The Friday Five, 9/20/19: 5 things I've been up to this week

Other than hanging out with my boyfriend this week + seeing movies, I really haven't done much, which has been a nice change of pace ... however, going to Chicago for a quick 24-hour trip with a friend this weekend, to see Rachel Bloom's (the lead from Crazy Ex-Girlfriend) show at the Chicago Theatre, and then I'm off to Vegas on Monday for another work trip.

Ice cream flight at Browndog Barlor, Farmington, MI
Ice cream flight at Browndog Barlor, Farmington, MI

What I've been up to this week:
  1. Doing a mini Ann Arbor vacation. On Friday night, my boyfriend and I stayed at the Sonesta ES, in Ann Arbor, for kind of a mini road trip. I got the hotel for about $87 on Hotwire, which was a good deal (it's normally $120+ per night). It was one of the "Mystery Deals" but you could definitely tell it was that hotel, lol. I probably should have figured out that "ES" meant Extended Stay - we had a kitchen, living room, and bedroom area, which was pretty nice. We Ubered to downtown A2 and met up with some friends for drinks, and also did dinner at Blimpy Burger, one of my favorites. The next day, we walked around downtown and met another friend at Jerusalem Garden for lunch. I finally got to check out Le Bon Macaron, too, and their stuff is pretty tasty. 
  2. Seeing movies. I definitely took advantage of my AMC A-List membership this week: I saw Hustlers, The Peanut Butter Falcon, and Ad Astra, and I'm tentatively seeing Rocky: Last Blood tonight. All three of the ones I saw were pretty good, too: I'd give Hustlers 4.5/5 stars, PB Falcon  4/5, and Ad Astra maybe 4.25 or 4.25/5. I think Ad Astra would be great on a big screen like IMAX, too, since most of the movie takes place in outer space. 
  3. Meeting up for book club. A few people cancelled so it was just three of us, but we met up at one of my favorite restaurants, Browndog Barlor. (they have ice cream flights so that automatically makes it one of my favorites, lol ...) We read The Fifth Season, I'd maybe give it 3.5/5 stars. 
  4. Eating "meh" hibachi. I had a Groupon for Shogun in Rochester Hills, so we went there Tuesday before The Peanut Butter Falcon at the AMC Forum. It took like 40 minutes to drive there, which is ridiculous ... without traffic it's like 20. I will say the restaurant got us in and out quickly, upon my request, and the food was okay, but it's overpriced and everything else was just kinda ... meh. I probably won't be back. 
  5. Seeing my parents, for like an hour or two. They live kinda/sorta close to Browndog, so I went to visit on Sunday, in between that and seeing Hustlers. I ended up taking a 1-hour nap there though because I am old and their couch is very comfortable.
Sonesta ES hotel, Ann Arbor, MI. Very comfortable!
Sonesta ES hotel, Ann Arbor, MI. Very comfortable!


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