BGG Weekly Playlist: Fashion Parties, End-of-Summer Anthems & Molly Ringwald

We’re not typically in the habit of celebrating the end of a three-day weekend, but the following weeknights are so tightly packed with fun, free events that we (almost) feel like we’re still on vacation. While your jetset friends have returned from their far-flung getaways with sunburns and hangovers, you kept it cool in town and are thus perfectly poised to make the most of the week ahead. Here’s how to do it:

Tuesday

Long weekends can make Tuesdays feel eerily similar to Mondays, but the good news is that after limping your way through ‘til five, you’ve got plenty of options. If you work or live in Santa Monica, swing by the last hurrah of Food Truck Tuesdays. Not a bad way to close out summer—and save some money while eating out. After, stop by Library Alehouse, where they’re dead set on expanding your palate and blowing your mind with Sourfest. The trick here is to avoid the dreaded bitter beer face.

If you’re not in the mood to pucker up, Gotye is bringing his signature summertime get-into-your-brain-and-never-leave songs to the Greek with special guest Chairlift. In Beverly Hills, the SLS Hotel is hosting a pre-FNO (that’s Fashion’s Night Out, of course) dinner at Saam with Barbara Bui and Melissa Magsaysay. Tickets are expensive, so pull some strings (we know you’ve got ‘em) or use all that extra cash we’ve earned you—it’ll be worth the splurge just to watch that inevitable (and maybe awkward) culinary interpretation of fashion unfold.

Hit Play: Chairlift - Amanaemonesia

Wednesday

There are few things we love more than an excuse to celebrate...and one of those things is, of course, free wine. Throughout California Wine Month (a real thing!), Glance Wine Bar at L.A. Live is hosting winemaker tastings every week. Post-sip, walk (don’t drive) a block up Figueroa to the newly-opened Soleto for corporate pizza that rivals its more artisanal competitors.

Westsiders, grab a fast and light meal at Thyme before arriving at the Track 16 gallery. There, Live Talks L.A. has Molly Ringwald (!) discussing her new book When It Happens to You with writer and L.A. Times columnist Meghan Daum. Show up early for a pre-talk reception and a copy of the book.

Hit Play: Talking Heads - The Book I Read

Thursday

The fashion industry’s international holiday, Fashion’s Night Out (as mandated by the Chief Operating Anna), is in full swing tonight and dominates most of the city. Best of all, many of the events are free and open to the public. On Robertson, Alice + Olivia has nail art and a braid bar, Christian Louboutin’s got tarot card readers, and Lululemon is giving away pressed juices. Meanwhile, DVF is offering styling advice and cocktails (you won’t want one without the other), and Helmut Lang is bumping live music and small bites on Melrose. On 3rd Street, Satine and Atlanta de Cadenet are hosting a Wren pop-up shop with Prevu drinks and discounts.

West Hollywood is FNO’s epicenter, but Abbot Kinney is holding strong with the annual Gold Rush party at Heist, $1,000 shopping contest and drinks at GANT, and the opening of the “Ideal Woman” show at Mona Moore.

Feeling quite contrary? Sentimental California grungesters Best Coast and NO are playing for free on the Santa Monica Pier. So if glitzy fashion frippery isn’t your bag, pick up authentic Mexican food and tequila drinks at La Sandia before heading due west for a salt-air-infused show. And, with every other girl in L.A. attending an FNO party, you’ll be the belle of the ball—enchilada breath notwithstanding.

Hit Play: NO - Big Waves