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 :)

Table Re-Do

Ah the joys of renting...

Cheaper than a mortgage
You don't have to make the repairs
No lawn maintenance
You can pack up and leave with relative ease
Stark white walls
No way to put your personal touch on anything
Hard to decorate
Doesn't feel like home

Wait a minute! My pros just turned to cons.  Living the apartment life is tough for me.  I'm an Archi-nerd and completely OBSESSED with houses.  I've wanted to own my own home for as long as I can remember and at one point in my life I was very close to that dream, sadly that did not happen (insert dream crushing recession here).  So here I am stuck in another apartment but I plan on making the best of this one.  I will be living in Pullman for at least the next 3 years while I am in school and I am going to try my darndest to live in this very apartment the WHOLE time.  OK time to get to the point.  I have been very inspired by the many craft blogs I have been stalking following lately.  They have so many great ideas to spice up a space with small pops of color without painting walls.  If they can do it, I can do it.  Here is my first attempt...

The White and wood table that everyone has owned at least once in their lives

BORING! And white. Same color as the walls. This will not do.
Notice the Vail poster in the background.  I wanted to pull colors from the poster for the table and decor.
I picked a dark blue for the table and orange and yellow for the accents.
Lets get down to business.  First on the agenda was to rough up the white with a little sand paper.

This guy helps out.

And it will get all over you

I have midget feet. Seriously.
OK time to paint.

I used flat paint which I really like but it doesn't hold up to well and chips off with the slightest little ding, tears.  I went and got a clear spray to put over it in satin and it worked well with out too much shine.
The finished product...

It's looking pretty good. I need to do some touch ups and the chairs could use a couple more coats of the clear.  I had the vase on the table and found some faux fruit at the dollar store (Love that place).  I still think it needs more cow bell though.  I'll have to stare at it for a while to see what I could add.  I'm also open to suggestions.

Red Neck Iron Chef

I LOVE Iron Chef America.  I wish I could cook like they do on that show and I try really hard to mimic them. Most of the time I fall short, it my have something to do with formal training ;)  Anyway... Today AJ asked me if I have ever heard of "Sous Vide" At first I was like "Sous what?" but then a light bulb went off.

IRON CHEF!

EMERSON CIRCULATOR!

He preceded to tell me that no fancy emerson circulator was necessary, we could cook that way with our cooler.

My Mind Was Blown.

AKA, I was very intrigued.  Sous Vide means under pressure and when you cook Sous Vide you have to put the meet in a vacuum sealed pouch and put it in mildly hot water (aprox. 131*) for about 3 hours.   We decided on cooking a rack of lamb.  One problem... We couldn't find a rack of lamb... at any store in Pullman OR Moscow (Idaho, not Russia) So we settled on lamb chops.

And Now... For your viewing pleasure... A step by step tutorial on how to Sous Vide...

First pick your meet, season it, and add in aromatics. I chose shallots, garlic, and rosemary. Vacuum seal it into a tidy little pouch.

Next whip out your handy dandy Coleman cooler (I swear everyone in America has one) and fill it with water.  Not just any water, 131* water.  I bet you are wondering "Where did you come up with 131* Amanda?" and I'll be happy to answer that. The internet, giver of all knowledge.

Now plop your little pouch 'O' meet in the water and hang out for 3 hours.  Be sure to keep an eye on the temperature.  If it gets too cold, add more hot water.

When 3 hours have past take your met out of the water.  It will look like this...

Not very pretty so go ahead and slap them on the grill for a little color

Now plate them up with some delicious sides.  I chose asparagus and potatoes au gratin.  I do not get points for plating.

Our chops were pretty good but the cut of meet was a little fatty for me (and I burnt the asparagus) I did make a super tasty red wine reduction sauce which made up for it a little bit. (Thats what the red on the plate is.  Not blood, reduction sauce)  Cooking Sous Vide did make the meet very tender so tomorrow night we will be trying this process with fish.

Putzing around Pullman

Alright, I have had many requests for a photo tour of Pullman and since I can almost guarantee non of you will be visiting this tiny town in the three years I will be here I'll go ahead and comply.

There really isn't much to see. You can get anywhere in this town in a 20-30 minute walk which is something I really like about it.  We moved in the summer when it is pretty quiet but I know come August this sleepy little town will double in size with rowdy college students.  I can't wait!  So here we go with the tour...

Our tri-plex, we are in the middle.

Walk a mile uphill both ways in the snow... and you get to the Architecture building (Carpenter Hall) where I will be spending most of my time.  5 whole stories full of Architecture nerds!

And here is a lovely view of campus.  Everything in this town is on a hill, I'm not kidding.

The whole town is connected by a rec path.  It makes it really easy to get around without using a car.

A short walk from campus is the down town area.  It's really cute, I especially like the hanging flower baskets.  Today all the stores had sale items out on the sidewalks.

And finally... Cougar plaza.  Thats right folks, I am a 25 year old Cougar.

That concludes the photo tour of Pullman.  Y'all come back now.

Official Washington Resident

Goodbye CU Alumni plates.

I am sad to see you go but I must be a Washington resident so that I don't owe the government my first born when I am done with Grad school.

Washington Plates are not that bad.  It would have been super cool if I got AAK instead of AAU but I guess I'll have to live with being just plain cool instead of super cool.

P.S.  I was supposed to take you on a photo tour of Pullman.  Last night I started out on my walk of the town to take my pictures.  I made it .5 miles and had to turn around and sprint back to the house because of...um...stomach problems.  I almost didn't make it in time, YIKES!  Anyway, I am planning that walk tonight, after I digest my dinner, so look for the Pullman post soon.

Home Sweet Home

WOW!  Two blog posts in two days!

So I have moved to Pullman, Washington.  No Pullman is NOT near Seattle.  It is on the Idaho border about and hour and twenty minutes south of Spokane.  It is a tiny town with a school (Washington State University) and not much else.  I moved here to go to said school for 3.5 years to get my Masters degree in Architecture.  More on that in a later post...

To the point Amanda...

We have moved into a cute little two bedroom unit in the middle of a triplex.  It is small but we are trying to make it homey(sp).   I have done a good job turning my college furniture into adult furniture and I am quite certain my unit looks WAY better than all the other college students in our complex.  You should have seen the couch our neighbors moved in yesterday...YIKES!  In order to make our place nice and organized I needed some bookshelves.  As much as I would LOVE to run to the nearest Pottery Barn (1.5 hours away) and buy the best looking bookshelves in the place, the budget does not warrant it.  Hey I'm a college student again I have little to no money, but I promise this time not as much Ramen.  This is where my best friend Craig's List comes in.  I LOVE Craig's List.  Sure people have used it for random liaisons and lets face it murder, but I have used it to sell old electronics and even find this great apartment.  So naturally, being on this tight budget, I turned to my old friend Craig's List to find some decent looking inexpensive bookshelves.  It took a few weeks but I did find the perfect selves for the space for $25.00! (and a matching DVD case that I have no clue what to do with)  But hey, you can't beat that price.  So here are the before and after shots of my wall.

From dull...

To full...

What an improvement for very little money :)