The Friday Five, 1/8/21: 5 things I've been up to this week

I guess I wished for too much in last week's post ... I'm revising it to be: "The only thing I'm asking of 2021 is that we have no more government coups." Too much? No?

Steak and parmesan salad, from Dinnerly
Steak and parmesan salad, from Dinnerly

    What I've been up to this week:
    1. Taking a deep-dive into MAFS spin-offs. MAFS, or Married At First Sight, has basically been my quarantine binge. I've been catching up on the old seasons on Hulu in-between the new seasons, but I just realized there are like 5+ spin-offs ... I watched MAFS: Happily Ever After? which followed three of the former couples who all were pregnant at the time, and I watched a few episodes of Jamie and Doug Plus One which followed Jamie Otis (MAFS season 1) and her husband Doug when they had just had their first baby (I follow her on Instagram and now she has another baby). However, the one that has hooked me the most so far is MAFS: Second Chances, which follows 1 man and 1 woman from season 3 whose marriages didn't work out. It's more of a Bachelor/Bachelorette type show, although I've never watched those, and is HIGH on drama, therefore also super entertaining. 
    2. Getting takeout. Last Saturday after my infusion, I had a coupon all printed out for Sy Thai, but it was 5 minutes before opening time and they weren't picking up the phone; so I ended up going to Bangkok Cuisine (SH, not RO) instead, and got Pad Cashew with chicken and some Thai iced tea. Their food is pretty good although I do like Sy Thai's better. On Monday, my boyfriend and I got Ale Mary's takeout (RO) because I had a $15 gift certificate that was expiring; unfortunately, other than the "beeramisu" (see below; tiramisu made with beer), everything was just okay. I'll admit that it's really hard to get good/hot French fries with takeout, though. 
    3. Cooking. I had Dinnerly this week and the last, and I'm splurging for HelloFresh next week (albeit with a discount ... ain't nobody got time for $60 per week!) because they have chicken tikka masala, one of my favorite Indian dishes, as a meal option. Also next week is my birthday week so ... #treatyoself. Yesterday I made steak with Brussels sprouts with sweet chili sauce, from Dinnerly; the Brussels were great, steak was okay. Previously in the week I made steak shawarma, which was delicious. 
    4. Infusion. I get infusions every eight weeks for Crohn's, and on Saturday I had my first infusion of 2021. My doctor increased the dosage, though, so I was pretty knackered after ... when I first started doing infusions, I got tired easily from them, but adapted. However, this was a higher dosage, so I wasn't sure how I'd feel after ... and I ended up being pretty tired and taking a midday nap.
    5. Collecting birthday freebies. I like getting deals usually (I even have a deals group on Facebook) and so for my birthday, I get a lot of deals via email! The best so far have been free entrees/appetizers: tonight I'm going to use my free sandwich at Mission BBQ and also get my free bundlet from Nothing Bundt Cakes (first time trying them!), and tomorrow I plan on getting my Sweetwater's drink plus P.F. Chang's free appetizer (lettuce wraps, my favorite). Next week I plan on using my free entree at HopCat (my boyfriend is going to pick us up takeout on his way here, he lives downriver so it's on the way basically), free entree at Mr. Kabob Xpress, free mini pie at Grand Traverse Pie Co., and $5 off at Detroit Wing Company. If you join my deals group on Facebook, I also have a huge list of birthday freebies—I encourage you to sign up well before your birthday, so they'll start rolling in 1-2 weeks beforehand!
    "Beeramisu" from Ale Mary's, Royal Oak
    "Beeramisu" from Ale Mary's, Royal Oak


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