The Friday Five, 3/15/24: 5 things I've been up to this week

This was a busy travel week, as I was in Miami for a conference from Sunday through Wednesday. I also snuck in dinner with friends and a few movies (one in the theater, and two on the plane).

JW Marriott resort, Aventura, FL
JW Marriott resort, Aventura, FL

What I've been up to this week:
  1. Traveling to Miami for work. Technically Aventura, FL (about 40 minutes from the Miami airport, and probably 30-40 minutes from Miami Beach area). I didn't get to see the beach this time—when I went in 2019 with a friend, we stayed five minutes from the hotel I stayed in this time (Residence Inn, across the street from the host hotel, JW Marriott), and were beachside, which was super nice. I was there for the National Confectioners Association's State of the Industry conference, which had a lot of interesting panels. Normally on work trips I'm using to running around to appointments, but this was the opposite (a lot of sitting at panels and networking). 
    I also was lucky enough that two of my Yelp friends from California happened to be in the same area this week, too! We were able to meet up for ice cream at the nearby mall. I think the last time I saw them was at Yelp Spring Break 2017, in San Antonio, so it was nice to see them again. 
  2. Dining out/getting takeout. On Friday night, I picked up Pink Garlic for my fiance and I, which is always tasty. On Saturday, we went to Bellflower in Ypsilanti for the first time, to meet my friend and her boyfriend, and I had never been there before—it was also very good, and their menu changes daily, I believe. On Sunday, I ended up getting tacos at the Aventura mall for lunch, since my hotel room wasn't ready yet, and I got pizza via Doordash for dinner. On Monday, I had dinner at the mall again after ice cream—I got a burger and fries from Shake Shack, at the food court, and also picked up some empanadas, which were delicious. 
  3. Watching movies. I saw Kung Fu Panda 4 at the theater last Friday and I'd give it 3.5/5 stars, although I'd give 5/5 stars to the 3D—it was great. We rewatched the first Kung Fu Panda that Friday night too, and weirdly I actually liked the 4th movie more. 
    On the plane, I watched Anatomy of a Fall, on Sunday going to Miami—"watched" is a loose term here, since I was very tired that day (I woke up at 5am for my flight) so I was nodding on and off, but I liked what I saw, and it was only two of the ten Oscar-nominated films I hadn't seen. On the way back, I watched What Happens Later, which is the first Meg Ryan romcom in a long time; I'd give it 3/5 or maybe 3.5/5 stars. Not my favorite of hers, but she and David Duchovny (aka Mulder from X Files!) were cute together, and the premise was interesting. 
  4. Putting my clocks ahead for DST. I'm already not a huge fan of Daylight Savings Time, and the fact that my flight on Sunday was at 8:30am, AND I lost an hour of sleep, was not great. I put my clocks ahead at my condo on Friday night, actually, since I wasn't there Saturday, and I *thought* I got to all my clocks until I got into my (2014) car yesterday, and realized it said 9pm on the dashboard when it was actually 10pm. Oops. 
  5. Watching TV shows. We started The Regime, on Max, which is weird but good, and Kate Winslet is in it. I have been catching up on The Way Home (Peacock) which I also like, because of the time travel element—it's currently in season 2, and it technically airs at 9pm on the Hallmark Channel on Sunday nights, and is on Peacock on Mondays. I want to try out Apples Never Fall, also Peacock, which is based on the Liane Moriarty novel of the same name (and currently free for Kindle Unlimited); I haven't read the novel but generally I like her books. I also watched the Love is Blind reunion, on Wednesday night, which was spicy but not AS spicy as I thought it would be, haha, and of COURSE I plan on watching The Eras Tour (Taylor Swift) on Disney+ sometime today or tomorrow; it's 3.5 hours, though, so it will definitely be split up into a few chunks of time. Girls5Eva, formerly on Peacock, is apparently back today, too, but now on Netflix, so I'll watch that also at some point.
Olive oil cake at Bellflower, Ypsilanti
Olive oil cake at Bellflower, Ypsilanti

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