The Friday Five, 3/21/24: 5 things I've been up to this week

I can't believe it's already March 21st—this month is flying by. I'm looking forward to resting a bit this weekend, but we are seeing friends on Saturday night and I usually see my parents on Sunday nights, too.

4-sq. lunch pepperoni pizza from Buddy's
4-sq. lunch pepperoni pizza from Buddy's

What I've been up to this week:
  1. Dining out/getting takeout. Last Friday, I met up with two friends for lunch at Buddy's in Farmington Hills—I don't usually go out during work, for lunch, but a different friend was supposed to be visiting that weekend and then was unable to make it, plus I had a doctor's appointment in the AM, so I kept my lunch plans and worked a half day. On Saturday, I went to check on my condo and drop my HOA check, so I swung by Pink Garlic to get us Indian takeout. On Sunday, I was at a birthday party and we had sushi and Hungry Howie's pizza, and on Wednesday, I was in Ann Arbor (more about that below) and had Chela's takeout for lunch. 
  2. Returning to U of M. I'm a 2009 University of Michigan alum, specifically in the College of LSA (Literature, Science, and the Arts) and the RC (Residential College). On Wednesday, I was asked back to be on a panel called "RC Career Connections Series: The Power of Words & Ink," along with three other writers/journalists, and we talked to RC students who are interested in getting into that field for a career. Most of them were RC Creative Writing majors, which is what I majored in also, with a minor in Music Non-Professional (I played violin in HS and college). It was an interesting experience, and the other people on the panel were very accomplished; one is a literary agent, which is actually what I wanted to be straight out of college (book editor), and the others had written for a variety of publications. 
    On a related note, it was SO weird to be back in my old dorm—I lived in East Quad from 2005-2007 (probably when most of these students were born, yikes! I did the math ...) and loved it. About ten years ago they did an interior renovation of the dorm, though, and it makes me a little sad that it doesn't look entirely like I remember it. I was looking through my FB pictures from 2005-07 this week too to refresh my memory. The rooms look about the same, I think, but the carpet looked different, and the cafeteria was completely different too (not to mention, with fancier meal choices—we had like three entree choices when I was there, I think a veggie one, meat entree, and a vegan one, with a lot of dorms not having a vegan option). 
  3. Attending a birthday party. On Sunday, my husband and I went to a 4-year-old's birthday party (the son of one of my best friends, she was the matron of honor at my wedding). I bought him some books he likes, and I think he was happy with them. We had pizza from Hungry Howie's, and sushi from One World Market in Novi, and it was a fun time; a lot of my college friends were there, also, so it's always nice to see them in-person. 
  4. Watching movies. I finally got to watch Anora on Hulu yesterday, and I see why it won like ALL of the awards, although parts of it were sad, including the ending. I would still give it 4-4.5 stars out of 5. I also went to the theater yesterday to see the new Snow White, and I would give that one 3.5/5 stars, but it's worth seeing; I'd like to rewatch the original now on Disney+, and/or perhaps the Huntsman Snow White movies from 2010/2012 or so; I really liked Charlize Theron as the queen there, but Gal Gadot was great in this one too. I also thought this one was a little scary for kids, especially when (spoiler? It's in the original too though) the queen turns into an evil hag to trick Snow White with the apple. 
  5. Watching TV shows. I love Married at First Sight but I do feel like they drag out the post-marriage episodes a LOT, so this week was the reunion part two. I'm caught up on The White Lotus, Grosse Pointe Garden Society, and Abbott Elementary, and I'm looking forward to watching the season finale of Severance maybe today or tomorrow; I've heard good things about it already. My Friday shows out today include Georgie & Mandy's First Marriage, Elsbeth, Matlock, Surface, and Yellowjackets, too.
East Quad, my U of M dorm from 2005-2007
East Quad, my U of M dorm from 2005-2007

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