Try to make me go to rehab

This lovely lady is the reason for my first post in 7mo.

I know what you're saying. "Pita, where you been?"

Well... I've been in grad school. Which leaves me no time for just about anything else.

But now, its SUMMER!!!!

And I am going to try to blog about fun things I do over the break.

This post is dedicated to REHAB.

No, I do not have a problem with substance abuse...  

I have a problem with no nightstand and no money!

Poor AJ has ben putting his glass of water (or 10) on the floor next to the bed

since we moved to Pullman 10 months ago.

I've ben looking for a nightstand small enough to fit the space for a LONG time

and could not find anything that wasn't under $15.

Why such a low budget you ask?

Because, as I said previously, I am a grad student

who hasn't found a summer job yet

I had to pay with pennies what little cash I have.

I don't know how many of you have lived in a collage town before

but if you have, then you know that spring is the best time to hit the thrift stores.

All the students leave town and donate their unwanted items to Palouse Treasures.

Score! I happened into the thrift store a block from my house

and found this beauty.

I know she looks a little rough but hey, she is solid wood, fits the space, 

and only $10!!

Ummm, those knobs NEED to go, and it needs some sanding, and paint.

So thats what I did. 

I wiped her down, sanded her rough spots, primed the dark wood,

and painted her white.

The concept I was going for was an old hospital cabinet.  

So I roughed up the edges, and painted a swiss cross on the top.  I then stenciled numbers

on the drawers.

And here she is, after Amanda's rehab

Pretty cute, if I do say so myself.

In all I spent about $30 on primer, paint, and new knobs.

Next up I think I will repaint the dining room table.

I painted it last summer and didn't really like the results so this summer...

It wil be ORANGE!

Effie Burgers

AJ and I love the show Man Vs. Food and every time we watch it AJ says "I could do that."
So when we got to Pullman AJ set out looking for a challenge.
Well he found one by golly. And it is here...

Effie Burgers. The definition of a hole in the wall.
This little bar/ burger shack seat a max of 20 people with the smallest menu I've ever seen.
Basically you can order a burger and fries and beer, thats it.
But these aren't your average burgers... Oh no, they are huge!

AJ, Chapa, Catie, and I piled into Chapa's Shelby Mustang and took a sweet ride down to Lewiston, ID to stuff our faces! Here's Catie and I on the ride down. It was full of singing and dancing.

A view of Effie Burgers

AJ's "New Effie Burger" It had a 2lb patty, ham, mushrooms, onion, and 2 cheeses, plus all the usual toppings.

Chapa Finished his Effie Burger 1st and got the Champion award!

And the beer is served in frosty mugs mason jars

The devastation...

The best burgers in town!

Interior Decorator

"I'm not an interior decorator, I'm an interior DESIGNER"

If I had a nickel for every time I've hear that, I'd have 10 cents.

I'm not an interior decorator, I'm not an interior designer.
I am a borderline architect which is WAY cooler, haha!

All that aside I do enjoy "decorating" my space and as I have said in an earlier post I find it hard to do so in a rented space with a little no budget.  When I moved to Pullman I purchased a new bed. A pretty bed. A bed that I will have for many years to come. The problem? I had no pretty blankets or pillows to put on it. So when I was planning my trip home my sister said she ordered a sewing machine for Mom's house. BINGO! cheap pillows, here I come!
This is where the story gets good... I was not feeling that great at my mom's house (surprise, surprise, Amanda sick again) and I bought a box of tissues. Naturally I don't look at the price of the tissue box, I grab the prettiest pattern and buy it :) After grabbing the prettiest tissue box on the shelf I stop to look at it. It's a really cute pattern with colors that would be PERFECT for my bedroom.

Did I just plan my bedroom off a tissue box?
Yes, yes I did.

ANYWAY,  Al and I went to the fabric store to buy a three year supply of felt so she could make a fabulous play house... and get me some pillow coverings.  I didn't find the pattern of the tissue box and cried for hours decided to use it as a color pallet instead. It has been a while since I had done any sewing (6 years or so) so I was a little nervous. I found some great fabric patters but they only came as fat quarters which are not big enough to make pillow cases. I bought the fat quarters and some basic fabric ad fun ribbon for the accents. I also bought some fabric to make pillows.  I cut, I sewed, I had a great final product.

Finally pretty pillows! But I don't have a pretty blanket :( Good thing it was my birthday! My mom let me order a new duvet for my birthday and it looks great with the home made pillows!

Man I'm crafty. Now to update the furniture with no money... That one might be hard.

A Quick Trip Home

About two weeks before school started I got fly back to Colorado to spend time with the fam.
Alexis was there with Hannah and the newest Peterson addition Sadie.

Here's a little photo recap of what I did while I was there.

I wore a Sadie around for a day (and pretty much held her any time I could)

I got Hannah and Sadie Washington Sate Cougars T-shirts

I went to Denver to See Joan, Chris, and Ryan. We had dinner at one of my favorite restaurants, Lola (great name if I do say so)

A last but not least I hiked the incline and then ran down Barr trail. I met up with Drew Spellman, an old friend from high school who was hiking it on the same day.  It was nice to have the company and catch up on the past 8 years.

The start and WAYYYY up there is the finish

Almost 1/2 way

The view and it starts to get really steep!

Drew at the top

Me at the top, now to run the 3 miles back down :)