The Friday Five, 5/12/23: 5 things I've been up to this week

May seems to be flying by—work has been busy, and a week from Monday I'm going to Chicago for the Sweets & Snacks Expo. This weekend, I'm heading to the Melting Pot tonight, since I won free cheese fondue from them via their Instagram (yay), and I'm seeing Madagascar the Musical at the Fox tomorrow. 

Reese's Peanut Butter Cheesecake from Cheesecake Factory
Reese's Peanut Butter Cheesecake from Cheesecake Factory

What I've been up to this week:
  1. Eating well. Last Saturday, some friends and I got Cheesecake Factory delivered—always a treat, because CF itself is usually expensive—and I got their Pasta Da Vinci, my favorite dish there, and a slice of their Reese's peanut butter cheesecake. On Saturday night, we headed to my boyfriend's coworker's house in Canton, and his wife cooked us homemade Indian food, which was also tasty. On Sunday, I saw my parents for lunch and we got our usual Hungry Howie's takeout, and my boyfriend also got Popeye's delivered, so I had a biscuit from that. I finished cooking my Marley Spoon box on Monday night, and yesterday I finished up my Dinnerly box; I'm receiving Marley Spoon again next Monday, too. 
  2. Trying to work out. Trying being the key word here, haha. On Monday I was going to go to the gym/community center in Farmington Hills that I've joined, but I had a meeting 4-5pm and then was tired. I ended up going Wednesday and swimming—I try to make myself do half an hour. I have a friend who is going to come swimming with me next Wednesday, too, since they do guest passes, and then we will go out to dinner, which should be fun. 
  3. Being famous, apparently?! Yesterday I went out to see a movie (more on that below) and I had to stop by Target in Madison Heights for curbside pickup, and so I decided to treat myself to my favorite chocolate malt drink from Tiger Sugar (drink #3 on their menu). I was waiting for my drink and then when I went to go, the employee at the counter gave me two drinks: the one I had ordered, plus a peach iced tea—because he said he recognized me from social media! I did do a sponsored reel for them a while back (sponsored meaning, they gave me free food and drinks in exchange for it), so that could be why; but yes, I definitely felt famous, which was crazy.
    This has happened to me only two other times: once, in the bathroom at Capital Grille, someone asked me if I was @yesnofilms on Twitter (my old handle), but it turned out she worked for the Troy Chamber of Commerce, and I used to enter their Restaurant Week contests all the time.
    Another time, I went to Loaded Links (now defunct, in Troy) with a friend and I had done a blog post for them, and they threw in an order of free fried OREOs for us and also told me they had printed my blog post and had it hanging in their kitchen! (no way for me to verify that, haha, but it was flattering, if so)
  4. Watching movies at the theater. I saw Love Again, the new Priyanka Chopra movie, last Friday, and I'd give it 3.5/5 stars; it was cute, but you can wait for streaming. Last night, I saw Book Club: The Next Chapter (SUPER hokey title, haha...), and it was cute, and also, FULL of travel ideas ... they go to Italy during it, which has been on my bucket list for FOREVER, and I was definitely jealous of the scenery. I'd give that one 3.5/5 stars too, as it was a nice fluff movie, and also one you can wait to stream—the first Book Club is on Hulu and possibly Prime right now, too, if you want a refresher first. 
  5. Seeing Aladdin at the Fisher Theatre. I saw Aladdin the first time in December 2018 at the Detroit Opera House, and I was VERY curious to see how they would make do with all of their elaborate sets at the Fisher, which has less stage space vs. Opera House. The verdict: it was fabulous, and the Genie stole the show yet again. It will be at the Fisher until this Sunday, May 14th, and I highly recommend seeing it—if you can find tickets, as it's mostly sold out! More info at my blog post here.
Homemade Indian food
Homemade Indian food

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