The Friday Five, 5/28/21: 5 things I've been up to this week

This week has seemed long, and it's cold and miserable out today (47 and raining ... at the end of May? #PureMichigan), but this weekend should be fun. I forgot that I get Monday off of work, too, so I'm going to see my boyfriend and also see A Quiet Place Part 2 ... in EMAX, at Emagine Royal Oak!

Crumbl Cookies, from its Rochester Hills location
Crumbl Cookies, from its Rochester Hills location

What I've been up to this week:

  1. Antibody bloodwork and Crumbl Cookies. I finally had my COVID-19 antibody test on Tuesday, at the LabCorp at the Walgreens in Rochester Hills. Normally it takes them 2-3 days to provide results, but I'm in a study through UNC, and UNC said they batch ship blood samples, so I should have results in 2-4 weeks. I'm a little scared that I have no antibodies, even though I've been vaccinated, because that's been the case with a few immunocompromised people, but I try to tell myself that I shouldn't worry about it until I actually get the results. As a nice bonus, Crumbl Cookies was about a half-mile up the street, so I stopped by and got some cookies (pro tip: at 9:30am, it's pretty empty!). Pictured above are Kentucky Butter Cake, Confetti Cake, Rocky Road, and Chocolate ft. Andes Mint. My two favorites ended up being the Butter Cake one and the Andes Mint. I just was accepted for a Yelp pick-up event for Crumbl too so I'll be heading back in a few weeks to get four free cookies! 
  2. Frankenmuth day trip with friends! As I wrote last week, on Saturday some friends and I went to Frankenmuth for the day. It was really nice to get out of the house and have a mini trip, and I hadn't been to Frankenmuth since January 2014, for their Snowfest (basically an ice festival). We had chicken "dinner" (lunch, at 2pm) at Bavarian Inn and also did a lot of shopping. I thought it was going to be super hot out that day but it ended up being around 80, which was nice. 
  3. Movies and TV shows. So many new/returning shows this week! Yesterday, I watched Hacks (on HBO Max, with Jean Smart; if you're not watching it, you should be, as it's really good), Younger, The Bold Type (back on Freeform/Hulu!), and the Friends reunion, which made me a little sad. It was pretty interesting to learn some "behind the scenes" stuff but I think in my head the cast will always be the ages they are in the TV show.
    I also have been watching Physical, on the AppleTV+ press app. I can't say anything about it but I will be writing a full blog post soon it. Just know to keep an eye out for it, it's worth watching and will be debuting June 18th on AppleTV+. I also watched one episode of Schmigadoon, loosely based on the musical Brigadoon, apparently, and AppleTV+ will have that in July; it stars Keegan-Michael Key and Cecily Strong. 
    Also, my boyfriend and I went to see Wrath of Man at AMC John R for Ticket Tuesday ($5.50/ticket), and on Memorial Day next week we are going to go see A Quiet Place Part 2—T-Mobile ended up offering $4 tickets through its T-Mobile Tuesdays app, and a friend gave me an extra code, so we are going to go to Emagine Royal Oak and see it in "style" at their huge EMAX screen! (yes, EMAX—it's basically like IMAX, Emagine just calls it their EMAX theater)
    I was able to get two other codes for my parents, too, and they're going to see it at the EMAX at Emagine Novi. It will be their first movie in a theater since March 2020. 
  4. Cooking and dining out. Like I previously mentioned, we went to Bavarian Inn in Frankenmuth; that and Zehnder's are the two big fried chicken places. The chicken was nice and juicy, and fresh, but it doesn't compare to my all-time favorite fried chicken place, The Southerner, in Saugatuck. My boyfriend and I also got Mr. Kabob on Tuesday, before the movie, and my parents and I had Hungry Howie's takeout on Sunday. This week I had Dinnerly, for cooking, and I will have it next week too. 
  5. Book Club. The book club I'm in with some friends met online this week to discuss The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, by Junot Diaz. I was not a huge fan of the book but parts of it were definitely interesting. If you like "magical realism" as a genre, you might enjoy it, though. Next month's book club is my turn to host, and I chose Unchosen by Katharyn Blair. Hoping to have it at Three Cats Cafe in Clawson, they have a nice patio area although I have not tried it out myself yet. 
Horses in Frankenmuth, MI
Horses in Frankenmuth, MI

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