The Friday Five, 10/6/23: 5 things I've been up to this week

This was a busy week, as we were in Rhode Island and Massachusetts from Saturday through Wednesday. I haven't been home yet this week either but I need to, because tomorrow is my infusion.

Ribeye at Matunuck Oyster House
Ribeye at Matunuck Oyster House

What I've been up to this week:

  1. Seeing friends and family. Sunday was mostly our day to do that: we drove up to Worcester to see a high school friend and his husband and son, and then drove to Sharon from there, where my mom's side of the family lives (my uncle, aunt, and one of his sons and his family). It was nice to have 99% of the family together in one room—one of the kids couldn't make it but otherwise everyone else was there. They also gave us a cake for our engagement, which was really nice. 
    On Saturday, we got to see my aunt, as well (my dad's sister), in Rhode Island, and on Tuesday night we had dinner with cousins (her son and his wife), too.
  2. Eating a lot of good food. A lot of good meals this week but my favorite was actually the ribeye pictured above, at the Matunuck Oyster House, in South Kingstown, RI—I'm not a big seafood fan but they were doing Restaurant Week and the ribeye was fantastic. We also had a great pasta meal in the North End, in Boston, at Carmelina's, I believe the name was; I had a mushroom penne with breadcrumbs. We stopped by Modern Pastry too, in the North End—the two competing cannoli/pastry places there are Modern and Mike's, and we tried Mike's last year; my consensus is that Mike's has more flavors, and the cannolis are larger, but Modern's are also very good. 
  3. Shooting engagement photos. I wanted to book something for Boston or RI since we were already going to be there, and my MA/RI family suggested a few people. We ended up going with someone who a cousin recommended, and she was fabulous—I'm excited to share some photos on my IG and FB, although probably not just yet. We ended up shooting them in downtown Boston near Long Wharf and the aquarium over there—fun fact, you can see/hear the seals from outside, making ARF ARF ARF noises, haha. 
  4. Seeing a really good movie. Last Friday I saw Dumb Money at the theater, and I actually have still been thinking about it. It's based on a true story, and Paul Dano played the lead person; if you're familiar with the GameStop stock hubbub from 2021, that's what this is about. I'd probably give it 4.5/5 stars if not 5/5 stars, and I highly recommend it—you can see my Instagram video review here.
  5. Driving a fun car. Our rental car for the week, through Alamo/Costco Travel, was a Buick Envision. I highly recommend Costco Travel for car rental, btw—it includes a free second driver (important because my fiance and I don't officially live together yet, and aren't married obviously, so otherwise that would be a cost), and the prices are really good. I usually check like once a week after I book, too, because if prices go down, you can rebook and cancel the original with no penalty. We usually request a "Standard SUV" and I think they were out (they promise a Ford Edge or similar) so we ended up with a Buick Envision, which they classify as a "Midsize SUV," and it was a pretty nice car. 
Boston's Long Wharf area
Boston's Long Wharf area

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