The Friday Five, 10/18/24: 5 things I've been up to this week

Not sure how it's already MID October, but I made it through colonoscopy prep weekend—oddly enough, it was bad but seemed easier than 2022's prep—and it has been nice to be able to eat solid foods again this week. 

Bee pollen and honey drink at Candy Bar, Detroit
Bee pollen and honey drink at Candy Bar, Detroit

What I've been up to this week:
  1. Dining out/getting takeout. I had a nice sort of "last hurrah" last Friday before my prep—it was a friend's birthday, and we had a night out in Detroit for it. We went to Wright & Co. for dinner, a small plates restaurant that I had been wanting to try for a while (apparently it opened in 2014?), and then went to Candy Bar and Monarch Club after for drinks. What's funny is that a few years ago, I guess in July 2019, I also went to Candy Bar and Monarch Club one night for drinks, and swore I'd never got back to Monarch—my friends and I had a pretty bad experience with a bouncer that thought he was a god, basically, and took forever to let us in—but this time it was a bit better (or at the very least, the views of the city from the rooftop are awesome, although the drink prices reflect that).
    On Monday, we got Buddy's takeout after my colonoscopy, which is always good. On Tuesday, we were feeling a bit lazy so got Mamaeatz via Doordash, which is a tasty Indian place that mostly does sandwiches; oddly enough, I liked my paneer sandwich more than my butter chicken one. Last night, I have been trying to hit up some faves before I move from the Troy/Clawson area, so I got the butter yaki udon dish with beef from Ima (Madison Heights),which was tasty albeit a bit pricey (like $21 with tax). I may hit up El Guanaco (Troy) or another favorite tonight, too. 
  2. Colonoscopy prep. Lest you think my week was all tasty food, like it might seen above—I stopped eating solids on Friday night, after the tasty dinner/drinks night out, and did not get to eat them again until Monday at like 3pm. Most people who get a colonoscopy do not have to do a prep like this, I will stress. UM just kinda hates me (there's a reason for a 2.5-day prep, but I'm not getting into it here, lol). When I was with Beaumont, I used to just do the liquid diet for one day (Sunday, usually); do the prep work that night; and have an early Monday procedure. With UM, I do all liquids (no prep) on Saturday; all liquids and prep in the AM and at night, on Sunday; and prep AM (no liquids or food) on Monday, then Monday PM procedure. It is ... a lot, and never something I look forward to, but I need to ensure I have a clean bill of health, because I have Crohn's. 
  3. Seeing movies. I have a lot of free time during prep, and we watched Wolfs, on AppleTV, which was fun, with George Clooney and Brad Pitt. I also did a rewatch of Practical Magic this week, one of my faves, and I saw Exhibiting Forgiveness at AMC yesterday, which was good (with good acting) but not entirely my cup of tea. I am seeing Piece by Piece today, and then that is probably the end of my AMC A-List, unfortunately, since the AMC by our house (my husband's house, that I am moving in to officially) is AMC Livonia and a) kinda far, like a 25-min. drive and b) the seats are rather terrible (no recliners, and super old). I am going to check out the Farmington Civic Theater and also maybe just do $5 Tuesday movies at Emagine Novi, which has super nice recliners. 
  4. Getting my condo cleaned. This is the first time I have ever hired a cleaner, and Groupon was running a $75 deal for three hours through Cozy Maid, which is actually Homeaglow. The cleaner came yesterday and overall did a very good job, so I'm pleased with it. 
  5. Watching TV shows. I have two new shows on my docket: The Franchise, on Max, which I'm still not sure I love but it has a great cast, and English Teacher, on Hulu/FX, which was great (I say "was" because I think it's either finished for the season or only has 1-2 episodes left). I also tried out Georgie & Mandy's First Marriage on CBS/Paramount+ last night, and it was enjoyable, although not as good as its predecessor, Young Sheldon, which was a spinoff of Big Bang Theory (so if you're keeping track, G&M is a spinoff of a spinoff). According to BBT lore, Georgie (Sheldon's older brother) married two times, hence the title. I also started Disclaimer (AppleTV) which was really good, so I'm looking forward to watching more today. I've been continuing to watch High Potential (Hulu/ABC), Married at First Sight (Lifetime), Love is Blind (Netflix), and The Penguin (Max), which had a fabulous Cristina Milioti-centric episode this week. Also, Matlock and Elsbeth have returned to CBS/P+ this week, and Shrinking has returned to AppleTV (needless to say, I have a very large docket of things to watch now!).
View of Comerica Park from the Monarch Club, Detroit
View of Comerica Park from the Monarch Club, Detroit

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