The Friday Five, 4/26/24: 5 things I've been up to this week

I'm trying to enjoy the last weeks of April and early weeks of May, because I know my May is going to be insane (we have three weddings, two of which involve a short car ride or plane ride, AND I have a work trip). This week I still did a lot, but it wasn't as busy, which was nice.

HelloFresh banh mi tacos
HelloFresh banh mi tacos

What I've been up to this week:
  1. Seeing movies. Last Friday, my fiance and I saw Spy x Family Code White at AMC Livonia. We are both fans of the anime series, and I saw they were doing a movie version and wanted to see it. I also rewatched Mamma Mia!, on Netflix, this week—and heads up, it's leaving the streaming service on April 30th—because I saw the musical in Detroit this week (more on that below!). I also watched Downtown Owl via streamer this week; you can see my short tweet review here. And yesterday I went to the theater to see Challengers, which ended up being fantastic—I'd give it 5/5 stars, and you can click here to see my video review on Instagram.
  2. Cooking. We had HelloFresh this week, and on Wednesday we cooked a just-okay chicken dish (mozzarella chicken with couscous, which I do love, and carrots, which I should have cut thinner), but on Monday we cooked the banh mi tacos pictured above. I've made that recipe before but it's always good. Next week we will get Green Chef—actually owned by HelloFresh, but their more expensive service (as always, I have a discount though, so it's $32 and not like $80 for the week). 
  3. Seeing Mamma Mia! at the Fisher. So originally I thought this was the first time I had seen this show as a musical—I've definitely seen both of the movies (2008 and 2018)—but I was looking through my old playbills this week and I actually saw it in summer 2018 when I was visiting my aunt in Rhode Island. So I guess I can say this is the first time I've seen it ... but only in Detroit, haha. It was very good and I highly recommend it; it will be in Detroit until this Sunday, April 28, and you can read more about it at my blog post here.
  4. Going out to eat/getting takeout. Last Friday, we got Domino's takeout after the movie—if you're a Costco member, btw, keep an eye out for deals, because twice now we have purchased $100 worth of e-gift cards for them for $75, which is basically a free $25 to use there. On Saturday, we met up with a high school friend of mine and her husband at J. Alexander's in West Bloomfield; I hadn't been there in a long time, but I got steak frites (pictured below) and we split their carrot cake, which I don't usually like, but it was very good. On Sunday, I saw my parents, and we had Hungry Howie's takeout, and on Tuesday my mom and I went to Jersey Mike's before the show at the Fisher. Yesterday I had an unexpected change of plans, and was already at the library picking up a book, so I ended up getting Noori takeout, which is always delicious, and I have half of it saved for lunch today, too. 
  5. Watching TV shows. A few returning ones this week: The Big Door Prize has returned, for season 2 (on AppleTV), and I also started Dinner with the Parents, on Prime/Freevee, which is fun, although I hate having commercials in it. Married at First Sight *finally* finished this week, and I've also been continuing to watch The Circle, Loot, Not Dead Yet, Palm Royale, Under the Bridge, Young Sheldon, and The Girls on the Bus. Unfortunately no new episodes of The Good Doctor or Abbott Elementary this week, it seems.
Steak and fries at J. Alexander's, WB
Steak and fries at J. Alexander's, WB

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