The Friday Five, 5/30/25: 5 things I've been up to this week

This week went by fast (maybe because it was a 4-day work week?) and now it's basically June, and I am not entirely ready ... the spring/summer is going by fast. 

Bloom Bar at my friend's bridal shower
Bloom Bar at my friend's bridal shower

What I've been up to this week:
  1. Bridal shower for a friend. The friend that had the engagement dinner last Thursday had her bridal shower on Saturday, in Marshall, MI (a bit of a drive, about 1.5 hours for me) at The Millhaven, which ended up being a very nice event venue. They had the Greenhouse, where we were situated, and the Pickle Factory, which was more for wedding receptions. My friend is a great party planner and no detail was spared here (the shower was Bridgerton-themed!) which was a lot of fun—I wore a green floral dress which I've had for a few years, and a green fascinator that I bought off Amazon. I was glad to be able to celebrate my friend again, because her wedding is over Labor Day weekend when I will most likely have a one-week-old baby (or, a few weeks old, if she comes early). We had great pastries, brunch/lunch type food, and she also had a Bloom Bar, pictured above, which was a fabulous idea; we each got to make our own flower arrangements, and bring them home in a teacup. I love flowers and still are enjoying mine this week.
  2. Dining out/getting takeout. On Friday, we celebrated my husband's birthday—I had a few reservations lined up, while waiting for him to choose a place, but then, unexpectedly, a ton of reservations for Sylvan Table came up, so we ended up going there. Sylvan Table had been on my list for years but I had never been—they do farm-to-table food, and they told us they grow about 40% of their vegetables on-site, which IMO is impressive. Everything was very tasty, so I would return again; my only dislike is that they have a 3% credit card fee (I hate when upscale places do this; I find it tacky). However, they were very upfront about it, both when I booked the reservation and when we walked in the door, so I had brought cash with me. 
    On Sunday, we stayed home, and got Noori via Doordash (I'm glad they now deliver to us, as otherwise Clawson is a 30-min. drive), and on Monday, we had the day off for Memorial Day, and got Doordash from Mr. Kabob in Berkley, which was pretty good. They had a special going on for BOGO chicken shawarma sandwiches, and I requested extra garlic and pickles too, which was perfect. I also saw my parents on Monday night and we got Hungry Howie's takeout.
  3. Watching movies. I saw Lilo & Stitch (the new, live-action version) in the theater on Wednesday, and I'd give it maybe 3.75/5 or 4/5. I had just rewatched the older version (from 2002! So they are 23 years apart, crazy) on Disney+ the day before too, and I'd give that one maybe 3/5 or 3.5/5—it's a bit too zany for me but was a cute story. I think I actually liked the live-action better, and I plan on watching it again when it comes to streaming.
    I also watched Fountain of Youth, on AppleTV, which looked promising, with John Krasinski and Natalie Portman, but unfortunately I'd only give that maybe 2/5 or 2.5/5 tops—it reminded me of National Treasure, and started off promisingly, but ultimately kind of petered out and became a bit boring. 
  4. Watching TV shows. A lot of my shows are off for summer now, but Nine Perfect Strangers is back on Hulu, with Nicole Kidman, and yesterday I started binge-watching The Better Sister, on Prime, which is great; it has Elizabeth Banks and Jessica Biel in it. I also watched the SERIES finale of The Handmaid's Tale, which was good, although I felt like it didn't tie up some loose ends. And Just Like That is back on HBO today, too (the new episodes of Sex and the City) so I'll probably watch some of those. 
  5. Cooking. We had a Green Chef box this week, and last night we made a healthy-ish maple chicken with sweet potato, pecans, chard, and apples, which was pretty good. On Tuesday, we made a peanut chicken with udon noodles dish, which was also tasty, and I threw in a shrimp recipe for my husband, too, who made that on Wednesday when I was at the movie theater; I believe it was a spicy shrimp stirfry. 
Pasta at Sylvan Table, very good
Pasta at Sylvan Table, very good

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