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

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
Citrus pork tacos from HelloFresh

What I've been up to this week:
    1. 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. 
    2. 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, but at the last minute she switched it to Paul's, which has a really nice patio. They have a large brunch menu but I ended up getting a chicken avocado wrap and fries. On Monday, my parents and I dined at Maggiano's together (indoors!) and it was their first sit-down meal in a restaurant since March 2020! Maggiano's did a really good job with social distancing—half of its tables were closed, and there were glass partitions in-between booths. I'm not looking forward to July 1st when Michigan opens everything to 100% capacity ... 
    3. Watching new TV shows. I've started watching Soundtrack, on Netflix, and it's really good; unfortunately it was only one season, in 2019. I stumbled across it because Paul James from Greek is in it and I was looking at his IMDb page this week. I also have been watching some season 2 shows from AppleTV+ but I technically can't talk about those yet ... just keep these on your radar: Central Park season 2, Mythic Quest season 2, Lisey's Story, and Physical, starring Rose Byrne. 
    4. Watching movies. My boyfriend and I watched The Red Violin together this week, and it's one of my favorites but I haven't watched it in a while. You can stream it for free on the IMDbTV app (or through Prime) but it has commercials, so I just bought the DVD from eBay this week too. On Saturday, my parents and I watched The Woman in the Window, on Netflix; my book club read the book last year and I had been waiting for the movie to be released. I'd give the movie maybe 3/5 stars; the book was definitely better, but the movie is worth watching. On Wednesday, I saw a virtual screening of Dream Horse, which I had been looking forward to, with Toni Collette; unfortunately, it was a little slow for me, but I do like movies based on a true story, so I'd give it 3.25/5 stars. That one is now in theaters this weekend, too. 
    5. Planning a day trip to Frankenmuth. One of my friends invited me to this, for tomorrow, and we are all going to do some shopping and have chicken dinner (but probably more a late lunch, at 2pm). It's about a 1h10m drive from my house, and I'm going to carpool with two friends. I haven't been to Frankenmuth since January 2014, when I went with some friends for their ice fest ... last time it was freezing, maybe like 20-30 degrees all day, and this time it's going to be 85 degrees! Quite a change. I also like going to their fudge shop there and last time they had a beer/hard cider shop that was good too, as well as some other places to shop. 
    Orange Meatloaf from HelloFresh, with string beans and cheesy potatoes
    Orange Meatloaf from HelloFresh, with string beans and cheesy potatoes


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