Yes/No Detroit

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...

I just got back around 10pm yesterday from Fort Myers—I was there starting Monday night for a work conference—and I have to work today. Semi-busy weekend, too, as we are going to a birthday party at a petting zoo tomorrow.  Hyatt Regency Coconut Point, Bonita Springs, FL What I've been up to this week: Traveling for work . My flight from DTW to RSW (Fort Myers, FL) was around 2pm on Monday, and I was supposed to get back at 8:45pm last night but instead got back at 9:45pm, so I'm tired today. I was there for the ECRM conference, which is kind of like speed dating (the first day I met with about 15 candy companies, then about 20 the next day, in 10- and 20-minute meetings). Their August iteration is everyday candy, and the February conference is Christmas and seasonal; in February, I went to Dallas for it.  1st birthday party for Baby K . Baby K's real birthday was in mid-August, but we were in Indiana that weekend for a wedding, so instead we had her party at our house last...

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...

*Disclosure: I have an ongoing media relationship with Broadway in Detroit. The opinions expressed here, however, are my own. BOOP! The Musical is coming to Detroit this December, at the Fisher Theatre, and I'm looking forward to seeing it. One of my lucky readers will win two tickets to see it on opening night on December 1st! See below for details. About the show: ATG Detroit is thrilled to announce that individual tickets for BOOP!® The Musical will go on sale starting Friday, August 28 at 10:00 a.m. BOOP!® The Musical will make its Detroit premiere at the Fisher Theatre December 1 – 13. Tickets can be purchased online at us.ATGTickets.com/Detroit . For almost a century, the Betty Boop® character has won hearts and inspired fans around the world with her trademark looks, voice, and style. Now, in BOOP!® The Musical, Betty’s dream of an ordinary day off from super-celebrity in her black-and-white world leads to a “bright and bubbly” (Time Out New York) adventure of color, music, ...

*Disclosure: I have an ongoing media relationship with Broadway in Detroit. The opinions expressed here, however, are my own. The Great Gatsby is coming to the Fisher this November, and one of my lucky readers will win two tickets for opening night on November 17th! I haven't seen this one yet, but I love the book and the movies, so it should be a good one. All photos: Evan Zimmerman for MurphyMade About the show: ATG Detroit is thrilled to announce that tickets for the North American tour of the smash hit Broadway musical and global sensation, THE GREAT GATSBY, based on the beloved novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald, will go on sale Friday, August 14 at 10:00 a.m. The party to end all parties will play Detroit’s Fisher Theatre November 17 - 29. Tickets will be available online at us.ATGTickets.com/Detroit . Set in the Roaring Twenties, the story follows eccentric and mysterious millionaire Jay Gatsby, who will stop at nothing in the pursuit of the lost love of his youth,...

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...

*Disclosure: I have an ongoing media relationship with Broadway in Detroit. The opinions expressed here, however, are my own. Maybe Happy Ending is coming to the Fisher this October—I've never seen it, but Darren Criss was in the Broadway (NYC) version, and it looks pretty interesting. Read below to learn more about it, and also win a pair of tickets to opening night on Oct. 20th! All photos by Matthew Murphy and Evan Zimmerman About the show: The critically and widely acclaimed Tony Award winning Best Musical, Maybe Happy Ending by Tony Award winners and Grammy Award nominees Will Aronson and Hue Park directed by Tony Award winner Michael Arden, is coming to Detroit’s Fisher Theatre October 20 – November 1. Tickets go on sale Friday, July 31 at 10:00 a.m. and will be available online at us.ATGTickets.com/Detroit . Maybe Happy Ending will star Original Broadway cast members Steven Huynh as "Oliver" and Claire Kwon as “Claire.” Additional casting to be announced. Maybe Hap...

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...