The Friday Five, 11/19/21: 5 things I've been up to this week

I still haven't been sleeping well lately, although it's been slowly improving, so this week has felt long ... I'm glad it's the weekend. Next week will be a short week for me too, as I'm only working Monday through Wednesday due to the holiday. 

Nonla Burger - the best! Similar to In-N-Out.
Nonla Burger - the best! Similar to In-N-Out.

What I've been up to this week:
  1. Trip to Portage. One of my friends from college lives on the west side of the state, so I went to visit her and her husband. It was my first time making the drive by myself, but 2.5 hours each way isn't that bad; there are also rest stops available about halfway there each way, so I was able to stop for a minute. We mostly just play board/card games and eat, LOL; the Kalamazoo area has Nonla Burger, which is my favorite, as it's VERY similar to In-N-Out, and we also had a pie from Crane's, which a mutual friend had gifted her, and Crane's is my favorite Fennville pie place. Plus I got to try Nonla Vietnamese, although sadly it's permanently closing tomorrow or Sunday, I believe; everything we got from there was very good. 
  2. Yelp pickup event. Yelp had an event where we could go to Dessert Oasis in Royal Oak to pick up one drink and one dessert of our choosing. Royal Oak is only about a 10-15 minute drive for me; although I didn't have much time this week, I squeezed it in on Wednesday before zumba. I ended up getting an Earl Grey tea latte, with almond milk, which was unique—I have had and liked chai tea lattes before, but I've never seen an Earl Grey one—as well as a slice of their Bailey's cheesecake. The latte was probably a 5/5 from me and the cheesecake maybe a 3.5/5. I'd like to go back at some point and sit though - it would be a good place to meet up with friends or work. 
  3. Eating out too much again. Portage aside, since that was essentially a vacation: on Monday I had dinner in Royal Oak with a friend (Jolly Pumpkin, for their awesome half-off happy hour); on Wednesday, I met someone at Berkley Common, which ended up being quite good, and I had never been there before; and yesterday I met someone at Hong Hua, in Farmington. Hong Hua was interesting because the food was very good, but everything was a la carte—we didn't really get any veggies with our entrees, and I think they had to be ordered separately. Plus even white rice was an extra $1.50 each, which seemed a little much (brown or fried rice was extra). Today I am meeting a friend to get Green Lantern, at the Berkley location, which I have never been to, also. 
  4. Seeing the new Ghostbusters movie! The reason I went to Jolly Pumpkin on Monday was because a friend and I attending a press-only screening of the new Ghostbusters: Afterlife, which ended up being fantastic. You can read my review of that here, and I gave it 4.5/5 stars.
  5. Playing Covidopoly. I was supposed to meet someone on Tuesday for dinner but they were sick, so we ended up having a video chat and playing Covidopoly instead, which was fun. If you've ever played Monopoly Deal, Covidopoly is very similar to that, although COVID themed, and it's a fun game to play online with friends; I have a standing Friday "date night" with one friend to play it. 
Crane's blueberry pie (from Fennville) + Settlers of Catan game
Crane's blueberry pie (from Fennville) + Settlers of Catan game



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