always been a passion of mine. I've loved to read since I was a child and I'm so happy that it's something that has always stuck with me. I can get lost in a book for hours, days even. One of my favorite childhood memories is going to the library with my Grandmother (she is the best!) and after reading books, we would watch the movie. It instilled something in me, because I still do the same thing now. The books are always better than the movies (except in the case of Dexter, those books are garbage) because there's so much depth and emotion that can't always be expressed in film.

So I thought, and thought, and thought, about what my top 5 books are. It was so incredibly difficult, and I'm sure as soon as I hit publish I will have missed one which is why I've included a few honorable mentions now and will maybe have to add some more. So here are the books that I can read over and over again and find a different way to laugh, cry, or relate to the characters.

Little Women

Even though I had seen the movie a 100 times, I still felt all of the love, anxiety, anger, and anticipation for each sister.

The Princess Bride 

The movie has been a favorite of mine since childhood, I can't believe I hadn't read the book until a few years ago. William Goldman wrote both the book and the screenplay, so they're nearly the same, but the book has more insight into Inigo Montoya and Fezzik. It's also hilarious in some other extra details. 

The Help 

I couldn't put this book down! When it came out, it had been so long since I had read a book I couldn't put down. It's an incredible story of such amazing women.

To Kill a Mockingbird 

I didn't read this until after college and was so mad it was never required in my classes to read in junior high or high school (how it was skipped over, I'll never know or understand) because then I could have enjoyed it several times over.

The entire Harry Potter collection 

One of my favorite collections of all time. I love all of the characters, the stories, the excitement, and the journey. It took me years before I read these books, but it kind of work in my favor because I didn't have to wait years for the next one to come out. I'm still sad the series is over.

 Now for honorable mentions:

The Glass Castle and Half Broke Horses 

These are both based of Jeannette Walls life and family and are such incredible stories.

The Other Boleyn Girl 

For one, I love time period books, and the fact that this is based around true events (it's very fictional though, don't be confused) among royalty and two sisters, it's all up my alley. The book is so much better than the movie, I seriously hated Anne, ugh, she was so mean.

My Sister's Keeper 

This is really the only book I've cared for from Jodi Picoult and the first one I've read of hers. The story kept me engaged the entire time.

A Thousand Splendid Suns 

I couldn't put this book down. How women are forced to live in other countries is appalling and this story of these two women who have come together over such trials is incredible.

Again, I know I must be leaving some out, but these are my top favorite books.

What are some of yours?

Have you read any of these? What did you think?