Yes/No Detroit

We are headed to Chicago today for wedding #2, which involves an entire weekend (dinner tonight at a hotel, wedding tomorrow, brunch Sunday), but unfortunately our flight is delayed about 50 minutes—as of this writing, as least, because it's changed from being delayed 1h40m to now only 50 minutes. Fried green tomatoes at LouVina, Indy What I've been up to this week: Going to a wedding in Cincinnati . This has been an extremely busy week (felt like two weeks, actually), and it kicked off last Friday, when we drove about five hours to Cincinnati for wedding #1 of 3 this month, a friend of my fiance's. We've actually been to Cincy a few times to visit them, too. Since he was a groomsman in the wedding, on Friday we went to rehearsal and rehearsal dinner, near the venue, and on Saturday was the wedding. On Sunday, they also had a casual Mother's Day/post-wedding brunch, and then we stopped by Jungle Jim's (the best! I say it's like Costco meets EPCOT) and then h

This weekend is the first of the three back-to-back wedding weekends, and we are headed to Cincinnati today for wedding #1, at which my fiance is a groomsman. We get back Sunday night and then Monday night I head to Indianapolis for work. HUGE 2-pc. cannoli from Zeoli's, Clawson What I've been up to this week: Dining out/getting takeout . Last Friday night, we were going to cook, but instead got Doordash from Sidecar Slider Bar, in Farmington—they're one of my favorites, but unfortunately they got my fried chicken slider wrong (it's normally drenched in maple syrup and delicious, but they forgot to NOT put hot sauce on so I couldn't eat it, which was a bummer). On Saturday, my fiance, two friends, their daughter, and I went to Highlands, which is the restaurant at the top of the RenCen; they are moving out of state and wanted to experience it. I've been there twice, but the first time was the very last week that Coach Insignia was open (just went for drinks), an

This has felt like a long week, but I've been able to see some friends, which I am also doing this weekend, which was nice. Treadmill screen at my gym What I've been up to this week: Working out . I always try to work out twice a week, usually Mondays and Tuesdays, and it usually doesn't happen, but this Monday I did the treadmill at my gym, and on Tuesday a friend joined me—since it was super nice out that day, we walked around the track there (it's a former high school, turned community center) for about 55 minutes, which was nice. The treadmill can track your total distance/calories/duration/etc., too, as you can see in the pic above, and I have a login with it so it knows my name.  Getting takeout/eating out.  On Friday, I brought over Pink Garlic takeout to my fiance's house, which is always tasty. On Saturday, we met up with some of his friends, and got Culver's for dinner (again always tasty), and on Sunday we got Domino's takeout. On Wednesday, my pa

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 What I've been up to this week: 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.

*Disclosure: I have an ongoing media relationship with 313 Presents. The opinions expressed here, however, are my own. If you've been following me for a while now, you'll know I'm a huge fan of Jim Gaffigan - although his comedy has changed a little over the years, it's generally very funny, and I've seen him perform at Pine Knob (formerly DTE), Meadowbrook, the Chicago Theatre, and Caesars Windsor.  Click here to purchase tickets. This November, he'll be back in Detroit, at the Fox Theatre, and one of my lucky readers will win a two-pack of tickets to see his show! About the show: Comedian Jim Gaffigan will bring his “2024 Barely Alive Tour” to the Fox Theatre for two performances on Friday, November 22 and Saturday, November 23 at 7 p.m. Comerica Bank is the exclusive presenting partner of the Fox Theatre. Jim Gaffigan is a seven-time Grammy nominated comedian, actor, writer, producer, two-tim

This week has been an odd one because I was in Dallas Sunday through Tuesday for work, and I feel like I've been playing catch-up since then (and Wednesday definitely felt like Monday for me).  Giant Eye sculpture, Dallas What I've been up to this week: Traveling to Dallas for work . I was there for two days and two nights, which is usually the shorter end of my work trips, although next month for the Sweets & Snacks Expo in Indianapolis I'll be there for the same amount of time. This time was for SNX, which is a snacks conference. I was also able to see a friend who lives in Dallas, which was super nice because I hadn't seen her since 2018, when we met on a group trip. I saw the Giant Eye sculpture (pictured above), too, which I had seen on Google Maps and was definitely intrigued by; someone else asked me if it changes images, like the Sphere in Vegas, but it does not. Eating out . Last Friday, I met a friend and her boyfriend at Imperial in Ferndale, which is one

all photos courtesy of: Quiver Distribution *Disclosure:  This is a sponsored post on behalf of Review Wire Media for Quiver Distribution.  I received a screener of this movie in order to facilitate this review. The opinions listed here, however, are my own. I saw that Irena's Vow was going to be playing in theaters this upcoming week only (April 15th and 16th) and it looked like an interesting movie—I generally find World War II movies informative, albeit sad, of course. About the movie: Quiver Distribution will be partnering with Fathom Events for an exclusive nationwide cinema premier of Irena's Vow, the incredible true story of Irena Gut Opdyke, a Polish Catholic nurse whom, through extraordinary coverage, risked her life to help hide Jews persecuted by Nazi Germany during WWII. The film debuts on April 15th and April 16th in theaters across the country. Each screening will be accompanied by exclusive video footage featuring Jeannie Smith, Irena's real-life daughter; Ro

I spent the beginning of this week in Indiana for the eclipse, and then we drove back Tuesday, so it's been a shortened but very long week, since I've spent most of it playing catchup. Ice cream flight at Browndog Barlor, Northville What I've been up to this week: Traveling to Indiana . We were there Saturday through Tuesday, and the eclipse was Monday. Indiana got 100% totality and it was pretty cool to see; I snuck a half-second look without glasses when it was at totality, too, and it was a neat sight. I also met more of my fiance's extended family —his aunt and uncle came in from Minnesota, and another uncle from Florida—and we broke out some new games, too, such as UNO Show 'Em No Mercy (see pic below), which was fun. Eating out . In Indiana, we mostly ate homecooked meals, but on the last day, we made it to their new Raising Cane's. I LOVE Cane's and the only one in Michigan right now is in East Lansing, although I heard they are opening one in Canton

This week has passed by fast, and this weekend we are going to Indiana to see the eclipse on Monday with my fiance's family—some relatives are coming in from Minnesota, Idaho, and Florida, too. Pizza buffet at Tomatoes APizza, Farmington Hills What I've been up to this week: Eating out/getting takeout . Last Friday, I brought Pink Garlic to my fiance's house, which is always tasty; they're in Oak Park (basically OP/Berkley line) and have the best Indian food in the area, IMO. On Monday, we both had the day off work, so we went to Tomatoes APizza (Apizza?) in Farmington Hills for their lunch pizza buffet—I hadn't been there in many years, but it was still very good, and $12.99 gets you all the pizza you can eat, plus salad, chocolate piadina (like pizza crust with Nutella—OMG, so good), and unlimited soft drinks. And yesterday I tried out Sunrise Thai, in Madison Heights, for takeout, and it was also very good; I ordered Pad Cashew, Thai iced tea, and a single spring

*Disclosure: I received a digital copy of this film in order to facilitate this post. The opinions expressed here, however, are my own. I didn't get to see Lisa Frankenstein in the theater, but it looks fun—kind of like Edward Scissorhands— and I'm curious to watch it. Two of my lucky readers will win a digital code to own the movie! Read below for details. About the movie: Kathryn Newton and Cole Sprouse star in Focus Features’ 80’s inspired dark comedy, LISA FRANKENSTEIN, available to own as a Collector’s Edition with never-before-seen bonus content on Digital March 29, 2024, and on Blu-ray and DVD April 9, 2024, from Universal Pictures Home Entertainment. The electrifying bonus material includes a hilarious gag reel, deleted scenes, and featurettes that give a behind-the-scenes look at Diablo Cody’s inspiration behind the film, Lisa’s relationship with Creature, plus a feature commentary by director Zelda Williams.   LISA FRANKENSTEIN is directed by Zelda Williams in her fea

Welcome to the last Friday Five of March—it felt like this month passed by very quickly. April will be fairly calm, although I technically have two trips (going to Indiana with my fiance to see the eclipse + his family, and Dallas for work) but May is going to be insane (three weddings + a work trip), so I'll enjoy the relative calmness while I can. Doordash from Namaste Flavours, Farmington What I've been up to this week: Getting takeout . Last Friday or Saturday, I believe it was, my fiance and I got Doordash from Namaste Flavours, in Farmington, which we hadn't tried before (see pic above) and it was very good. Gobi 65, a cauliflower dish, is one of his favorites, and this place had it. In the picture above we also got chicken tikka masala, butter chicken, a spicy paneer dish (for him, not me), and garlic naan. We also ordered lassi's (yogurt drink), but unfortunately I much prefer a mango lassi; these were sweet, but not really flavored.  On Sunday, I saw my parents

We are now past what is dubbed "Fool's Spring," because we probably have one to two inches of snow here already today in Michigan, and there will be more later, which I am not happy about because I need to drive somewhere later. EveryPlate mushroom, pea, cream pasta What I've been up to this week: Birthday/housewarming party . A friend of mine who lives in South Lyon had a 40th birthday/housewarming party, which was nice because I got to see her condo (and of course, her)—she moved in last year. I think this was the first time I've been to a party/get-together with 10-20 people since 2020, although I'm probably wrong on that ... it was nice not to wear a mask. She also had food catered from a local Mediterranean place, which was also tasty.  Hanging out with friends . After the housewarming party, we actually headed to another friend's house nearby in South Lyon, and we had drinks and pizza with them; they live only about 5 minutes from my friend. We had f

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 What I've been up to this week: 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 Califo