Yes/No Detroit

I know people always say that January seems like the longest month, but to me it has been THIS month: today is March 31st, and for some reason the month has seemed extremely long, so I'm looking forward to April tomorrow. Plus, I have a lot of fun things planned for April, like Easter in Indiana (with my boyfriend's family), Vegas for a friend's wedding mid-month, and a blogger stay at Bavarian Inn near the end of the month, in Frankenmuth.  Influencer event at Mici Italian, Troy What I've been up to this week: Eating a lot of good food . Probably a bit too much. Last Friday, Green Lantern Pizza sent me a free medium pizza coupon via email (I love them; they send me that and free bread maybe once a month or bimonthly, for some reason) and I stopped by its Royal Oak carryout location to get it. On Saturday, I got Doordash delivery from Pink Garlic, because I was staying in Clawson for the weekend, which is rare for me; I'm usually in Farmington Hills but my boyfriend...

Not much going on this week, because after Houston last week, we both got bad colds ... because of that, I still saw my parents at Thanksgiving but wore a mask when not eating, and we skipped seeing my boyfriend's family in Indiana. About 1.5 weeks later now, my cold is about 90% gone, so that's good. Caramels tasting, from Trader Joe's What I've been up to this week: Staying home sick last weekend . We canceled Indiana and needed to just sit and do nothing, so we watched a lot of TV shows and also ordered Doordash ... I think we had Thai food one night, sliders from Sidecar Slider Bar another night, and Indian food one night. We also tried this caramels tasting thing as pictured above, from Trader Joe's—a friend's husband told me about that, and my mom bought it for me when she was last at TJ's. It was pretty interesting because you know the list of flavors, just not what order they are all in.  Watching movies and TV shows . Yesterday at the theater I went...

This has been a very busy week, capped off by a visit to JoJo's ShakeBAR in Detroit yesterday, which was very tasty (check my Instagram later today for a reel). This weekend I have my Crohn's infusion and then Monday I leave on a work trip to Santa Barbara, which I'm excited about—it's my first time attending this particular conference and also I've never been to SB before. Two shakes at JoJo's ShakeBAR, Detroit What I've been up to this week: Visiting friends in Portage . On Friday, I worked a half-day, and my boyfriend and I drove to Portage (about 2.5-hour drive) to visit one of my college friends and her husband. We got Nonla Burger for dinner that night, because it's one of my favorites, and we usually play board games all weekend, like Settler of Catan, Machi Koro, Monopoly Deal (technically a card game), and others. On Saturday, we went to Schultz Farms, in Mattawan, and they had really good peach pie, apple cider, and cider donuts. On Sunday, we ...

We are somehow already into August, so now I am looking forward to my East Coast trip at the end of the month—we are going to sightsee and also see my extended family. As for this week, it was the usual mix of movies, food, TV shows, and fun events. Soft pretzels with cheese and mustard, at Royal Oak Brewery What I've been up to this week: Dining out + takeout. On Saturday, we were actually in my area for once, so we got Mr. Kabob Xpress in Troy for dinner, one of my favorite Mediterranean places. On Sunday, my parents and I tried the "ExtraMostBestest" pizza at Little Caesars, thanks to a $3 T-Mobile deal ($4 off the regular price). And on Tuesday, my boyfriend and I went to the Royal Oak Brewery before a movie screening at Emagine—they still do a fantastic happy hour, 3-6pm Mondays through Fridays, which includes $3.50 beers, half-off appetizers, and apparently $8.50 pizzas (reg. price: $14). On Tuesdays they also do $3 tacos although we didn't try those. The soft p...

I didn't sleep well last night, so I am super tired today. However, I am seeing Nope  at the theater later, the newest Jordan Peele movie, so that should be fun.  Marley Spoon Butter-Basted Steak and Parmesan Squash and Green Beans What I've been up to this week: Influencer events . On Sunday, my boyfriend and I drove down to the new Insomnia Cookies location, on Wayne State's campus in Detroit, as I had been invited via Instagram to try them out. We left with FOUR boxes of cookies, some of which I gifted to a coworker friend and my parents, and they were really good. For those who asked: they are different from Crumbl (definitely a lot thinner) but still delicious; if you get the standard-size cookie, it's only $2, too, and like 180-280 calories, which for one cookie (if you can JUST eat one, haha) isn't too bad. They also have Deluxe cookies for $3.50, and like 400-500 calories (aka Crumbl territory). My favorites were the S'mores (Deluxe one) and their regula...

This week has seemed even longer than last week, and I'm looking forward to sleeping in a bit on Saturday and Sunday.  Coffee buns from PappaRoti, Rochester Hills What I've been up to this week: Influencer event at PappaRoti, Rochester Hills . As you can see above, on Saturday I was able to sample a wide variety at PappaRoti, which is actually an international chain—its first U.S. store was in Farmington. I had never been to PappaRoti before but always wanted to try it, as it's in the same plaza as Crumbl in Rochester Hills (and of course I stopped at Crumbl after for one cookie to-go, also, haha ...). Everything was pretty delicious. You can check out my Instagram reel on it here . Wizard-themed murder mystery party . My friends actually used to do a lot of murder-mystery parties in the past, but with the pandemic I haven't gone to one in probably 2-3 years. A friend had a very small one on Saturday night (about 11 people, and you had to be vaccinated to attend) and it...

This Monday was the first day I actually tried eating healthy, with a break on Wed. night for an influencer foodie event ... and I weighed myself this morning and I was UP 2-3 pounds, which was pretty disappointing. I have "salt fingers" this morning, as I call it (had salty foods yesterday, fingers are bloated) so I'm hoping that has something to do with it. I'll be on vacation Sunday through Tuesday though and won't be watching calories those days.  Chili-Rubbed Pork Tenderloin and Corn Salad, from Marley Spoon What I've been up to this week: Cooking . I had Martha & Marley Spoon this week, which I've only tried one other time before, and so far both of the meals have been pretty good—the Chili-Rubbed Pork Tenderloin that you see above as well as a Chicken Curry with Buttered Naan. Next week I'm going back to Home Chef—like once a year they sent me discounts, and this time it was four weeks at $25 off per week (so, $35 per box; more than I usuall...