I believe everyone needs to be photographed in the place they live at least once. This is my dear friend Tina from Time Out With Tina. We have been friends since we were 15 years old. We’ve only lived in the same state one year of our lengthy friendship. I’d say that’s pretty darn impressive. But the most impressive part of this beautiful human being is her giant heart. Tina was born with a heart to serve others. She is just an all around amazing person. So when I approached her about a new blog project I am starting, she was on board before I even got through my second sentence. It was pretty easy to get Tina in the kitchen for me to photograph.

Now let’s back track this story for a minute. My new goal in life is to photograph a family in their kitchen in all 50 states. This in’t about finding America’s most beautiful kitchens, its about finding what’s at the heart of each home, love and a kitchen. It’s about inspiring people to gather in the kitchen and create magical meals that lead to a beautiful and meaningful life. It’s about sharing the everyday real life moments, that just so happen to be in the kitchen. I am a people person, I love to get to know people. I am also a foodie, and now I’m on a mission to get to know you and your kitchen.

As I hope to get the privilege of meeting a family and kitchen in each state, my objective here is to get more people to fall in love with their kitchens. No matter what it looks like

And let’s fast forward back to Tina and her cute little Los Angeles kitchen. Tina loves to cook, host dinner parties, set amazing tablescapes, and be with the people she loves. So now you can see why she was quick to help a sister out on this new adventure of mine. So let me formally introduce you to Tina and her kitchen.

Dinner Party style 

Tina’s love for food and serving others comes from her vegetarian upbringing. Something she used to hate, but now has grown to truly appreciate. Her mother used to drive an hour to a specific grocery store that carried a variety of vegetarian options. Nowadays, every store has at least one aisle for vegetarians. Her mother wasn’t just looking for vegetarian foods, she paid close attention to all the ingredients she was feeding her children. Things these days, everyone is concerned with. Let’s just say Tina’s mom was way ahead of the game. As an adult now, Tina realizes how hard her mom worked to keep them happy and healthy. And that’s exactly the same amount of love she puts into cooking and feeding others.

The morning of her dinner party, we started out on the hunt for some fresh produce from a local farmers market near by. Since she was serving a vegetarian meal, it was important to have fresh, locally grown produce. Once we found our perfect market veggies we headed back and cooked together. There is something so special about cooking with friends. The best part about the day of course was all the laughs from gathering in the kitchen.

 

 

In the kitchen

 

 

A dinner party with friends