The Friday Five, 4/1/22: 5 things I've been up to this week

Today is April 1st, aka April Fools' Day, so trust no one, haha ... Quordle and Heardle already got me today, quite early this morning, I might add (at 12am ET when they refresh daily). 

Pineapple cocktail at Bobby Q's, Phoenix
Pineapple cocktail at Bobby Q's, Phoenix

What I've been up to this week:
  1. Traveling. From Sunday through Tuesday, I was in Phoenix for work, for the SNX conference, all about the snack industry. It was a quick trip but it was definitely nice to see some 80 to 90 degree temps. The conference was at the Hilton Pointe Tapatio resort, which was beautiful but HUGE—the easiest way to get from my room was to call the front desk to send me a golf cart, otherwise it was like a 15- to 20-minute walk. I was able to see some UM friends for dinner on Monday night too, and we went to Bobby Q's, where I had the pineapple drink pictured above. Weirdly, when I went to Phoenix last month for fun, it was on MST (Mountain Standard Time), which is two hours behind EST; Michigan is now currently on ET, but Phoenix does not change its time (staying on MST) so it was now three hours behind ET—aka, more like Pacific time.
  2. Seeing movies in the theater. Last Friday I saw The Lost City, which I thought was fun but overall just okay—I'd give it 3/5 stars, and someone told me that it's basically a ripoff of Romancing the Stone, a movie from the '80s. The best part about it was Brad Pitt but unfortunately he had a small role; I do love Sandra Bullock and Channing Tatum but the plot was a bit weak. Yesterday I saw Infinite Storm, which was pretty good but not one I need to see again; the parts where they are trying to escape the mountain were definitely nailbiters. Naomi Watts was very good in it, however, so I recommend seeing it; I'd give it 3.75/5 stars. Next week I have no time for movies but there are a lot of movies out ... I tentatively booked tickets for Everything Everywhere All at Once for its Thursday debut, and Sonic the Hedgehog 2 for Friday night, but my guess is that I'll only make it to one of those. I *just* saw the trailer for Everything Everywhere All at Once and it looks really interesting. 
  3. Dining out. On Friday, I met my boyfriend at Noodle Topia to use my Groupon which was expiring. This was my third time having the restaurant's food but my first time dining in; the first time was takeout, and the second was delivery. The soup dumplings are definitely better at the "source" and I also had their beef noodle soup; next time I am going to get the Beijing noodles, minus the egg, though, because he got that and it was delicious. We also stopped by Tigar Sugar after; its bubble tea is very tasty. On Saturday, I had my infusion, and did Condado takeout after, although the Bud Box (2 tacos + 1/2 side of guac or salsa, with chips) is getting pricey; it was $9.99 a while back, then $10.99, and now it's $12.99, so with tip for curbside pickup it was about $15-16. Saturday night, my boyfriend and I met some of his South Lyon friends at the Witch's Hat, aka "the Hat," SL's local brewery, which ended up being pretty good food- and drink-wise.
    Today for lunch I am planning on checking out Noori for Clawson Restaurant Week, which I believe goes through Saturday—this is the first year they are doing it, which I am glad to see, as it gives me an excuse to try Noori (I have not yet). I plan on doing their $10.99 deal which gets you four wings (apparently huge wings, according to the Yelp reviews), 4 dumplings, and a soda. You can also get the four wings/fries/soda deal for $9.99.
  4. Trying out new TV shows. I'm almost done watching The Dropout, on Hulu—maybe Amanda Seyfried's best work yet—as the last episodes airs next week. Starstruck season 2 is up on HBO Max, it's okay so far .. I remember binging season 1 whenever it came out and really liking it, though. I also started WeCrashed, on AppleTV+, last night, and it was a mistake to start it at 12:45am and "only watch a little bit," because then of course I watched the whole episode; Jared Leto (who looks weird without facial hair!) and Anne Hathaway are magnetic in it. My boyfriend and I also started Pachinko, also on AppleTV+, which is pretty interesting; it's told in English, Korean, and Japanese, depending on the scene. 
    I can't talk about this show yet but definitely check out Shining Girls when it hits AppleTV+ in April, too—Elisabeth Moss is in it. I've watched four episodes so far on the press app and the show is fantastic. I also got the book from the library to read. 
  5. Flying American Airlines for the first time. Related to #1 here—I'm definitely a Delta/Southwest girl usually, but Delta was going to get me into PHX at 10 or 10:30pm on Sunday, so I went with a 6pm flight on American. It's pretty much the same as Delta; the seats were supposedly smaller but I didn't notice, and I'm a larger girl, too. The big difference is no videos on the seatbacks, but they have TV/movies for you to watch, you just need to use your own phone/tablet/mobile device. They also have a handy stand for your device embedded into the seatback. AA was also more generous with the drinks—I ordered an apple juice and they gave me the entire can, which was a bit too much. Overall a pleasant flight and I can't complain, although if I don't have enough MQD's (Medallion Qualification Dollars) by the end of the year to maintain my Delta Silver Medallion status, because of that one flight, I might regret taking it, haha. 
Hilton Pointe Tapatio Resort balcony view, Phoenix
Hilton Pointe Tapatio Resort balcony view, Phoenix


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