Yes/No Detroit

This Monday was the first day I actually tried eating healthy, with a break on Wed. night for an influencer foodie event ... and I weighed myself this morning and I was UP 2-3 pounds, which was pretty disappointing. I have "salt fingers" this morning, as I call it (had salty foods yesterday, fingers are bloated) so I'm hoping that has something to do with it. I'll be on vacation Sunday through Tuesday though and won't be watching calories those days.  Chili-Rubbed Pork Tenderloin and Corn Salad, from Marley Spoon What I've been up to this week: Cooking . I had Martha & Marley Spoon this week, which I've only tried one other time before, and so far both of the meals have been pretty good—the Chili-Rubbed Pork Tenderloin that you see above as well as a Chicken Curry with Buttered Naan. Next week I'm going back to Home Chef—like once a year they sent me discounts, and this time it was four weeks at $25 off per week (so, $35 per box; more than I usuall

This week has been super busy, both work-wise and non-work-wise, so I'm glad it's Friday. I'm becoming a Crumbl addict and I'm getting delivery from them today, only because they're doing free delivery this week, ending Saturday—it's $9.95 otherwise, which is very pricey. Last week's Crumbl: Samoa, PB Brownie, & Strawberry Shortcake What I've been up to this week: Eating out. I'm starting to slowly dip my toe back into the waters of indoor dining. Last Friday, my boyfriend and I checked out Kimchi Box, in Sterling Heights; unfortunately, and maybe this was because I had built it up in my head a lot beforehand, it was just okay, although all of the food was decent. After that, we headed to Crumbl (see pic above) to get my four free Yelp cookies, as Yelp was running an event for Elites—during the pandemic, they've been doing a lot of "Elite Perks" where you can pick up freebies at your convenience, which has been really nice. On Sunda

*Disclosure: I am receiving something of value in exchange for this post. The opinions expressed here, however, are my own. So although I am not a big art or museum person, I do like Van Gogh's paintings. An interactive exhibit, "Beyond Van Gogh," will be coming to the TCF Center (aka Cobo) this summer, and one of my lucky readers will win a 4-pack to attend! This honestly looks very cool, and I'm excited to check it out. About the show: Show dates: June 25–August 15 Buy tickets here: https://vangoghdetroit.com/ Beyond Exhibitions proudly presents “Beyond Van Gogh: An Immersive Experience” coming to TCF Center in beautiful downtown Detroit, produced in partnership with 313 Presents. Opening for a limited engagement Beyond Van Gogh: An Immersive Experience was created by French-Canadian Creative Director Mathieu St-Arnaud and his team at Montreal’s world-renowned Normal Studio. This immersive experience features more than 300 of Vincent Van Gogh’s iconic artworks and

I've said it before, and I'll say it again: AppleTV+ doesn't usually promote its shows much. So when I see a show on there that I love, I like to write about it.  Physical , debuting June 18, 2021, actually was promoted a little bit, mostly through its trailers, but it ended up being a really, really good show. Rose Byrne stars as Sheila, a bored housewife in 1980s California who seems pleasant on the outside, but on the inside, has a biting—and often hilarious—inner monologue. She stumbles across an aerobics studio in the mall one day and soon is hooked; she starts taking classes, and later, teaching them, all without telling her husband anything about it. Her husband is running for office and that's what's been preoccupying him, so Sheila is often the last person on his mind. Rose Byrne is fantastic as Sheila, and I'd be remiss if I didn't mention Rory Scovel, as her husband Danny, who seems harmless enough but is always overlooking Sheila's needs and

This week has seemed really long for some reason, even though it's a 4-day work week, so I'm glad today is Friday. I'm planning on being a piglet later: my boyfriend and I wanted to try out Kimchi Box, in Sterling Heights, after seeing so many social media posts about it, and then we will stop by Crumbl Cookies (yes, again, haha ...) to pick up my four free Yelp cookies. Grilled chicken sandwich from Arbor Brewing Co., Plymouth What I've been up to this week: Getting the results of my antibody test! This surprised me because they said it was going to take 2-4 weeks, and instead it only took 9 days. If you have a result of 1.0 or above, it means you have at least some antibodies; mine came back at 4.7 and said "High," so I was excited at first, but in the study I'm in, some people have 30+ ... when I emailed the study coordinator, he said that some people even come back as 100-200. So my (layman's) opinion is that I have SOME antibodies, which of course

This week has seemed long, and it's cold and miserable out today (47 and raining ... at the end of May? #PureMichigan), but this weekend should be fun. I forgot that I get Monday off of work, too, so I'm going to see my boyfriend and also see A Quiet Place Part 2 ...  in EMAX, at Emagine Royal Oak! Crumbl Cookies, from its Rochester Hills location What I've been up to this week: Antibody bloodwork and Crumbl Cookies . I finally had my COVID-19 antibody test on Tuesday, at the LabCorp at the Walgreens in Rochester Hills. Normally it takes them 2-3 days to provide results, but I'm in a study through UNC, and UNC said they batch ship blood samples, so I should have results in 2-4 weeks. I'm a little scared that I have no antibodies, even though I've been vaccinated, because that's been the case with a few immunocompromised people, but I try to tell myself that I shouldn't worry about it until I actually get the results. As a nice bonus, Crumbl Cookies was a

This week has felt long so I'm glad it's Friday. I had been waiting for my colonoscopy bill from my provider and finally got it today ... it's higher than I expected so I'll be talking to them about it, yet again. I literally JUST finished talking to them about my Nov. 2020 colonoscopy bill. Fun times.  Citrus pork tacos from HelloFresh What I've been up to this week: Cooking.  I had my last free HelloFresh box last week and this week I'm back to slumming it with Dinnerly (kidding; I like Dinnerly, but HF is packaged nicer and also has better cards, with Dinnerly you have to print them yourself). I also cooked some triple mushroom gnocchi for my parents last Saturday (HF meal) and last night I cooked beef tacos with guacamole and pickled onions (Dinnerly), which was tasty but maybe needed to be seasoned better.  Dining in!  Last Sunday, I met my friend who lives in Rochester in downtown Rochester for lunch; originally we were going to go to Penny Black's, bu

This week has seemed busy and also not busy, for some reason. Obviously last weekend was better than the weekend before because I could eat and drink things ... I had a virtual event for work this week too so that kept me busy.  Back at my favorite ice cream place, Browndog Barlor in Northville! What I've been up to this week: Dining out . Last Friday, my boyfriend and I drove to Detroit to pick up our Bon Bon Bon Spring Collection that I had pre-ordered for us online, and we had dinner *inside* at Detroit Shipping Company. Pre-pandemic, it was kind of a dining hall and they have different stalls—similar to a food court—where you could get food from. Nowadays, if you dine-in it's on the 2nd floor, and they also have a ton of outdoor seating, although it was raining out that day. I always get the Pad Thai roll from the Bangkok 96 stall, as well as the mango sticky rice—definitely not as good as the kind I had in Thailand, but it's the only place in the Metro Detroit area tha

Speed , with Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock, is now being re-released in 4K, as well as on Blu-ray and in a special steelbook, and five of my lucky readers will win a digital code to redeem a copy! About the movie: Jan de Bont’s action thriller Speed races to 4K Ultra HD for the first time, including a limited-edition SteelBook® found only at Best Buy. Hold on tight for a rush of pulse-pounding thrills, breathtaking stunts and unexpected romance in a film you’ll want to see again and again. Keanu Reeves stars as an L.A.P.D. SWAT team specialist who is sent to diffuse a bomb that a revenge-driven extortionist (Dennis Hopper) has planted on a city bus. But until he does, one of the passengers (Sandra Bullock) must keep the bus speeding through the streets of Los Angeles at more than 50 miles per hour—or the bomb will explode. A high-octane chase of suspense, nonstop action and surprise twists, Speed is a joyride sure to keep you on the edge of your seat! GIVEAWAY: Five of my readers wi

Not much going on this week—obviously last weekend was crappy (no pun intended) but the week itself has been pretty normal, at least by pandemic standards. Tonight my boyfriend and I are driving to Detroit to pick up our Bon Bon Bon Spring Collection chocolates, and probably have dinner at Motor City Brewing Works, which I haven't tried before. Hello Fresh pork chops with apple rosemary pan sauce, Brussels sprouts, and mashed potatoes What I've been up to this week: Colonoscopy + prep.  Obviously this took up all of my weekend—as I said in my last post, UM had me on a 3-day prep this time which was ... challenging, to say the least. On Saturday, I could only have liquids (and some solids, including Jell-O and light-colored gummies, this time); on Sunday, I could have solids, but I also had to drink five huge glasses of prep in the morning and five in the evening; on Monday, I wasn't able to have any food or drink, minus a tiny bit of water with my morning pills, and I had a

Happy last day of April, although this weekend is going to not be fun: starting tomorrow, I can only have liquids (including Italian ice, though, and, surprisingly, light-colored gummies); on Sunday, I start my colonoscopy prep work, and can still have liquids; and on Monday, I finish the prep work, cannot eat anything, and I have my procedure, around 12:45pm, in Ann Arbor.  Cookies from Crumbl Cookies, Rochester Hills What I've been up to this week: Eating out and getting takeout.  Apparently a little too much, as the scale reflected it this morning. Last Friday night, we got takeout from Mr. Kabob, in Troy, and on Saturday, we got the cookies pictured above, from Crumbl Cookies, which as usual were amazing. The closest Crumbl used to be in Ann Arbor, but now they're in Rochester Hills, which is a bit dangerous, haha ... only a 15-minute drive. We got two PB&J cookies, two Cake Batter, one Chocolate Chip, and one S'mores. The S'mores and PB&J were my favorite;

It's crazy that it's already almost the end of April—my mom's birthday is on Sunday, so we'll be celebrating that, and the date I've dreaded since I scheduled it in December, my next colonoscopy, is a week from Monday, which will not be fun ... I have a three-day prep, which is a bit sadistic (most people have a one-day or one-night prep). Flat iron steak with chimichurri sauce, mashed potatoes, & Mexican street corn, from Sedona Taphouse What I've been up to this week: Eating INSIDE a restaurant, and cooking!  Something new and different for me, haha. Aside from a few patio/restaurant hybrid type situations, I mostly hadn't eaten INSIDE a restaurant since March 2020. Last Friday, I hit my "two weeks past second vaccination" peak, and on Sunday, we dined in at Sedona Taphouse in Troy. They did really well with social distancing and they also had some plexiglass up between booths and also every two bar stools, which was interesting. On Tuesday,

Not much going on this week, I took a walk yesterday just to get out of the house ... I haven't needed to leave the house since Tuesday, when we got takeout.  HelloFresh Garden Spinach Ravioli with lemon cream sauce What I've been up to this week: Cooking a lot.  HelloFresh has been giving me free boxes, and I realized you can actually request up to EIGHT meals in them (aka 16 servings!) so this past week I ordered five meals—four for myself, and one that I cooked for my mom and I, the Garden Spinach Ravioli that you see above. I also realized they own zero wooden spoons so I ordered a nice OXO set off of Amazon , and I'm keeping the smallest spoon for myself, too. I cooked two other HelloFresh meals already this week, then tonight I have tostadas to cook, for my boyfriend and I, and I have one more Brown Sugar Bourbon Chicken recipe to cook, probably on Sunday.  Finishing some TV shows + starting new ones.  I watched the final two Made for Love  episodes yesterday and wow,