The Friday Five, 7/29/22: 5 things I've been up to this week

This has been a super busy week and past weekend. This upcoming weekend, I still have some things scheduled (mostly movies) but it should be a bit more relaxed.

Belle dress, worn by Emma Watson, at The Henry Ford
Belle dress, worn by Emma Watson, at The Henry Ford

What I've been up to this week:
  1. Weekend with friends. One of my college friends was in town so on Saturday, we went to the Detroit Zoo together, with her husband and my boyfriend—in April, I had bought Zoo tickets for us but we ended up not going, due to snowy weather, so we had those to use, although we had to "upgrade" them to door price. The Zoo is always a fun time—I especially like seeing the penguins —and we ended up buying a membership there, too, since they let us put the cost of the daily ticket towards it. See my Instagram reel here.
    The next day, that Sunday, we went to The Henry Ford and Greenfield Village with them, since they have a membership and it allows admission for two extra adults. Their membership also allows for unlimited rides, which was a lot of fun—we rode the carousel and also took a ride in a Model T. See my Model T Instagram reel here.
  2. Dining out. On Saturday at the Zoo, we ate at Table 28—a reference to 1928, when the Zoo was founded—and I had a hot dog with fries, but next time I would get the chicken tenders, because they were huge and coated in Panko or something like that. On Sunday at Greenfield Village, we ate at A Taste of History, which was mostly so-so, but their buckeyes (peanut butter balls covered in chocolate) were delicious. We also went to Guernsey with the same friends that Saturday, which was tasty. 
    On Wed. night, my boyfriend and I got Doordash from Sidecar Slider Bar—I've had takeout before from their (now-defunct) Commerce location, and I've been to their Birmingham location, and it's always good. They also let you have pretzel buns for the sliders at no additional charge. On Thursday night, we went to Browndog Farmington, which I hadn't been to since before the pandemic, since that location was mostly closed throughout, and that was also delicious, albeit a big expensive. See my reel here.
  3. "Heroes & Villains" exhibit at The Henry Ford. This one warrants its own Friday Five bullet point, since it was a pretty cool exhibit. The Henry Ford somehow managed to get costumes worn by Disney heroes and villains, like the title says, and the collection is MASSIVE—everything from the Hocus Pocus ladies to Belle (new Emma Watson version) to the original 1964 Mary Poppins movie. The exhibit is at the HF until January 2023 and I highly recommend checking it out if you're a movie fan like I am. See my reel here. 
  4. Trying to figure out FB and IG reels. A few of my blogger friends have said that FB and/or IG have offered them bonuses for doing reels (aka getting paid for reels views), so I have been trying to create more reels content. I have yet to figure out how they select people for these, though, so if you know, let me know in a comment below. In addition, the IG algorithm is crazy—my Heroes & Villains reel blew up and got about 43,000 views, with 2,291 likes as of this morning, which is the most I've EVER received, by far. The next day, my Model T reel received 538 likes (as of this morning) and about 10,200 views. However, last night, I posted my Browndog reel, which I thought was great, and so far it only has 32 likes and 342 views. My suspicion is something to do with hashtags and also the music I chose, but it's still a bummer, especially after the "success" of the other two. If you have any tips for doing reels, either on IG or FB, please leave a comment below. 
  5. Seeing movies. It was a Jordan Peele week for me: I saw Nope at the theater last Friday, which I'd give 4/5 stars, and then I rewatched Get Out with my boyfriend on Wednesday night. This was my 2nd or 3rd time watching Get Out, and I'd still give it 4/5 stars, as it's very creepy; upon my initial viewing I think I said 4.5/5, though. Nope was very different but also still memorable, and I also would like to rewatch Us at some point, as I remember it being crazy. 
Ice cream flight at Browndog Farmington!
Ice cream flight at Browndog Farmington!


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