LaForce Likes #32: A few food favorites

I love hearing about new food items to try so I thought I would share a few (5 to be exact) of mine with you.

1. Yoplait Greek Yogurt Honey Caramel Frozen Bars

I saw another blogger writing about these so I decided to give them a try. I like yogurt, honey and caramel so why not? They are delicious and only 90 calories per bar. It's the perfect summer after dinner treat or snack. Talk about beating the July heat... holy cow how is it July already?! And the crazy thing is Eric who doesn't like yogurt at all likes them too! There are other flavors too if you don't like honey and caramel.


2. Trader Joe's Aioli Garlic Mustard Sauce

This marries two of Eric's favorite condiments... spicy mustard and garlic. It's not too spicy though, just right. It's great on anything you would normally put mustard on and amazing with grilled veggies.


3. Trader Joe's Roasted Garlic Salsa

Guess you could say we like garlic and Trader Joe's for that matter. It's not a thick salsa but has great flavor and has mild/medium spiciness... I don't like hot salsa so that's a plus. Does anyone else think it's so clever they name their Mexican products Trader Jose's?


4. Trader Joe's Raisin Rosemary Crisps

Sounds like a weird combination but these are delicious with cheese, especially soft white cheeses. They were giving samples of these out in the TJ's once with goat cheese.. amazing!


5. Wishbone Light Balsamic & Basil Vinaigrette Dressing

Delicious on all kinds of salads... my new go to dressing. And only 50 calories per 2 tablespoons.


Any food products you have recently discovered that you love? If you try any of these let me know what you think!

LaForce Likes #31: Lego Table

I saw this on Censational Girl's blog and it immediately went onto my Pinterest Kid's Board. Although I'm pretty sure my husband would like one of these right now!

The lego mat on top is really neat too. The table is made out of IKEA furniture. I love how it keeps everything so organized and would be quick to clean up when kids are done playing.

Could definitely see myself making one of these if we have lego loving kids!

LaForce Likes #30

These Stacy's gingerbread pita chips are the bomb. They were an impulse buy at Target over a month ago you know what I'm talkin about... hard to get outta there without multiple "oh I do need this" buys. I later sent Eric back to stock up on about 5 bags. They are delicious and a perfect after dinner snack/dessert. And they are baked! A very important characteristic for chips I eat.

Sadly the gingerbread is only limited edition (although I did still see them at BiLo yesterday) but I also discovered Cinnamon Sugar which are even better in my opinion! So these have become my go to ones. These are not limited edition but they don't carry them everywhere. For instance I saw them at our Walmart but not at a different Walmart.

The original pita chips are yummy as well. No I am not compensated in any way by Stacy's. I just love these pita chips!

LaForce Likes #29

I saw these awesome Bottle Brush Trees and these immediately went on my craft list aka Pinterest Christmas Crafts Board for next year. How fun!

These would be great to get together with a couple of people and do a few sets of them together while you are doing the dye and such and split those costs even.

LaForce Likes #28

After the big meals and desserts and cookies of the holidays what better time to do a good cleaning of your refrigerator?

And while you are doing that why not make some DIY fridge mats to make clean up in your fridge that much easier from now on. They are made out of cheap plastic placemats cut to size. This would be especially helpful in the crisper drawers that tend to get grimy looking quickly.

When we move into our new home I could totally see myself doing this in our refrigerator!

LaForce Likes #27

We all know that mustaches are quite popular these days and popping up on all kinds of items. It's like the new owl. And with Movember just last month there are a lot of 'staches around. These are some great mustache mugs for the coffee or tea drinker (or even hot chocolate) and would make a great gift.

The classic

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His and Hers

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Colorful Set

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There are a ton of options on Etsy and who doesn't love supporting handmade gifts!

LaForce Likes #26

For inspiration for our new home, I have been watching HGTV while I workout using our cycle bike. I have been watching a lot of Property Brothers and while the same plot is repeated over and over, I like it just for the designs they come up with. I like seeing the end product with the perfectly designed layout, furniture, paint and accessories.

One episode included a great bold painted powder room so I did some searching to figure out the paint color. I stumbled upon a resource guide for every episode! It has details about all the products from flooring to paint to art. So happy to see they are sharing this information so I thought in this LaForce Likes I would pass that onto you!

I couldn't find a picture of the bold powder room but I found a picture of the kitchen they renovated from that same episode that turned out great! Love the white cabinets!

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Enjoy!

LaForce Likes #25

Who doesn't like it when blogs offer free patterns?! One thing I enjoy about the blog community is the openness. For the most part bloggers are very willing to share their tips, tricks and knowledge with others and answer questions. Which brings us this LaForce Likes...

If I knew how to crochet this FREE stocking hat pattern would be downloaded immediately and on my to do list for my friends with little ones! It even has 5 different sizes. So for all the crocheters out there... perfect in time for Christmas.

And isn't that photo just precious! Thanks Cherished Bliss! Visit either link to download the pattern.

LaForce Likes #24

How cute is this orange wrap watch?! I could definitely rock this at a Clemson game and other times since orange has become such a popular pop of color. You can always count on me to love orange. If you are not the orange loving type (shame on you!) it also comes in red, black and white.

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It's from ForeverJewellery on etsy. May just have to put this on my Christmas wish list... hopefully the shortest adjustment would be small enough for my teeny tiny wrist.

LaForce Likes #23

Over the summer I bought several books off amazon from some lists I found of must read books. I picked out a few that interested me and so far I have really enjoyed each one.

I may talk about some of the others on another LaForce Likes but the one I am currently reading that I started on my work trip to Plano this past weekend is...

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

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The narrator is "death" and it is written during WWII in Nazi Germany. Death tells the story of a girl growing up with a foster family there and how she becomes a book thief and learns to read and write. It is very fascinating and I can't wait to get further. The Book Thief is written very different than other books by constantly speaking of colors to set the mood and painting vivid pictures. Of course my explanation is not doing it justice so go read it for yourself!

Don't worry mom, you'll get it when I'm done! It's so nice to swap books around with family and friends :)

LaForce Likes #22

Fall is officially here in Charlotte witnessed by the crisp cool weather (cold to me as a born FL girl) this morning.

With that in mind how pretty is this fall mantle! We currently don't have room for full-on mantle decor since our TV is over the fireplace but if I did you can be sure it would be all decorated up for fall!

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It is on my pinterest decor board along with other fall mantle inspiration.

LaForce Likes #21

College football is one of my favorite times of the year! This LaForce Likes is about some tailgating main dishes you can bring and not need to cook. I've been doing some searching around thinking about our first trip to Clemson in a few weeks. Those of you with a grill or way to hook up a crock pot have many choices.

Here are some great main dish options I've found for people tailgating without a grill or heat source. These are all on my pinterest main dish board.

mini muffulettas

italian style sandwiches

smoky pimento cheese sandwiches

BLT wraps

50 tea sandwich recipes

They all look so delicious we may have a hard time deciding!

Any great ideas you want to share?

Happy Football and Tailgating Season!

LaForce Likes #20

It's always neat to see every day items repurposed and very popular item is wine bottles... whether it be the corks or the bottles themselves used in decor.

This LaForce Likes is a very creative and functional way to recycle a wine bottle into an outdoor lantern. It may be a little tricky to DIY yourself without a lot of research and tools for glass cutting but the end result is great!

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I found this on pinterest from FLOR's blog but there are many sites with various versions of this. Has anyone done any glass cutting or DIY projects with glass like this?

LaForce Likes #19

This LaForce Likes is dedicated to our purple perennials out front called Verbenas. We decided to plant some perennials in the late spring so we picked these up at Lowes because we liked the purple flowers and we're told they have a long blooming season (spring til close to frost) and were heat tolerant. We grabbed 2 small $5 a piece plants.


It was touch and go for the first couple weeks when they appeared to be dying but shortly after that they started perking up and filled out a lot. They spread very quickly too which was a nice surprise after seeing that our 2 small plants didn't cover the area as much as we hoped initially. We've even had to trim them back periodically.

Verbenas also attract butterflies... Eric snapped this with his phone one day - see the brown and yellow butterfly (kinda blurry but you get the idea).

We are no planting/landscaping experts but are very pleased with the pop of purple added to our lawn with some pretty low maintenance flowers!

LaForce Likes #18

Ohhhhh summer summer summer :)

One of the best things about warm weather is flip flops. This LaForce Likes is this simple sign. I think it would be easy enough to DIY in your color of choice or you can buy it off etsy. They used a nice birch but other woods could work just fine. I can see this as seasonal decor or something you have up all year to remind you of that wonderful feeling of flip flops on your feet.

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Life really IS better in flip flops! Hubby will attest to this as he wears them pretty much all year long... must not be as affected by cold wearing them far into chillier weather.

LaForce Likes #17

This week is this beautiful and fun chevron platter from Coton Colors. They have other colors but of course I love the purple one! How perfect is it paired with the orange polka dot dip cup and spreader for football season.

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Like I really need another dish this size when I have a few Clemson ones but the nice thing is the platter could be used easily other times of the year (Easter, showers, etc.) and not just football season since it doesn't have any logos. Most Clemson serving pieces are orange so purple would be fabulous. And of course chevron is all the rage!


One of Eric's aunts said that Coton Colors is a local company in Tallahassee so lucky you if you live near there to attend any sale events. If for some crazy reason you aren't partial to purple and orange they do have many more colors to choose from.


I have not been paid to write about this product. It is just something I like and want to share.

LaForce Likes #16

LaForce Likes is this very cool porch swing "daybed" seen on pinterest.

I think this would be easy enough to make yourself and get a matress for. If our next home has a large porch, this will definitely be on the to-do list. How relaxing!

LaForce Likes #15

This LaForce Likes is my favorite blush...

Color: Orgasm by NARS

I had heard many people love this blush and say it looks great on most skin tones so I put in on my pinterest Wish List and dear hubby got it for me awhile back for my birthday.

It is definitely amazing blush and looks fantastic!

LaForce Likes #14

How awesome is this travelling lamp from Silver Boxes?! Completely awesome and seemingly simple so it is the feature of LaForce Likes 14. I found it on pinterest of course.

I could definitely see this in our loft which will (one day hopefully soon) have photos of some of our fun travels... as soon as I can find a place that sells 11x14 and 16x20 skinny white frames.

Anyone know of such a place?? Pretty please tell me you do and I will be so thankful!

LaForce Likes #13

Continuing with the summer theme (yay summer!) from last week, this LaForce Likes is my favorite sunscreen.

Neutrogena Ultra Sheet Dry Touch Sunblock

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I like it because it is sheer and non greasy and doesn't have a sunscreen smell to it. It's not the cheapest of sunscreens so we only use it for faces and ears.  We buy the SPF 45 or 55... I have seen it come in higher SPFs such as 100 but I'm not sure if research really supports that an SPF higher than 45/55 is that much better so I stick with this and reapply it about every 2 hours while in the sun  :)

Do you have a sunscreen you like?