The Friday Five, 9/27/24: 5 things I've been up to this week

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 at the Berman Center, West Bloomfield
Nicholas Sparks (left) at the Berman Center, West Bloomfield

What I've been up to this week:

  1. 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, which they then uploaded online, which was fun, and every attendee got a SIGNED copy of his new book, which I've already started reading. The event cost was $32 plus fees, so about $35, and I consider that a deal considering just the book is $30 (hardcover copy).
  2. Infusion. Every 8 weeks, I go and get an infusion of medicine, since I have Crohn's. It's annoying to have to wake up early (7:30am) on a Saturday but otherwise I just bring my iPad and watch movies or shows during it. This week, unfortunately, it took them SIX pokes to get the needle in—I have very thin veins, and they like to hide—which is a record for me; prevously I believe 3 to 4 was the most. It was unfortunately very painful and my arm is still black and blue today from it. 
  3. Watching movies. Last week, I watched Uglies on Netflix; I had read the book a long time ago, apparently it came out in 2005 (!) so I would've been the right age (18) for a YA book then. The movie was good but definitely ended abruptly and sets it up for a sequel—I'd probably give it 3.5/5 stars. Last night I saw The Wild Robot, in 3D, at AMC John R, which was fabulous; I'd give it 4.5/5 stars, and the 3D was very good, too. I'll unfortunately probably be canceling my AMC A-List before my next billing period (Oct. 20 or so) since I'll be finally selling my condo, and the AMC near my husband's (!) house, AMC Livonia, does not have recliners, and honestly is in need of a remodel ... so I'll be trying to see as many movies as I can before then. Also, tonight I'm seeing Am I Racist?, which looks like it could be either really good or really bad. I forgot to mention that I finally got to watch Back to Black, the Amy Winehouse movie, on Peacock, too, and I'd give it maybe 3-3.5 stars; I didn't realize that the girl playing Amy is from Industry, an HBO show I watch, so that was interesting.
  4. Watching TV shows. Yesterday stumbled upon a new Netflix show called Nobody Wants This, with Kristen Bell and Adam Brody, and I binged eight of the ten episodes ... it's really good, and reminds me of classic rom-coms I like. I've been watching The Circle with my husband, including the last batch of episodes they released this week, and also Agatha All Along, on Disney+, although I can't believe they are releasing ONE episode per week, it seems (I need them faster!), and Bad Monkey on AppleTV still. My husband and I also started The Penguin, on Max, and if you are a Batman fan, you will like it, although it's definitely very violent and gritty, IMO. I've been continuing to watch Industry, also on Max, and I started High Potential, on ABC and Hulu this week, too, and it reminds me a lot of Monk, so I like it. 
  5. Dining out/getting takeout. On Saturday I got drive-thru takeout from CFA for us; there's one in Southfield, and after my infusion I'm usually very tired and do not feel like getting out of the car to get food. For Saturday dinner, I saw my parents at their house, and we had Hungry Howie's takeout, per usual. On Sunday, my husband and I had lunch with friends at Basement Burger Bar, Farmington; I always get their sweet potato fries, because it comes with this insane dipping sauce that's like cinnamon butter or something (it's delicious). We've also been cooking HelloFresh this week, and we still have one more recipe to make, probably this weekend.
Custom-made burger and sweet potato fries with cinnamon (butter?), Basement Burger Bar
Custom-made burger and sweet potato fries with cinnamon (butter?), Basement Burger Bar

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