The Friday Five, 6/2/23: 5 things I've been up to this week

For a four-day work week, this week has seemed super long, for some reason. Tonight my boyfriend and I are headed to Indiana to visit his parents for the weekend, also (to celebrate his birthday + his mom's), and that's about a 4-hour drive with no stops, usually a 5-hour drive with one restroom stop and one stop for dinner.

Lychee martini at Nara, West Bloomfield
Lychee martini at Nara, West Bloomfield

What I've been up to this week:
  1. Dining out/getting takeout. On Saturday night, I took my boyfriend to Nara, in West Bloomfield, for hibachi for his birthday. I had never been before—it was a Shogun in 2018 and earlier (another hibachi place), and a long time ago, back when Hiller's was in that plaza and not Planet Fitness, I remember it being a seafood place. The food was very, very good—I'd give it 5/5 just for food—as was waitservice. I did think the prices were a bit high but that's WB for you. On Monday, my parents and I got Hungry Howie's takeout, per usual, and last night I just wanted something quick for dinner, and I had a coupon, so I got a McDonald's chicken sandwich and fries. 
  2. BBQ with friends. On Sunday, two friends came over and brought ribs, mini desserts, and a lot of other tasty items. It took about five hours to make the ribs on my boyfriend's smoker and he and one of his friends also brewed beer during that time period. We still have some mini desserts from Nino Salvaggio's they left us, too, and the pecan pie was delicious, plus some leftover ribs, which were also super tasty. 
  3. Seeing movies at the theater. I actually used all three of my AMC A-List slots this week! Haven't done that in a while. On Friday, I saw The Little Mermaid in 3D (video review here), which I unsurprisingly really loved—I'd give it 4.5/5 stars, though I'll say the 3D was just okay, unfortunately. On Wednesday, I saw About My Father, the new comedy with Robert DeNiro and Sebastian Maniscalco, and that one was also a lot of fun; 3.5/5 from me (review here). And yesterday I saw Spider-Man: Across the Spiderverse, which I was super excited about, because the 2018 version (Spider-Man: Into the Spiderverse) was fabulous; I'd give that one 5/5 stars, because the story was great and also the comic book-esque imagery was awesome. (review here)
  4. Working out. I joined a gym/community center and I like to either swim there or do treadmill and elliptical. A friend also joined it recently and our plan is to work out together once a week, so on Tuesday we went swimming, and next week we were already planning on doing treadmill/elliptical, which is good because apparently the pool is closed Monday through Wednesday that week for maintenance. 
  5. Recording videos for work. Like FOUR of them this week, which is quite a lot for me; one editorial one, with my boss, and what was supposed to be three with industry companies, but one person had to cancel last-minute, so it only ended up being two. Next week I have a podcast recording scheduled with an industry company as well.
Mini desserts from Nino Salvaggio's, but huge!
Mini desserts from Nino Salvaggio's, but huge!

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