The Friday Five, 4/18/25: 5 things I've been up to this week

Somehow it's already April 18th, and today my Alexa said the high is going to be 78 degrees, which is kinda nuts because this week it's been like 35-40 degrees at most ... 

baby announcement with cat

What I've been up to this week:

  1. Some big news. I had been holding onto this secret for a while, though we started telling family and close friends at the end of December. I'm currently 21 weeks pregnant, due with a baby girl at the end of August! My husband and I found out in early December (and it definitely happened AFTER our Louisville trip, which was a lot of drinking, haha) but I wanted to wait until baby's 20-week anatomy scan, which was Friday, before telling my Facebook and Instagram friends. We are both very excited to meet her, and I feel like there's still a lot of things to do before August, but we have the whole summer to get things done. Pictured above is the announcement I posted on FB/IG (Momo can be cooperative for photos, Gregory the tabby cat usually is not, so she got to be in it).
    My husband and I both thought it was going to be a boy, based on old wives tales—i.e. in my first trimester I didn't have bad morning sickness, plus I craved fruits (pineapple and watermelon, specifically) and more salty snacks than usual—so we were very surprised when the bloodwork showed it was a girl!
  2. Getting takeout/dining out. Last Friday, we went to House of Falafel, in Farmington (but like South Farmington, so a ~15-minute drive), for a Yelp pickup event. This was my second time there, the first time also being for Yelp, and their falafel and also chicken shawarma is very good. We bought some homemade pita chips and garlic there, too, which was also delicious. On Saturday, we met up with friends at KPot in Novi, for all-you-can-eat Korean BBQ, and that was also tasty, plus they gave us a lot of baby clothes/toys from their daughter. On Wednesday, I was working in the office (in Birmingham) so I opted for Sweetgreen for lunch, and then I met a friend for happy hour at the Melting Pot, which is always delicious, and also an excellent deal: instead of $30 per fondue pot (for both cheese and chocolate fondue), it was $15, aka $7.50 each. I hadn't been to Melting Pot in probably a year or two and they've redecorated a bit, which was interesting. 
  3. Waiting for a Yelp package. It is SUPPOSED to come today, but this has been a saga, lol. In January, my husband and I attended a very nice event at the Park West Gallery, in Southfield, and we found out at the event that Yelp + the gallery were offering every attendee a FRAMED print of their choice (for free!), which would be shipped by the gallery. My husband received his via FedEx weeks ago, and someone had to be home to sign for it and show ID (me). FedEx finally called me to schedule mine, and we agreed on 4-6pm last Saturday, but it didn't show up. I called them that day and they agreed to show up on Monday ... and did not. I called them AGAIN and rescheduled for today, from 12-2pm, so I hope it actually shows up today. The artwork is actually huge, too (we haven't opened my husband's yet, to keep it in the protective box), and I'm excited to see it. 
  4. Watching movies. I saw The Amateur at Emagine Novi last night, since I'm a big Rami Malek fan, and it was good, albeit a bit slow; those recliners always kill me, and I unfortunately fell asleep for about 15 minutes, but I'd still give it maybe 4/5 stars. Rachel Brosnahan, aka Mrs. Maisel, stars as Malek's wife, too, and Juliette Nicholson and Laurence Fishburne were also in it, which I didn't know. Overall it's worth seeing but you can probably wait for streaming. 
  5. Watching new TV shows. Yesterday I tried out Government Cheese, on AppleTV, and it was pretty good—surprisingly, there are already four episodes up, so I need to finish the other three. Last week, also on AppleTV, I tried out Your Friends and Neighbors, with Jon Hamm, which I also enjoyed, and there's a new episode up this week, too. The Last of Us, on Max, has new episodes up now too, and my husband and I watched this week's last night; we have also been watching Mobland, on Paramount+, and we are finishing up our rewatch of How I Met Your Mother, too. 
Flaming Turtle fondue at the Melting Pot, Troy, MI
Flaming Turtle fondue at the Melting Pot, Troy, MI

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