Ok, so, for once in your life you can say you've had a better week than Lady Gaga. It doesn't mean you haven't been pining for Friday every day since Sunday. And hey, you never miss your mark at work either, right? Er, well, more on that later. Either way, we here at Broke Girls Guide are totally ready for two days of unbridled fun, so we're serving it up big-time this weekend with heavy eating, just as much drinking, and a whole lot of wellness to balance it out... because we -- unlike Gaga -- unfortunately don't have a strategically placed dancer to hide our moments of shame. Here's what we're up to this weekend, moments of shame and all:
Friday
After sending your last email of the week, hop into your most sweat-friendly attire because Lululemon is hosting a free yoga flow class at The Americana in Glendale at 7 p.m. Stay in corpse pose for a screening of Twilight immediately following class. They're planning on ordering in dinner for the event (a minimum of $10/person), but we may just sneak off to Dinah's to sample their legendary fried chicken (hey, we earned it!).
Next, grab a freshly brewed beer or two (again -- we earned it!) up the road at Golden Road Brewing before a nightcap at Neat, our favorite bar that's just far enough in left field (a.k.a deep into Glendale) for it to remain under-the-radar. You won't be able to handle (or afford) more than one or two of these potent cocktails, so now it's time to saunter off to bed.
Saturday
Start your morning with eggs and ridiculous pastries at The Market on Holly in Pasadena before traipsing around that fair city for their annual ArtWalk. After you've taken in the visual delights of Pasadena's finest, head to Silver Lake for a shopping marathon you won't soon forget.
Kick it off at the Silver Lake Art, Craft & Vintage Market at Micheltorena Street Elementary. More than 50 vendors will be selling DIY creations and vintage finds from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. After you've taken the market by storm, visit the fantastic local boutiques that are all (shocks and horrors!) within walking distance: Dream Collective for hippy dippy delights, Clare Vivier for preppy-meets-Parisian fine leather goods, and Hemingway and Pickett for perfectly curated whatnots (i.e. home goods, accessories, jewelry, design objets). Try to resist the siren song of oozy, carby, grilled cheese sandwiches as you make your way past Heywood towards your car.
You'll be happy you resisted those grilled cheeses (actually, you'd also be pretty happy if you didn't), because next up is a bite to eat at L&E Oyster Bar. Waiting for a table? It's the one time we, frankly, look forward to the experience because just across the streets is Lake, our go-to outlet for a little wistful shopping of the Rag & Bone, Isabel Marant (Etoile), Mud ceramics, and Savon de Marseilles variety. After dinner, make your way to the Greek for An Evening with David Byrne and St. Vincent as they perform songs from their stellar collaborative album. Talk about a power couple.
If civilized Saturdays aren't really your thing, skip everything we've listed above, put your game face on (and, perhaps, a dirndl), and head instead to Rock & Reilly's for Rocktoberfest. The party starts at noon and goes until 10 p.m., so we'd advise taking a cab. If you're lucky, they may even have a few free tickets left, so go ahead and "like" them on Facebook and then email rocktoberfest2012@gmail.com to find out.
Sunday
Sweat out all those oysters, grilled cheeses, and pastries at the newly opened Sweat Shop, where $35 gets you a private sauna room to work out what ails you. An extra $30 will get you a 30-minute massage. After you're limber and dehydrated, check out Taste of Abbot Kinney for a smattering of the good eats that have made the street famous. Participants include Lemonade, Jin Patisserie, Intelligentsia, Local 1205 and more.
After, wind down your weekend with a little help from your friends at the W in Westwood, who, for whatever reason, seem to know exactly what a broke girl requires. They're offering a new promotion aptly named "Night without Roommates" which includes a night stay in a suite, a complimentary movie on demand, popcorn, and -- best of all -- the feeling of happiness and general sense of serenity that comes with knowing no one will randomly knock on the door looking for a hair tie while you're in the shower.
And now that you've sweated, shopped and fried-chickened your way through a weekend of happiness and serenity, we'd say you're ready to take on the week ahead.
