Yes/No Detroit

Everyone in my family just finished getting over the plague (not really, I'm being dramatic, but it certainly felt like that), which is why there was no Friday Five last week. This week was better in terms of sickness, but still busy. Maybe Happy Ending at the Fisher Theatre, Detroit What I've been up to the past two weeks: Plague . Last Thursday, I was sick, but thankfully only for a day or two; on Friday, my daughter couldn't keep down food, and we ended up going to the ER at the end of the day (where she, of course, was able to keep down food, and she's fine now); and then starting Saturday, my husband was sick. My MIL is awesome and ended up coming in from Indiana to help us out for a bit, and thankfully everyone is healthy now, I'd say. Yelp pickup event at Onezo . My MIL came in on Sunday, and I was finally able to leave the house a bit. Yelp Detroit was doing a pickup event at Hers Zakka Market & Onezo Cafe, in Novi, so I met a friend there and got my fre...

It's been a super busy past two weeks—last week I was in Massachusetts on a press trip for work, through Ocean Spray, and even got to go into a cranberry bog, hence no Friday Five. This week I finally have some time, so let's recap the past two weeks! A cranberry bog in Massachusetts What I've been up to the past two weeks: Work trip to Massachusetts . Two weeks ago, on a Monday, I got an email inviting me to Lakeville, MA, courtesy of Ocean Spray, to learn about how a cranberry gets from the bog to consumers' tables. It was a fast turn-around though: the trip was a week after that (aka last week), Wednesday to Friday. I asked my MIL if she could come help with the baby, and last week, I headed to the East Coast—where I was born, and lived until I was five years old—to check out some cranberries! The bog was definitely an interesting experience, I felt a little like an Oompa Loompa in the waders but it was cool to see how the cranberries get harvested—after the bog we w...

Today is the 25th anniversary of 9/11, which is crazy - I still remember where I was and what I was doing (9th grade English class) when they announced the news. I was a freshman in high school at the time, and I also remember observing the 1st/2nd/3rd anniversaries with a few moments of silence, too, at gym assemblies.  Practical Magic watch party What I've been up to this week: Practical Magic watch party . Even though the new one has mixed reviews, the first one is one of my all-time favorite movies, so I'm looking forward to watching it. On Friday, my friend Margarita had a watch party for the original, and she always throws a great party—she had decorations, as you can see above, plus lots of good charcuterie and desserts, and we all brought a charcuterie board too; I made a dessert one with marshmallows, chocolate, and more.  Rainforest Cafe birthday party . On Saturday, a friend had a birthday party for her 7-year-old son and it was supposed to be at their house, but un...

This might be a shorter Friday Five today—daycare is closed due to a power outage, so I'm writing this while Baby K and I scarf down some breakfast. She has a doctor's appointment today, so I took off work anyway for the long weekend, but I was hoping to relax a bit until 5pm ...  Domino's Farms, Ann Arbor What I've been up to this week: Birthday party at Domino's Farms, Ann Arbor. I had heard of this place but never been, and Baby K got invited to a 4-year-old's birthday party there (her parents are close friends—her dad actually got ordained and was the "minister" at our wedding two years ago). We almost didn't make it, because my husband was a little under the weather, but my mother-in-law was in town until that day and offered to go with (always good to have a second pair of hands, with a baby). Baby K got to see some farm animals close up, and also go on a tractor ride, which was fun.  Watching TV shows . I didn't know there was a new seas...

This has been an out-of-sorts week: we were in Indiana last Friday (hence why no Friday Five post last week) through Monday, and then Baby K stayed there with her grandparents until Thursday. She just got home yesterday, since we are having her 1st birthday party tomorrow. Lindsey Stirling at Freedom Hill, Sterling Heights, MI What I've been up to this week: Attending a wedding . The reason we went to Indiana is that one of my husband's friends was getting married—I had met this friend a few times, and had only met his fiancee once, at our wedding two years ago, actually. The ceremony was at a church, conveniently like a 5-minute drive from my in-laws' house, and the reception was at a nearby community center. A lot of our friends went, including some who live in South Carolina whom we don't see often, and it was a fun time; we also attended an after-party with the same friends, too, and stayed out way too late, but it's not something we do that often now with a bab...

Well, it's somehow August, and I'm in my feels about Baby K turning one in about a week. This is a busy month, too—we go to Indiana next weekend for a wedding, then the weekend after that we are having a small get-together for her birthday. Unrelated, I'm seeing the new Spider-Man movie today, which I'm excited about, but that means I have daycare drop-off instead of pickup. Crumbl cookie delivery What I've been up to this week: Getting work samples for my job . As a perk of my job (snack + candy editor), I get samples pretty frequently, and one of those this week happened to be a Crumbl delivery of its weekly flavors. This week the theme was soda shop flavors (see above), and my favorite was that chocolate/vanilla swirl one in the middle; it was a Diet Cola Nilla wafer cookie.  Getting my Crohn's infusion . And my car didn't conk out on the ride home this time, thank God (last time, in early June, that's when my car stopped working and I had to wait for...

I feel like July went by FAST, and tomorrow it'll be August: Baby K's birthday month (and my Birth Day month). Craziness. What I've been up to this week: BBQ with friends. One of my husband's friends invited us over for a BBQ last Friday night, and they have a SUPER nice outdoor setup—we ate under their gazebo, and there were twinkling lights and also they have a TV mounted to the top of it. I had ribs, chicken, potatoes, and cornbread—my husband actually made the cornbread, I helped by cleaning up after—and Baby K had some of the meats and also tried banana for the first time, which she liked. We got home way too late (around midnight, I think) but it was a lot of fun.  Watching 72 Hours, on Netflix. This is the new Kevin Hart movie and it looked like dumb fun, so I watched it the other day ... and it was. I'd give it a 3.5/5 and I found myself laughing out loud during a lot of it, so it was a good time.  Watching TV shows. Married at First Sight has been releasing...

Somehow July went by FAST and now it's July 24th. We are going to a BBQ later tonight which I've been looking forward to, and we made some homemade cornbread to bring, too. Latkes, sour cream, and applesauce from Whistle Stop, Bham What I've been up to this week: Getting Doordash and going out to eat. My husband and I got Noori via Doordash on Saturday and also yesterday—I usually get the same thing there, the sweet and mild sauce on boneless chicken with soy garlic dumplings and either a root beer or an orange soda (it's included in the combo), but on Saturday I got sweet and mild bone-in wings, which were okay but not as good as the boneless, and yesterday I got soy garlic boneless, which was tasty. On Sunday, Baby K and I met up with one of my friends at the Lodge, in Keego Harbor—my friend lives in Waterford and I chose this place since it was midway between us—and she slept for half of lunch, LOL, but otherwise it was fun. Finally, yesterday I was working at the of...

I have had a lot of doctor's appointments and random things this week but other than that, not much going on, except trying to live through this wildfire smoke that we are getting from Canada—it's supposed to be better today, but I tried to get Baby K into the car fast after daycare yesterday because I didn't want her to be exposed much, either. Yelp pick-up event at Einstein Bros. Bagels, Bloomfield Hills What I've been up to this week: Yelp pick-up event at Einstein Bros. Bagels, Bloomfield Hills . This was available at three locations—Royal Oak, Ann Arbor, and Bloomfield Hills—and I chose Bloomfield Hills thinking it was the location at Maple and Telegraph, but it was actually at Woodward and Lone Pine, so about a 20-min. drive. I brought Baby K and my mother-in-law, my husband was traveling for work over the weekend so she came in to help me with the baby, which was very nice of her. We got a baker's dozen (13 bagels) plus a tub of shmear (cream cheese) and a dr...

This has been a busy week and will be a busy weekend—yesterday I went to Ann Arbor for Sonic Lunch, a noontime concert series, to meet up with some friends while Baby K was in daycare, and today my MIL and I are going to the Tigers game tonight courtesy of a candy brand I write about. Madtown Grilled Cheese at HopCat, Ann Arbor What I've been up to this week: Fourth of July get-together . Two of our friends have held a get-together for a few years now, but this year they have a three-month-old baby and we also brought Baby K. The food is always super tasty (and there's usually brisket), plus it's fun to hang out with friends. Their neighbors pool funds together to put on a fireworks show, too—this was Baby K's second fireworks show and she reacted better than the first time, but her reactions swung between interested and disinterested, LOL.  Visiting with my sister-in-law. My SIL lives in Indiana, and came up to visit Friday to Monday of 4th of July weekend, to hang wit...

This week went by pretty fast and I have zero plans this weekend—hoping to maybe sleep a bit, because I haven't gotten a lot of sleep this week, with Baby K waking up a bit. Walled Lake fireworks What I've been up to this week: Walled Lake fireworks . My husband, parents, and I go to this every year, because it basically takes place outside my parents' condo. With a 10-month-old, I wasn't entirely sure if she'd be okay with it, or start sobbing, and it was kind of a mix of both ... we got her headphones (ear protection) but she was crying when the first few fireworks went off, because it was rather loud and they were basically right after another. After we moved back a bit further, back to the condo, she saw the lights and seemed to enjoy that, it seemed ... we will try again on July 4th weekend, as some friends have invited us to their neighborhood display.  Getting tasty foods. Yesterday, I worked in the office and I had a sandwich from La Pecora Nera, its pesto o...

Overall this has been a good week, and Baby K has a doctor's appointment (10-month well visit) today so I was able to sleep until 8am or so, which was also very nice. Crumbl delivery (work samples) What I've been up to this week: Buying a new car, and more car issues. My husband's 2014 Hyundai had about 140,000 miles on it and was nearing end of life, so we got him a 2026 Explorer. It's a super nice car, but was a "courtesy car" for the dealership, meaning it had 1,000 miles on it already. There were a few quirks that needed fixing, so we had it for about two days and then they gave HIM a courtesy car (also an Explorer, not as nice as ours tough) so he's had that this week. In terms of MY car (also a 2014, a Honda Accord), I went to go do errands during my lunch on Wednesday and it went from like 1/4 tank of gas to showing zero by the time I had driven one street away. I immediately turned around and went home ... I had never seen that before. :(  We lucki...

This has been one hell of a week ... hoping that the next week and weekend are better. Bodysuit I got for Baby K while in Vegas for work What I've been up to this week: Insane car troubles. On Saturday, I had my Crohn's infusion, and then was driving to get us takeout ... and my car engine STOPPED working. Like I could tell I was just coasting. I was super lucky and was almost at Telegraph, so I pulled into the Jeep dealership and was able to park, and I also walked inside to explain the situation to make sure THEY didn't tow me. The tow truck took about two hours to show up, so I walked over to CFA and had lunch (and enjoyed the air conditioning), and then I had him take me to Belle Tire ... the driver was also super nice and gave me a drive home, too, otherwise my husband and the baby were going to have to come get me. Fast-forward to Tuesday night, when I was driving my husband's car, and experiencing some of the same issues. On Wednesday AM, he got in his car to dri...

This past week had a LOT of stuff going on—I got back from my Vegas work trip last night, and I lost my voice on Tuesday somehow, so I am going to see the doctor today and probably only working a half day (and then Monday is Memorial Day, thankfully). World of Beer festival, Frankenmuth, MI What I've been up to this week: World of Beer festival, in Frankenmuth. My mother-in-law came to town last Friday, because of my work trip on Monday, but we asked her to come in a little early so we could go to the beer festival in Frankenmuth—we had gone in 2022 and 2023, and it was a good time. Your admission fee ($30-ish) gets you this tiny souvenir mug, pictured above, plus six pours, and you can buy three more tickets for $5 on site. They had a lot more vendors, including artisans, this year, and I bought a funny plaque that says "Welcome to the bathroom - a cat will be with you shortly" (we have two cats), which is now hung in our bathroom, haha. The festival also has food trucks...

I am pretty sure Baby K is in a 9-month sleep regression, so this week has been pretty rough ... either that or her teething has kept her awake. We have been lucky to get 5-6 hours of sleep each night, and it has not been consecutive, LOL ...  Ice cream from Treat Dreams, Ferndale What I've been up to this week: Colonoscopy prep . Always the most FUN weekend of the year (right ....) and the fact that it happened to coincide with my first Mother's Day was the cherry on top—to be fair, I did schedule it myself, but I think I scheduled it in May or summer 2025 when I was pregnant, as I usually book it about a year beforehand. On Saturday, I had only liquids; on Sunday, I had liquids plus four liters of prep drinks total, at 8am and 5pm; and on Monday, I had 8am prep drinks. Did learn something this time though: you can have liquids (just not soup or Jello) up to two hours before you leave for the procedure ... in the past I always thought you couldn't even have water, etc. on ...

It's been a long two weeks—last weekend was supposed to be the "fun" weekend where we went to Indiana (my husband for a bachelor party day, for a friend who is getting married, and then us both celebrating birthdays with my in-laws), but unfortunately Baby K had a fever that Friday, so we ended up staying put. This weekend is the "not fun" weekend, as I have colonoscopy prep ...  Green Lantern deep dish round pizza with pepperoni, from Southfield What I've been up to this week: Eating good food. Definitely eating whatever I want this week because I can't eat hardly anything Saturday, Sunday, and Monday due to prep ... we had Great Greek takeout a few days ago, I think maybe last weekend, and also Noori via Doordash. Last night we had Thai Fresh (in Northville) via Doordash as well, so I'll have some of those leftovers for lunch today, and on Wednesday night, we had Green Lantern, from the Southfield location—they sometimes send me free pizza or chees...

The past week was pretty busy, because my husband and Baby K and I went to Indiana on Thursday, and then he and I were in Louisville from Friday through Monday with my sister-in-law (Baby K stayed with my in-laws).  Boudin balls at North of Bourbon, Louisville What I've been up to this week: Having good food . We kicked off the trip with dinner at North of Bourbon, one of my favorites—this is my third trip to Louisville (Nov. 2024 and Dec. 2025 were the others) and it's a very tasty restaurant. We always get the boudin balls (with pork, see pic above) and this time I split the chicken gumbo and a mushroom risotto-type dish with my SIL.  On Saturday, we ended up going to a food hall close to Rabbit Hole distillery (more on that below), and had some tapas-type items, like empanadas, which was good, and we also had really good charcuterie at the Garden and Gun Club, at Stitzel-Weller (see below) plus had good Italian food at Volare, which we had been to last December. On Sunday, ...