I assume you are on WordPress 3.0. Add these lines to functions.php file, just after the starting

<?php

tag,

add_theme_support( 'post-thumbnails' );

set_post_thumbnail_size( 50, 50, true );

Then use this loop. Also, as you said you are good with CSS, I have provided just the code, you can wrap things in containers and then style them,

<?php if (have_posts()) : ?>



		<?php while (have_posts()) : the_post(); ?>



			// date, wrap in div or span and style

			<?php the_time('F jS, Y') ?>

			

			// thumbnail, wrap in div or span and style

			<?php the_post_thumbnail(); ?>

			

			// title link, if you just need title then remove anchor, wrap in div or span and style

			<a href="<?php the_permalink() ?>" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent Link to <?php the_title_attribute(); ?>"><?php the_title(); ?></a>

			

		<?php endwhile; ?>



<?php else : ?>



<h2 class="center">Not Found</h2>

<p class="center">Sorry, but you are looking for something that isn't here.</p>

<?php get_search_form(); ?>



<?php endif; ?>