The Friday Five, 11/24/23: 5 things I've been up to this week

This was a nice short week; I worked Monday through Wednesday, had Thanksgiving with my family and fiance yesterday, and today we are headed to Indiana to see his family / have a second Thanksgiving with them.

A5 Wagyu steak at Mabel Gray, Hazel Park
A5 Wagyu steak at Mabel Gray, Hazel Park

What I've been up to this week:
  1. Date night out last weekend. Last Saturday, two friends and my fiance and I headed to Mabel Gray; one of the friends had snagged reservations when they opened, I think 1-2 months ago. This was my second time at Mabel Gray but first time doing the tasting menu, and it was pretty tasty. There were a lot of good dishes but one of my favorites is pictured above—an A5 Wagyu steak (I think possibly my first time having Wagyu). After Mabel Gray, we headed to Bad Luck Bar, in Detroit, which had been on my list for a while but I hadn't been yet. It's almost like a speakeasy—it's off an alley near the Campus Martius/Woodward area, and then the door was locked so we had to call for them to let us in. It's a lot smaller than I expected, too, and the drinks are definitely pricey, but it was a fun experience.
  2. Thanksgiving with my family. Yesterday my fiance and I went to my parents' house for Thanksgiving #1 (#2 will be in Indiana, either today or tomorrow, with his family). My parents and I have a tradition where we eat appetizers—yesterday was potato pancakes, Bagel Bites, pizza rolls, shu mai, potstickers, and more—then kind of take a break/watch a movie, which was Genie on Peacock, with Melissa McCarthy (3.5/5 from me, and cute), and then eat a "real" dinner, where we had ham, turkey, pot pie, veggies, rolls, and other things. 
  3. Buying stamps. We had ordered some stamps from USPS for our Christmas cards and also wedding save-the-dates, but they hadn't come in yet, so I went to USPS WB to buy some Christmas stamps, last Saturday, and then was able to mail our Christmas cards. We have some time for the save-the-dates; we ordered them from The Knot and then had to proof the addresses, so they should be sending them out to us next week sometime, maybe, which is enough time for USPS to send us those stamps ... 
  4. Buying a wedding dress! Last Sunday, one of my bridesmaids and my mom and I ventured out to The Brides Project, in Ann Arbor, which sells new and pre-worn wedding dresses. I like the idea of TBP because ALL of their sales/proceeds go to cancer charities; the lady who worked with us, Lisa, who was great, is a volunteer, and even their seamstresses are volunteers. I tried on maybe 6-8 dresses there and found two that I liked a lot, and eventually decided on one! The best part (other than it being a nonprofit) is that it was about 1/4 the price of the other one I saw a few weeks ago, and really liked; I like this one almost as much, and I think with some alterations next year it will look really nice. 
  5. Watching movies. As I mentioned, we all watched Genie, on Peacock, yesterday, which really hasn't been promoted much; I only knew about it because I was randomly surfing Peacock the other day. I saw the new Hunger Games: Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes the other day with a friend at Emagine Novi, for $5 Tuesday, and really liked it—I'd give it 4/5 stars, and I liked the book a lot as well. I watched The Shift as a screener link, and my review for that will be up next week, along with a gift card to see it in theaters. And finally, I watched Good Burger 2, while I still have my Paramount+ subscription; it was silly, so I'd probably give it 3/5 stars, but some parts were pretty entertaining. I used to really like All That, on Nickelodeon, which originally had the Good Burger sketches, and I remember liking the original movie too, although I'd like to rewatch it; I technically have one week left in my last year's Black Friday Paramount+ one-year subscription, although I just signed up for their BF deal this year, which is three months for $1.99 per month (not as good as last year, IMO, but we want to watch Picard, so I signed up). If you DO sign up for the BF deal, I highly recommend The Offer, a fictional show about the making of The Godfather—we just finished it this week, and it was great, with a stellar cast too (Miles Teller, Keeley from Ted Lasso aka Juno Temple, etc.). 
David Whitney Building, Detroit
David Whitney Building, Detroit

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