The Friday Five, 12/8/23: 5 things I've been up to this week

I've had a sinus headache for a few days now and unfortunately last night I figured out why, but the rest of the week was good at least. 

Lindsey Stirling at Van Andel Arena, Grand Rapids
Lindsey Stirling at Van Andel Arena, Grand Rapids

What I've been up to this week:
  1. Dining out and getting takeout. On Friday, I got Pink Garlic takeout for my fiance and I, which is my favorite Indian food in the Metro Detroit area; their butter chicken, especially, is delicious. On Saturday, a friend and I tried out 160 Main, in Northville, and it was excellent. I had never been there before, and we split a lemon artichoke appetizer—I don't even like artichokes most of the time and this was very good—the mushroom pasta, chicken limone, and a dessert platter. On Sunday, my fiance and I visited my parents and we had Hungry Howie's takeout. On Tuesday, we were in Grand Rapids for the Lindsey Stirling concert, and had Founders for dinner, which is always tasty, and on Wednesday we got Culvers takeout for a quick lunch before work. Last night, I ordered pho from Thai Tanic, via Doordash, and that was also very good and brothy—it came in a savory beef broth. I had never ordered from them before but they were doing a 38% off coupon (random!) on Doordash so I gave them a try. 
  2. Seeing Lindsey Stirling in Grand Rapids. When we originally booked this, it was going to be driving there, seeing the concert, and driving back, but instead we stayed at a hotel overnight. This was my sixth time seeing her, and second time seeing her Christmas-themed concert; I have seen her at the Michigan Theater, Fox Theatre, Stranahan (Toledo, for the other Christmas time), Freedom Hill, Centennial Terrace this summer (also Toledo), and now Van Andel Arena. She always puts on a fabulous show and this time was not any different. 
  3. Picking up wedding stuff. On Sunday, we drove to Jackson to pick up some wedding things we bought off a previous bride on Facebook. It included a few signs and things like that, and apparently the bride had made them herself, so IMO we got a good deal on that. 
  4. Watching movies and TV shows. Last Friday, I saw Dream Scenario at John R, which was a weird movie (it's a Nicolas Cage movie, so I knew going in it would probably be weird ...). Definitely a unique one—I gave it 3.5/5 last week but I've still been thinking about it so maybe 3.75/5 or 4/5 now. I really want to watch the new Mr. Monk movie on Peacock, which came out today—my parents and I used to be huge fans of the show—as well as Candy Cane Lane, on Prime, and Family Switch, with Jennifer Garner, on Netflix, so maybe I'll do that this weekend. I also saw Exmas, on Freevee (Prime's free network), and that was pretty cute; I'd give that 3.5/5 as well. 
  5. Playing Starbucks for Life game. Starbucks just released its Christmas game, and you can win stars that you put towards drinks ... so far I have won about 40 stars, I believe. You can find that here.
Desserts at 160 Main: Tiramisu, Panna Cotta, Mini Cannolis
Desserts at 160 Main: Tiramisu, Panna Cotta, Mini Cannolis

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