The Friday Five, 1/14/22: 5 things I've been up to this week

Yesterday was my birthday so I am taking today and also Monday off of work! I have some day trips to Frankenmuth and Ann Arbor planned for this weekend, as well as the Betty White movie on Monday, so it should be fun. 

Chicken lettuce wraps from P.F. Chang's
Chicken lettuce wraps from P.F. Chang's

What I've been up to this week:
  1. All of the birthday freebies! And I still have a lot to acquire that expire Jan. 31 or even mid-February. This past week I got chicken lettuce wraps takeout from P.F. Chang's (see pic above), breadsticks from Pizza Hut, a venti chai tea latte from Starbucks yesterday, six free wings from B-dubs, and a large popcorn and soda (Slurpee, for me) from AMC Theatres. Tomorrow I am doing a day trip to Frankenmuth and hoping to get my free chicken (lunch) at Zehnder's; the last time I went to Frankenmuth was in May with some girlfriends, and we did Bavarian Inn, which I thought was okay but not fantastic. And, not a freebie, but I stopped by Crumbl Novi last week because the lineup looked amazing ... everything was very good.
  2. Seeing movies. I saw The 355 last Friday at the theater and I thought it was a lot of fun; I'd give it maybe 3.5 out of 5 stars, and it had a great cast. On Sunday, my friend Anna and I saw Licorice Pizza at MJR Troy, and that was surprisingly good; a very sweet "coming of age" story and I would give it 4 out of 5 stars or maybe even 4.5 out of 5. On Wednesday, I saw a virtual screening of Hotel Transylvania 4 and I thought that one was just okay, unfortunately; probably 2.5 out of 5, or maybe 3 out of 5 from me, and I liked the other movies in the series much more. Also, on Tuesday, I watched Last Night in Soho, as I received a digital copy for reviewing, and the movie was pretty wild ... I gave it 3.75/5 in my review, but I definitely was still thinking about it the next day, so it's probably more a 4/5. You can enter to win one of two digital codes from my link, as well. 
  3. Watching TV shows. The Golden Palace is now on Hulu, which makes me happy—it's never been streaming anywhere before, it's the sequel to Golden Girls and I've only been able to find it in bits and pieces on YouTube, previously. All 24 episodes are up on Hulu. It only ran for one season, and it's not as good as Golden Girls, but IMHO it's still worth a watch. I've been continuing to watch And Just Like That, the new Sex and the City "sequel," and I really like it, despite the negative reviews—it says a lot about these characters that 20 years later, we still want to know what they're up to. I also need to catch up on Euphoria, as there was a new episode out this week, and I've been enjoying This is Us, American Auto, Kenan, B. Positive, and Black-ish new episodes.
  4. Cooking. I had Dinnerly last week, and I have Blue Apron this week. The mashed potatoes in my Blue Apron meal this week had mascarpone in them, which was kinda interesting. I will have Dinnerly again next week and somehow need to squeeze in the time to cook three meals! (the birthday freebies have been occupying a lot of my meal time slots, haha)
  5. Planning travel. I looooove traveling and really missed it during the pandemic. I am going to Vegas a week from Sunday, which I'm really excited about—I was just there in September, but that was for work. Masks are mandated inside, which is good, and I have some KN95s I'm going to bring. I'm also planning a Chicago trip in early March, and I will have some good food (The Girl & the Goat is a must for me there, as well as the Three Dots and a Dash tiki bar) and also be seeing Jim Gaffigan's show on March 5th, so it should be a great trip. 
Crumbl Cookies, Novi, MI
Bottom to top: Cookie Cup, Honey Bun, Chocolate ft. Heath, Peanut Butter Bar



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