The Friday Five, 7/2/21: 5 things I've been up to this week

I almost forgot to write this today, because I took the day off work and I slept in—and so it feels more like a Saturday than a Friday. 

Chicago dog and onion rings from Portillo's, Sterling Heights
Chicago dog and onion rings from Portillo's, Sterling Heights

What I've been up to this week:
    1. Dining out. Quite a bit, although I'm also tracking calories and trying to lose weight. Last Friday my boyfriend and I went to Bahama Breeze for dinner—I was hoping to make it in time for happy hour but we were a little too late. On Saturday, I met a friend for brunch at 5th Tavern, in Bloomfield Hills, and we both ended up doing their breakfast buffet—I hadn't had a buffet in about 1.5 years and it was pretty good, albeit self-serve, so we both used hand sanitizer after. On Monday, my boyfriend and I showed up at La Saj in Troy hoping to get dinner there, only to find out that they now close at 4pm on Mondays, so we ended up down the street at Yard House for their happy hour. I had been to Yard House in other cities (LA and Indy) so I knew their HH was good, but the prices are really good—like $30 for two alcoholic drinks, a medium-sized pizza, a huge tower of onion rings, and chicken lettuce wraps. The rest of their menu did look a bit pricey though. Finally, yesterday I met up with a few friends at Portillo's in Sterling Heights ... only to find that they're understaffed, so their dining room isn't open ... so we ended up doing drive-thru and then eating it at the Lakeside Mall's food court, so I'd have a bathroom nearby. Portillo's is tasty wherever you eat it, though!
    2. Watching movies. I found out my AMC A-List membership actually doesn't expire until July 18th, so it'll be movie time for me until then! I plan on renewing it in August or September—usually there's a caveat that if you cancel, you have to wait six months to renew, but I talked to them on Twitter and they waived it for me. On Monday, my boyfriend and I watched The Ice Road, the new Liam Neeson movie on Netflix, and it wasn't very good ... I'd give it a generous 2.5/5 stars. I watched Plan B on Hulu last weekend and that was a fun "popcorn" movie—maybe 4/5 stars from me. Parents and I *attempted* to watch Nobody last weekend, which I had already seen in the theater, but since there was a tornado watch they sent me home early, so I only saw about half of it. 
    3. Watching TV shows. The Bold Type had its series finale this week, and although I liked how it all wrapped up, I'm going to miss the show—it reminded me a lot of Younger, which also ended recently. Too Hot To Handle is back with the final six episodes on Netflix, so I'll probably watch the final two episodes today or tomorrow, and I also binged Starstruck on HBO Max, but I wish it was longer than six episodes, as it was really good. I'm also continuing to watch Why Women Kill, on Paramount+, and I've been rewatching Friends on HBO Max too.
    4. Hosting book club. My book club was supposed to meet at Three Cats in Clawson on Sunday, but because of the flooding the majority of the people in it wanted to meet online instead, so I held it virtually. We discussed Unchosen, by Katharyn Blair, which Becki reviewed over on my book blog, and I liked it a lot. 
    5. Cooking. I had Home Chef last week, and I cooked the Korean pork tacos you see in the picture below, as well as a few other tasty meals. This week I have Dinnerly, which I like even though you have to print your own recipe cards, and next week I will be receiving an EveryPlate box.
    Korean pork tacos, from Home Chef
    Korean pork tacos, from Home Chef


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