Yes/No Detroit

This was another busy week, and today I am working at our Birmingham office—we are required to go in once a month, which isn't bad at all (generally I work from home), but it's getting harder for me to walk around and shlep stuff (laptop bag). Costco cake at our baby shower What I've been up to this week: In-laws visiting . My mother-in-law came up from Indiana about two weeks ago now, on a Saturday, and stayed until this past Monday (so, about a week), and my FIL and SIL came in on Thursday night. It was nice to see everyone (they live in Indiana) and my MIL helped out a lot with my move, too (see below). Closing on my condo . A bittersweet thing for sure; I owned it for almost nine years, it looks like I closed on it on September 8, 2016. I had never bought and sold a home before, and the closing took longer than I expected (the actual sit-down, I mean; about 1 hour and 15 minutes) but the new buyer seemed very sweet, and is excited to live there, so that helped. The weir...

Somehow we are almost halfway through June. I took off a half day from work yesterday to see The Accidentals, one of my favorite bands, in Ann Arbor, and today I'm taking today off to hang out with an out-of-town friend who is visiting. The Accidentals at Sonic Lunch, Ann Arbor What I've been up to this week: Seeing Taylor Jenkins Reid in Ann Arbor. Last Friday, a friend and I went to Rackham Auditorium (a UM building) to see one of my favorite authors, Taylor Jenkins Reid. Tickets were about $30, which IMO is a bargain since the hardcover copy of her new book is about that price (and a signed hardcover copy was included!). Her new book is called Atmosphere and I've been reading it this week—it's a little different than some of her others but it's very good. The conversation with her (it was a Q&A live on the Rackham stage) was very interesting, too ... this book focuses on NASA and she said how she was able to talk to a head honcho there to get some background...

Today is April 25th so it's not too hot and not too cold—all you need is a light jacket. (bonus points if you know what movie that is from!) April 25th is also my mom's birthday, plus my cousin's, plus his wife's, so it's a memorable day all around. We are headed to Indiana later for the birthday celebration weekend (after I crank this out, and we pack some more stuff), and it should be a fun time. Pizookie Platter at BJ's, Livonia What I've been up to this week: Dining out/getting takeout. Last Friday, my husband and I drove 25 minutes to MOD Pizza Livonia—the Northville location is now permanently closed, and we had $20 in gift cards to use from Christmas last year. On the way there, we also got cheap gas at the Costco across the street (like $2.65 per gallon!) and checked out JoAnn Fabrics—all of their stores are in the midst of permanently closing, so they had some good deals, and I even got some earrings.  On Saturday, he and I and my parents went to BJ...

This week has been a lot of forms and a lot of name-changing, and it will continue today with changing my work name/email, in Outlook.  Nicholas Sparks (left) at the Berman Center, West Bloomfield What I've been up to this week: Nicholas Sparks event at the Berman Center (the J), West Bloomfield. Back in March or April, I stumbled upon a social media post saying that Nicholas Sparks, one of my favorite authors, would be coming to Michigan—at the J (formerly JCC), like a 7-minute drive from me now—to promote his new book, Counting Miracles . Fast-forward to this month, and it took place this Wed. at 6pm, so I went by myself (not my preference, but for events like these I don't mind). I *thought* the event would be a reading from his book and him answering questions, but instead it was a quick one-hour "fireside chat" type of deal with local journalist Neal Rubin, whom I think I've met before at blogger events. We also got to take a picture with Nicholas after, whic...

It may be a stretch to come up with five things I did this week, because I tested positive for COVID (my third time, ugh ...) last week and so have not been doing much except sleeping and trying to work a bit this week.  Blue Apron steak with gnocchi and zucchini What I've been up to this week: Cooking . Thankfully I had a Blue Apron box show up last Saturday; I've been quarantining at my fiance's house with him and he was able to cook for us. He made the Blue Apron steak with gnocchi and zucchini, as pictured above, and I helped make the paneer wraps (see below) which were also very good. I think our third meal was beef quesadillas from them. My next box is EveryPlate but it's not coming until Monday.  Watching TV shows . The Crown is back on Netflix but we hadn't seen season 5 part 1, so that's what we watched earlier this week. Six new episodes showed up yesterday and we are about halfway through those, too. We've also been watching Picard (Paramount+, bu...

This week has felt LONG—it didn't help that I fell on my butt in the hotel bathroom when in Florida, and I haven't been able to walk well *or* lay down *or* sit this week. Very glad it's Friday so that maybe I can get some sleep this weekend, however we are getting 3-5 inches of snow (or is it 6-8? I've lost track ...) today so I won't be going anywhere tonight. Green Chef Thai chicken curry, very tasty What I've been up to this week: Watching movies and TV shows . Last night I finally got to see Magic Mike's Last Dance , at the theater—I was the only person there, for their only showing that day (5:50pm, thankfully working well for me) and I'll admit to being on my phone/on the internet for a good chunk of it, but overall I really liked it. I'd probably give it 3.5/5 or 4/5 stars. There's a lot of TV shows debuting this week that I want to check out— Daisy Jones and the Six premiered today on Prime, and it's the ONLY Taylor Jenkins Reid book...

*Disclosure: I have an ongoing media relationship with Broadway in Detroit. The opinions expressed here, however, are my own. I am a HUGE David Sedaris fan and was pretty excited when I heard he would be coming back to Detroit again this year; I have seen him do readings three times now, I believe, twice in Ann Arbor and once at the Fisher. Click here  to purchase tickets. About the reading: WDET presents An Evening With David Sedaris, author of the previous bestsellers Calypso, Naked, Me Talk Pretty One Day, Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim, and regular National Public Radio contributor will be appearing for one night only at the Fisher Theatre on April 19 at 7:30 p.m., following the release of his newest books Happy-Go-Lucky and A Carnival of Snackery. Tickets are now on sale, and can be purchased online at broadwayindetroit.com , ticketmaster.com , davidsedarisontour.com , and in person at the Fisher Theatre Box Office. This is a unique opportunity to see the best-selling...

This week has seemed relatively short, but I kept thinking it was one day farther along than it actually was ... for example, I thought yesterday was Friday, oops.  Mushroom thin crust pizza from Cottage Inn What I've been up to this week: A tornado warning and no power.  On Saturday, I was staying over my parents' place in Walled Lake because I was going to have brunch with a high school friend in the area the next day. We had a tasty dinner (the Cottage Inn pizza, pictured above) around 6 or 7pm, and then at 8pm, the tornado siren went off and we had to go to the basement. During that time, the power also went off. I was able to escape the next day, and ended up having lunch at my friend's house instead of in a restaurant, but my parents didn't get power back until TUESDAY MORNING, so about 2.5 days without power. I guess about 130,000 DTE consumers were out of power as well.  Eating out/getting takeout . As I mentioned, we had Cottage Inn for dinner last Saturday (an...

I almost forgot to write this today, because I took the day off work and I slept in—and so it feels more like a Saturday than a Friday.  Chicago dog and onion rings from Portillo's, Sterling Heights What I've been up to this week: Dining out.  Quite a bit, although I'm also tracking calories and trying to lose weight. Last Friday my boyfriend and I went to Bahama Breeze for dinner—I was hoping to make it in time for happy hour but we were a little too late. On Saturday, I met a friend for brunch at 5th Tavern, in Bloomfield Hills, and we both ended up doing their breakfast buffet—I hadn't had a buffet in about 1.5 years and it was pretty good, albeit self-serve, so we both used hand sanitizer after. On Monday, my boyfriend and I showed up at La Saj in Troy hoping to get dinner there, only to find out that they now close at 4pm on Mondays, so we ended up down the street at Yard House for their happy hour. I had been to Yard House in other cities (LA and Indy) so I knew t...

Today is Friday the 13th, and I saw a funny meme saying something like "good luck: it's Friday the 13th, in 2020." However, 13th's are usually a lucky day for me (my birthday is Jan. 13), so we will see. A friend is having a birthday bonfire later tonight and I'm excited to get some social interaction in, even though it'll be cold outside ... the high today is 48, and on Tuesday I wore shorts because it was 75 here. #PureMichigan Selection of pastries at White Wolf Japanese Patisserie, Clawson What I've been up to this week: Eating out/getting takeout. I still am not doing indoor dining due to the pandemic, but on Sunday, a friend and I took advantage of the gorgeous weather and finally tried Pumachug, in Clawson, for lunch. Afterwards we went down the street to White Wolf, which is a Japanese patisserie, and I got the extra-large macaron that you see in the bottom left of the above pic, as well as the Earl Grey creme brulee for my boyfriend and I to split...

End of week 5 of quarantine (yes, I'm still counting), and I finally broke down and ordered a desk and nice office chair. I ordered both on Wednesday afternoon and the desk showed up one day later, which really impressed me (shoutout to Staples.com!) and the chair will be here Monday. Delivery from Shake Shack! Definitely a treat. What I've been up to this week: Doing takeout . More than usual; last Saturday, I got pepperoni bread and a mushroom pizza from Saroki's Pizza, which is in a Shell station on Woodward in RO, because I had a $10 gift certificate that was expiring. The pizza itself was just okay but the pepperoni bread was DELICIOUS, and I had a ton of leftovers. They also did curbside carryout for me, which I appreciated. Sunday was Easter so I did my Bob Evans ham order, and was pretty disappointed in that ... the food itself was okay, but they lost my online order - at 5pm, for a 5:30pm pickup, I got an email from them saying the order was never communic...

Before you ask: nope, I'm not feeling any better. In fact, I may actually be worse ... ugh. Last weekend I had a fever of 103, almost 104; since then, it's gone down to about 99 to 100, and only at night, luckily. But I've been coughing a lot all week, and because of that, I worked at home on Monday and Tuesday, and am working at home today as well. Home Chef Turkey and Avocado Tostadas - delicious! What I've been up to this week: Cooking . Other than a quick trip to Mr. Kabob Xpress (in Troy - my favorite Mediterranean quick eats place) on Sunday, I've been staying inside and cooking instead of eating out. Luckily, I had a Sunbasket box to finish up, and I also received a Home Chef delivery on Tuesday. On Tuesday night I cooked a Sunbasket meal called Spanish-style chicken and quinoa with fire-roasted tomatoes , which was delicious, and reminded me of one of the very early Hello Fresh meals I made (stuffed peppers with beef and quinoa). On Wednesday night ...