The Friday Five, 7/24/20: 5 things I've been up to this week

Quarantine, end of week 19. I *finally* have a start date for my condo construction, and it is a week from Monday, so I will probably be going to the office during that time.

Mini cauliflower crust pizzas, Califlour Foods
Mini cauliflower crust pizzas

What I've been up to this week:
    1. Trying new places. Last Friday, I had to bring my car into Belle Tire to be looked at ... the Troy location was unfortunately too busy to see me, but I got to try out the new matcha cafe instead, since it's across the street. It's pricey but the drinks are good; I got a Matcha Chocolate drink and a regular matcha drink, and I liked the chocolate one the best. Next time I want to go back for ice cream. On Saturday, my parents and I got takeout from Bar Verona near them, and the pizzas were delicious; we got a chicken pesto one and a margherita pizza.
    2. Cooking. Last week I had Dinnerly and this week I splurged for Hello Fresh ("splurged"—I still had a discounted box but it was like twice the price of Dinnerly, lol). Last Friday, I cooked steaks for my boyfriend and myself, too. This week I will have Dinnerly again, and for the next 4-5 weeks too, since they are giving me a lot of discounted boxes, which I found I can also stack with the $5 off $10 AmEx offer for small businesses (apparently Dinnerly is considered a small business?). Yesterday I cooked some mini cauliflower crust pizzas, too, but my pizza sauce in my fridge was old (and had spots in it, eesh) so I only used pesto as a base; except for one, which I used mozzarella cheese, peaches, and balsamic (was actually pretty good, too!). 
    3. Planning a trip, maybe? My boyfriend and I tentatively are planning to go to the Grand Haven area over Labor Day weekend. It's going to depend on a LOT of things, first and foremost the weather, since I will only do patio dining ... I haven't eaten at a restaurant since March (not including takeout/delivery, obviously) but I'm hoping to maybe TRY patio dining next month. Especially because once it gets colder, I won't be able to do much activity/restaurant-wise. It will also depend, of course, if COVID cases are up or not ... if they are up, I might reconsider. But I REALLY need a vacation, even if it's a mini one.
    4. Virtual happy hour with friends. Which gave me the chance to drink some of the wine in my fridge, haha. I was supposed to meet up with friends for kayaking in Ann Arbor this weekend, but due to COVID we decided a virtual HH would be a better idea. 
    5. Listening to Taylor Swift's new album. Doing this currently, as it dropped today. I don't DISLIKE it but ... it's very different than her other stuff (not as pop-py, more reflective, I guess?). The mp3 version is currently $8.99 on Amazon, and you can find it here.
    Matcha Chocolate drink from the new matcha cafe in Troy, MI
    Matcha Chocolate drink from the new matcha cafe in Troy, MI


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