ok, enough with the pillow making already.

I never considered myself crafty.

Or, domestic. Yes, I can cook, water plants and make pretties with a camera, but furniture finishing? Pillow-making? DIYing? Count me out.

With my old age (that would be 25) I find myself daydreaming about fabrics, wood finishes, and cute containers to hold all my pencils, or kitchen things.

Yes, I officially became that girl.

The funny thing is, I don't mind it at all. I really enjoy learning how to create things for my home, and the whole cheap ticket really is the best part.

I adored this little button up skirt from American Eagle I got last summer. At the time, I was flirting with the idea of wearing more skirts (my wardrobe is pretty basic) and this (which was also on sale!) seemed a great way to start it out.

So fast forward to this summer, and I'm 30 lbs lighter.

Meaning, this skirt just falls to the floor when I put it on.

I loved the button detail so much, I decided I could make it into a pillow.

And that I did.

The fabric is a really, really soft corduroy, grayish blue with great bronzey buttons.

When I finished cutting the first panel, I did toy with the idea of making it a cute strapless top of some sort.

But let's be honest, my sewing machine skills are extremely limited.

It would have been a disaster. I can only make pillows. Seriously.

I can't get over the cute little buttons!

The size is a 18x12 insert. The white pillows behind, I have yet to find a fabric for. They will stay white, but I'm thinking a linen of some sort. I got those 2 from Ross for $4.

Oh! And this new (to me) white comforter is an Ikea down comforter that I think runs for $30-$40?

I got it at Liberty Thrift for $12

The hardest part was the elastic synched waistband, I kind of left a bit of it at the top of the pillow (which is stratigically not shown) so it would be easier to sew closed. It's not perfect, but that doesn't really matter.



Alrighty, now that I've made several pillows for my bed, I think it's time to tackle something bigger. Any ideas? Anything that's not hard like a sofa slipcover?

I'm going to focus on packing and getting things ready for the new apartment in the next week. Things will be a little MIA for a bit, but I'll be back. With new apartment pics, of course :)

Enjoy your weekends, lovies!

Florida is hot. Seriously.

I am back from Florida, and although refreshed I somehow caught a little flu and I'm feeling pretty miserable today. Luckily it's cloudy and chilly outside, so I can stay in my house and watch HGTV without guilt.

I'm out of shape, and it's sickening.

Not a body out of shape, but a fine art out of shape. 

All the images from my Florida trip seem uninspired, and dull.

Ugh, it's very disappointing. It's funny how all this time I've been using my camera differently (more food shots), and when I try to go back to shooting scenery I just fall flat.

Ok, well I do have one photograph that I felt was pretty cool.

It's actually the first one I took when we arrived. Go figure.

I wanted this image to set the mood for how I would photograph the rest of the trip.

But things didn't seem to quite work out that way. I couldn't tell you the reasons, it just wasn't going to happen and I wasn't about to force anything.

Or make any of you look at ugly photos and ask (or beg) to say nice things about them.

That just isn't me.

Where is the groove, and how do I get it back?

I can already hear my Dad "Practice makes perfect, and you're out of practice, so stop whining and go shoot." Thanks ahead of time, Pops.

Things are really busy here (that seems to be the norm, though) and- 

OH!

I really almost forgot about my important little news.

........so...Mike and I move into our first apartment September 1st.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We're super excited, and admittedly, a little nervous.

I wanted to share some pics but when we did our first walk through, it never even crossed our minds. I think it was because we knew this would be our new home, and there'd be plenty of time for pictures later. So there, I've shared it!

I never lived with a boyfriend before and I'm figuring there's going to be some seriously weird things I'll have to get used to.

Any of you have any tips when it comes to living with the opposite sex?

I'd appreciate a head's up on anything!

Well, back to Design Star & a cup of a coffee.

-T

Thai food is the 2nd best thing in life...well...besides my cat Piggy...

...and I guess my boyfriend too. But the point is, Thai recipes (which I find to be the hardest to recreate) are so freaking amazinggggg, and addicting.

I found a sweet little coconut based soup from FOOD&WINE (August 2010) that had my mouth watering halfway through the recipe list.

This afternoon I got some free time to test out the recipe, and do a pretty little set up.

Spicy Avocado Cucumber Soup

Ingredients:

2 - 12 oz cucumbers - peeled, seeded, & chopped

2 - Haas avocados, chopped

2 tsp Thai green curry paste

2 tsp sugar

2 tsp grated lime zest

1 serrano chili *I put in two* - seeded & chopped

1 - 13oz can unsweetened coconut milk

3 T lime juice

salt

1/2 cup coconut flakes

cilantro sprigs

1. In a food processor, puree the cucumbers until smooth. Add the avocados, curry paste, sugar, lime zest & chile. Process until blended. Add 1 - 3 cups of water (depending how "soupy" you want your soup. I only added 1 cup so it would be creamier), coconut milk, lime juice and process until smooth. Transfer the soup to large bowl and season with salt. Cover and refrigerate until chilled, about 15 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, toast the coconut flakes in a pan over low hear, stirring, until lightly browned and crisp. This takes about 3 minutes. 

3. Ladle soup into small bowls or cups, garnish with coconut flakes, cilantro sprigs and serve.

Servings: About 6-10

I think the soup has a really unique flavor, and the idea of it being served chilled makes it a great late afternoon snack when the August heat just doesn't want to give up.

Also- toasted coconut flakes are now my new favorite snack.

---

I found this super easy to make, and lessened my fear of cooking Thai for myself.

Are there any cuisines that you just love but have the hardest time recreating in your kitchen?

I'm off to enjoy the weekend! And pack a lot of boxes................

:)

Florida in 13 days.

I. cannot. wait.

I've had an exceptionally good day, with some great news (hopefully I can share soon!) so I wanted to spread the goodness around.

A sale seemed appropriate.

From today til Friday, August 6th I will be having a BOGO sale at the shop.

Purchase any 8x8 (or 8x10) of your choice, type in the title of your second (free) print in "notes to seller" and zing! You're done!

Any questions, just let me know!

Thank you (times a million) to everyone who has kept this shop going with all your love, support, & inspiration. 

Feel like making Whoopie

...pies?

What? What did you think I meant?

Dirty, dirty minds.....

It has been a whirlwind of weather around here. Agonizing heat during the day, and horribly thrashy thunderstorms at night. I've been at the house alone all week dog-sitting, so of course it needs to be scary outside.

Holiday catalogs generally shoot during the summer, and one of the catalogs we shoot for started this past week. I'm absolutely exhausted, and can't seem to do anything that involves a computer after work.

My evenings have evolved into a lot of grilling with friends, tip toeing around the garden, and playing with food.

Which brings me to the whoopie pies :)

These are from our local shop, but I've been searching for a recipe to make my own.

The pies were piled and set on a light blue & white checkered pillowcase which sat on this adorable wheely table that I got from Goodwill for $3! I will eventually do a before and after of that (...when I decide how to finish it.) 

The light was super perfect because a storm was rolling in and the clouds were the diffusers (btw- this was shot in our garage, with the door half open).

They are  delicious little cake sandwiches filled with frosting, for those of you unfamiliar with the whoopie mania.

--

Hope everything is well out in the blogosphere. 

I officially booked my tickets for Florida.

Vacation can't come soon enough!

Wix it

Happy Monday!

It's quite dreary outside, with all this rain and thunderstorming.

I pretend to mope around but secretly I enjoy it.

My website which I built using Wix was recently reviewed on their photo blog! 

Ron from Wix was so sweet in letting me know, and I read early Saturday morning.

Like... 5am early.

I think the reviewer nailed me on the head, and totally called me out on my bio (or the lack of one). I'm contemplating hiring someone to write it for me, all this nonsense about myself doesn't seem interesting to me.  Overall, I'm super excited about how it was received. It made me feel proud of my little space on the interweb :)

Anyway, please read it if you get the time!

Review Tina Crespo Photography

Ahh, the weekend.

Strawberries in my ginger aleeeeeeeeee.

Because I roll like that.

Dear Humidity/Heat,
I say this on behave of the easter coasters melting with just a step outside,
please cool it off! Stop forcing our electric companies to shut down, and making our poor, poor puppies not want to play outside with us.

Cheers,
Tina









(A totally immature comment about the second glass in this photo. Don't the strawberries kind of look like a bikini? It made me chuckle. Didn't notice that until after I was done shooting, of course.)

early girl bakes muffins

It's totally understandable to step into cranky pants at 6:30 in the morning when someone is making a considerable amount of noise in the kitchen. I swear, I'll try my best to be quiet and something (usually large, and heavy) goes flying out of my hands onto the floor. Whoops, my bust.

But when these babies start rising and the smell reaches every floor in the house, I was greeted with smiles and "Mmmm, smells good." instead of "What the hell are you doing baking this early?"

Sweet Banana Muffins

ingredients:

1 cup flour

1 T baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/8 tsp salt

1 cup mashed bananas (or more!)

1/4 cup sugar (or 2 T of Splenda/Sugar blend)

1 large egg

1 tsp vanilla

1/4 cup applesauce

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease muffin pan or line with paper muffin liners.

In medium bowl combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt together.

In separate bowl, combine banana, sugar, egg and vanilla extract. Blend until well mixed. Add applesauce. Slowly combine dry mixture to banana mixture. Blend well.

Scoop batter into prepared muffin cups. Bake 15-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean. Let cool before serving.

Makes 12 perfect muffins.

*Incase you're curious about the stats*

Calories: 79

Fat: 0.6g

Carbs: 17g

Protein: 1.8g

Time to refill my coffee cup and enjoy one of these little guys out in the back yard.

I hope everyone has a safe and fun 4th of July!!!

xo -T

a photo you've never seen...

Mexico