0 mpg.

I got so busy this week, I never had a chance to finish my weekend recap. Even though I had only a 4-day work week!

So... I had a very eco-friendly weekend. Not so wallet-friendly though.

On Friday night we went to Denny's for dinner. I was craving some breakfast and IHOP was closed so we ended up at Denny's. Let this be on record that the Denny's on Lincoln Ave is the worst Denny's I've been to. The sausage was so dry and the waffles were not good at all.

On Saturday we cycled down to Father's Office on Montana Ave which boasts the best burgers in LA. Walking in, we were a little disappointed about the setup. Father's Office is a full bar, so it is only open for lunch on the weekends and even though it's 12 noon, they have a bouncer outside clicking away. Once you get in, you order at the bar and then pick a seat -- just like any other bar. This would have been fine by me except that the burgers are $12, fries are $6.50 and sodas are $3. So for a $40 meal, I typically like to expect at least a guaranteed seat.



But, that disappointed was short-lived. As soon as our sweet potato fries came out (a-la-cart), I knew we were in for a treat.



The fries were fried perfectly crispy (which can be difficult with sweet potatoes) and had a hint of garlic and spices on them. We were given some sort of spicy aioli to dip, as the bar doesn't serve ketchup.



But of course, the meat was the main attraction. I don't usually like eating meat that looks like it was alive 5 minutes ago, but this burger was so ridiculously good. The caramelized onions and spots of melted gruyere were tremendously tasty alongside the fresh, hearty ground beef. There were also bits of blue cheese which I don't typically like, but made this burger heavenly. The bun was smaller than the meat and the arugula was a refreshing alternative to lettuce.



So after a heavy lunch, we jumped back on our bikes and headed south to Cynergy, which is the store we bought our bicycles at. We were due for our 30-day tuneup, which is kind of like a first oil change for a car. It was about an hour wait while our bicycles were cleaned up, spokes were tightened and cables were evened out, then we were back on our way.



So crazy that bicycles are like a car! Anyways, this marked the first day I ever really crossed Santa Monica Blvd, and we actually took that street all the way back home. (On the sidewalk, of course. Those big blue buses scare the sh*t out of me.)

Later that night I stopped by REI to get a bicycle computer. It's not as fancy as it sounds, it's just a $20 speedometer.

I needed something to clock how fast I was going because I had no idea, and when you're on the street riding next to cars, it's kind of nice to know. Also, it keeps an odometer so I know how far I've gone for that trip or for the total life of the bicycle. Cool stuff. After REI I had another huge beef craving (what did I start?) and had an Arby's sandwich for dinner.

Luckily on Sunday morning, I didn't have another beef craving, otherwise I might've eaten a T-bone steak and eggs. Instead, we cycled down to Bagel Nosh in Santa Monica, which is the best place to get a $5 breakfast anywhere in West LA.



So for $5 you get a freshly baked bagel (so fresh it's still chewy in the middle), two eggs any style, your choice of meat and hash browns. Not bad! They also have great fresh orange juice.

After filling up on carbs and protein and animal fat, we headed west towards 3rd Street Promenade to do some browsing. After aimlessly walking around for an hour, we headed back on Montana Ave. As usual, I hit that stretchy area that goes uphill and begged to stop. This time, I used Pinkberry as an excuse. I don't know if they were just having an awesome yogurt day or what but that was the best Pinkberry I've ever had. The green tea version was just the right mix of sweet and tart.

So anyways, big milestone here, on the way back home we took San Vincente Blvd for the first time which has a huge bike lane and I clocked 19 mph! That's the fastest speed I've ever gone! I typically ride slowly like 9-10mph on the sidewalk or 11-12mph on the street but on that ride home I was going f-a-s-t. It must have been the Pinkberry.

On Sunday night, we watched The Incredible Hulk at Century City. I wanted to wait for the weekend rush to be over and since I had Monday off, we saw a late showing. It was a pretty good movie -- I didn't like it as much as I liked Iron Man, but I do like Edward Norton and Liv Tyler so it was entertaining. I felt this movie was so narrow and focused, not as social or comical as Iron Man was. It's definitely worth watching in the theater but I'm not going to bother getting the DVD or watching it again if it was on TV.

On Monday I took the first of my 3 flex days to go to the spa with Marcela. She treated me to a nice 5-step body treatment at Ole Henriksen Spa, it was awesome! It was a small, intimate Spa in Sunset Plaza on the Sunset Strip.



We arrived a little late so we were rushed to the locker rooms and went directly into our treatment rooms. The 5-step treatment started with a relaxing hand and foot reflexology massage. It's amazing what muscles you neglect and don't know you are abusing until you get a massage. They hit a good amount of my typing and walking-in-heels muscles. :)

After that, as you lay on the towel-covered bed, they turn on this rain shower coming from above that hits your entire body horizontally. It's a very calming effect although I would not recommend it to anyone that is claustrophobic! So as the rain rinses your body, you get kind of a slowly mellow out and start to feel like you are at a tropical waterfall.

The next step was the body scrub. Let's just say I think I've been doing my body scrubs completely wrong all this time. First of all the therapist uses a whole LOT of salt scrub, and this particular blend had peppermint oil in it so it was invigorating. I realized this really helps a lot of the friction to exfoliate the skin, especially in the harder to reach areas. The scrub was great and really made me feel like I emerged with new skin. I have to say that I was surprised to see that the tops of my thighs and the inside of my arms were the most sensitive parts of my body to the scrub. After this step, I got rinsed again with the tropical rain bath.

So the next step was the heated seaweed wrap. After applying a thick layer (and I'm talking a baking-mixing bowl's worth) to your body, I was wrapped in mylar to keep the heat in. While I was toasting in this custom-made concoction, the therapist folded some lavender nourishing cream into my hair and gave me a cranial massage. This was probably the most relaxing point of the entire treatment, I was glad it was last!

So after about 1 hour and 15 minutes of pampering, they turned on the tropical rain bath again and left the room so I could do a full shower with Ole Henriksen products and clean myself up. It was such an awesome treat!

After the spa treatment and getting ready, we had a girls' lunch out on the patio of Le Petit Four -- I haven't had their Salmon tartar in so long. We sat outside next to an obnoxious group of girls that were gagging over our artichoke so it got a little annoying.



After my relaxing morning at the spa, Steve and I went cycling. This time we took San Vincente Blvd west all the way to the beach. It was a really good ride and we didn't want to turn around and go back home so we ended up walking around on 3rd street again. I think I'm really getting sick of going to 3rd street but we haven't really found any other places to bike to yet.

We walked around and window shopped until the late afternoon and it started getting cold. I wore a tank top and some workout shorts so I could tan while we were out there -- but now it was apparent that was not the best idea. =/ I went into Adidas looking for a light running jacket that might've been on sale that I could wear on my way home but the only one I wanted was a Stella McCartney one which was not cheap enough for an impulse buy.

So then I thought, why not go to Performance Bike and REI and maybe they have one specific to biking -- at least that way there will be reflectors and that will make it safer for me to cycle at night. Well, most cycling clothes are neon. :( I *did* find this turquoise jacket in the clearance section of REI that was kind of "just okay"... wasn't cute or anything but it served the purpose and had reflectors and zippers on the pockets so iPhones and such don't fly out of my pocket while I'm riding. I went to the cashier and it turned out to be only $13! Score! :) I was pretty happy on my ride back home, even though it was uphill.

And that was my long weekend! All cycling (except for the spa, which doesn't count cos we carpolled) and no gas wasted!