Table Talk & Craigslist Deals

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Even though I worked over the weekend, I savored the wonderful weather we had in San Diego on Saturday.  Low 80s, sunny, lovely, gorgeous.  Sunday turned nasty, cold, cloudy, and windy but Saturday was perfect.

blue sky and palm trees

I spent time with Skylar and we went to the park together.

And got in some great runs and streamlined, 20 minute at-home workouts, too.

Backtrack to Friday, I found a great Craigslist score:  A table that I plan to use for photography purposes.  It was $20 bucks, it’s teak wood (pretty certain) and it’s perfect for my needs and available space.

teak wood folding table

I had looked around Target, local thrift and antique stores but wasn’t seeing anything that just grabbed me.

I went on Craiglist on a whim and found the ad for the table I bought within minutes of searching (a blessing unto itself because CL can be such a pain to weed through all those ads).

Turns out, the woman met me 18 hours later a few miles from my house with table in hand, and it’s perfect.

I can set up near my windows so I can get better shots.  As I mentioned in my Making Lightbounces & Using Light post, the lighting I have in my house is iffy, at best, and I think having a table near my windows will really help my shots.  I can walk around the table and try to capture the best shot and will not be confined to my dining room table or my kitchen countertops which has been the case for the past almost year.

teak wood folding table

When I went to my Food Styling and Photography Workshop, I realized that wood is a beautiful medium in which to shoot food photos.  Both as a backdrop to set plate of food on top of

Man taking picture of food with large camera: food sitting on circular panel of wood

….and just putting the food directly on wood.

Burger with open top with tomatoes, mushrooms, cheese, and lettuceI would have never thought so, but wood just seems to work wonderfully well, especially for certain food like burgers or chips or potatoes.

I wanted a table like Matt & Adam’s.  Well, they actually have a large table and then have various sizes of wood planks with different finishes, paint, textures, that they can put on top of one of their tables, too.

Arrangement of food and utensils on wooden table White, smooth wood and a more rustic, planked wood “table toppers” shown on top of their bigger table.  Change the “topper” to get a whole new look for your images.

I can put any kind of tablecloth, napkins, other wooden boards, tiles, you name it, on top of my new table if I don’t want the weathered look.

teak wood folding table

And just like my new tripod that folds up when I’m done with it, so does my new photography table.  I have a small living space and just don’t have the space or desire for another table to be set up, permanently, just hogging valuable square footage and living space.

folded teak wood folding table

If all this table talk is boring, let’s move on to food talk.

How about the Peanut Sauce Baked Tofu I just made.  Glad you all enjoyed that recipe and thanks for letting me know you love your peanut sauce, too!

Peanut Sauce Baked TofuFoodgawker liked it, too, which made me super happy!

If you’re feeling more like breakfast or a snack, try a Microwave Banana Oat Cake (vegan, GF, easy)

Microwave Banana Oat CakeTop with, what else, peanut butter or sunflower seed butter, or other nut butter.

Or make some No-Bake Oatmeal Raisin Carrot Cake Bites (vegan, GF, easy)

No-Bake Oatmeal Raisin Carrot Cake Bites

Questions:

1. Best thing you ate or did over the weekend?

Saturday’s weather was perfect.  Sunny weather always makes me extremely happy. I just feel great when the weather is great.

I also had tons of time in the kitchen Sunday afternoon which was fun.

And my new table makes me happy.

2. Have you ever bought anything on Craigslist or Ebay?  Or at second hand, thrift, or vintage stores?  Ever sold anything?

I know I’ve mentioned it in the past but both CL and Ebay can be a great way to save money and find some unique, awesome pieces, and great deals in the process.

I have been an ebay member since 1998.  I have bought and sold everything from maternity clothes to camera memory sticks to lamps to stevia on ebay.

I bought my Macbook which was just a couple months old from a local Craiglist ad and saved a ton of money in the process.  (Not for everyone’s comfort level but for me, it worked)

I sold my Polar Heartrate Monitor I used just two times on CL

I have bought used/vintage clothes and like going thrift shopping for $3 tshirts

I bought vintage scarves to use in my photography shoots

I found the scoby mother I used to make homemade kombucha on Craigslist a year ago.  It has since created hundreds of “babies”, some of which I’ve passed along to friends.

I love finding good deals and one-of-a-kind items.  And, re-using someone else’s castoffs is great.  Reduce, reuse, recycle.  So you can think of using CL or Ebay as doing something green, right!

What have you bought, sold, or found on Ebay or CL?

If you’re just catching up on weekend posts, here are mine since Friday:

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Comments

  1. Hello there an awesome site below. I expected to tell you about your final content but I did problems publishing so mentioned right here just to say thanks although it was your other posting.

  2. I have that table! It’s so adorable and FYI, has held up outside in the elements very well so if you’re using it inside it should last forever!

  3. Awesome table score! Agreed on wood and I think that’s why I like my kitchen island so much.

    That’s great about FoodGawker!

    1. Went to the apsaragus festival still.
    2. Yes, mainly Craigslist now – I got burned out by eBay’s policy updates for small time sellers. I’ve shopped at thrift shops too and find I’m appreciating them more as I notice quality take a hit on newer clothes.

  4. OO! The tofu picture looks great! Your getting so good at that!

    I actually made a really awesome purchase at a thrift store months ago….I desperately wanted an ottoman for our couch, but every one I found at furniture stores were at least $100 or more. So…I bought this disgusting looking ottoman (probably from the 1980’s) for $5 from a local thrift store, cleaned it up and decided I would spice it up! I took some really fun leftover material from the backdrop of the photo booth at my husband and my wedding, and covered the ottoman. It now looks like a retro, fun, decorative ottoman! It’s super comfy, looks really nice and I saved myself TONS of money!