About a month ago a friend asked me to come down and visit her in Austin for South by Southwest, or more commonly referred to as "southby" for the trendier, flannel wearing crowd. At first I thought she was crazy, but decided it was a brilliant idea. Of course, being so close to the actual event, I couldn't find tickets for less than $700.

Thus, my bright idea to drive to Texas on the great-American road trip. Knowing there was absolutely no way I'd make a 2o-hour drive alone, I commissioned my wing woman to make the journey with me.

Our trip started Wednesday evening after I finished a full work day. We departed Milwaukee around midnight in hopes of getting to Austin at a reasonable time. We stopped at gas stations along the way and managed to beat the GPS estimated time. When we hit Tulsa, Okla., we were in serious need of a bloody. We drove into downtown easily and stopped at a blues bar for a quick drink. Guitars lined the walls and the ceiling was covered with skylights that flooded the room with gorgeous sunlight. From there, we braved hellish traffic in Fort Worth and finally made it to Austin by 8 p.m. on Thursday.

Even though our hostess had to work the next day, she still took us out to see a few shows. The first bar we stopped at was less than amazing. There was a weird metal band blasting eccentric guitar riffs at a crowd of five people. We grabbed a drink, but none of us were very impressed.

At the next venue we were able to catch the tail end of a show by a band called the Electric Sons. The venue was fairly packed so we danced our way through the crowd and close to the stage. After their show the band members signed CDs for us and took pictures. They proved to be the most personable band I met in Austin.

Next up was Hank and Cupcakes, this was a crazy duo that rocked the bar. The lead vocalist danced around like a slithering (yet sexy) snake and made out with the guitarist in what we all agreed was one of the hottest kisses ever seen. Thursday ev…

"Bar Month" at OnMilwaukee.com is back for another round – brought to you by Aperol, Pinnacle, Jameson, Fireball, Red Stag and Avion. The whole month of February, we're serving up intoxicatingly fun articles on bars and clubs – including guides, the latest trends, bar reviews and more. Grab a designated driver and dive in!

I believe I've mentioned that I'm somewhat of a workaholic, but one job or 10, we can all agree on one thing, sometimes work just sucks.

You know the feeling I'm talking about, the days where everything seems to be against you; your phone stops ringing as you trip over your headphone cord to answer it, you drop half your lunch in a garbage can filled with your coworker's chew spit, you're late for work because you didn't know it snowed, every time you try to print the machine is jammed or out of paper, and someone drank the last cup of coffee.

Days like that and you spend the whole day wanting to smash your over-worked head straight into your cubical that looks like you got the short straw in the company cube draw. I don't know if this is a national thing, Wisconsin thing, or maybe an immature 25-year-old thing, but usually those are the days I want to head straight to happy hour and wallow in my self pity.

For me, yesterday was one of those days.

Of course because we are on this whole "the universe hates me trend," yesterday was also one of the days I had to work after work, which means I missed all the good happy hour specials. Go figure. Who even decided happy hour typically runs till 6 p.m.?

When I got to my second job the day ceased to improve. Dropped silverware right after it was washed, spilled sauce on my shirt, and knocked over chairs in the dining room at the exact moment the jukebox shut off. Clearly this was not my day.

Finally my shift was over, but instead of heading home I decided to try my luck one more time and see if a few cocktails could at least bring me out of my foul mood and cloud of self-loathing.

Hello Hotel F…

The older I get, the more I seem to hear people refer to New Year's Eve as "amateur night." I'm not offended by this, but I'm perplexed and concerned about the lack of a celebratory spirit.

At what age do you simply not care that another year is passing? At what point is it just better to stay home and sleep than enjoy the company of loved ones?

I'm not saying everyone needs to be out at the bar, but there's also something to be said for the camaraderie of the holiday and celebrating a common transition.

I understand that there is a plethora of young drunk kids roaming the streets, but you are not forced to be one of them. I enjoy the passing of one year to the next and the idea of a fresh start.

My New Year's Eve included bar hopping, but it felt responsible and I'm not an amateur drinker. Well, at least I don't think I am.

To quote one of my favorite YouTube videos "I'm still young, but I'm not that young." My last night of 2012 and my introduction to 2013 was filled with good people, good venues, and was by no means obscene or filled with the pukescapades so often encountered in high school and college.

I started my morning with a half day at my job. I'm pro half days or, rather, any shortened work day – and it flew by quickly. Like the leave-it-to-the-last-minute person I am, I thought it brilliant to go to the mall after work. Big mistake. Everyone was off work and everyone was making holiday returns or looking for glitter. Learn from me, DO NOT go to the mall on New Year's Eve. My shopping trip turned into an all-day adventure that finally ended around 8 p.m.

A few of my girlfriends gathered at a friend's apartment to start our night with dinner and champagne. This was the perfect start as it helped us to conserve money we would have spent on dinner and drinks at a restaurant. The meal included little Italian sausage stuffed mushrooms, which seems complicated, but really, you can buy them that way – who knew? Our goal was to be out with the rest of th…

For me, a normal weekend usually consists of hustling about my part-time jobs, maybe getting a work out in, and spending some time with friends. Weekends are when those of us in service industry jobs tend to have our busiest nights, so typically I'd rather pick-up rather than lose a shift. However, last Friday I was off from work, free to roam, with plans to see Alabama Shakes at the Riverside.

We started the night at John Hawks Pub. We were cutting it a little close to concert time, but luck was on my side and there wasn't a wait when we arrived. We were able to score a small booth with the ability to somewhat overlook the river (due mostly to the fact that the tables blocking our line of vision were empty). I barely glanced at my menu and immediately ordered the fish fry - after all, it's Friday in Wisconsin. The fish fry was excellent, but my beer selection faltered.

Another big plus about John Hawks Pub is that it's located just a few short steps from the Riverside. We already accomplished the daunting mission of parking, which only took 30 minutes, and after dinner we easily marched over the bridge to the venue.

The doors for the show opened at 7 p.m., we chose to arrive closer to 8:15 p.m. By the time we made our way to the stage, the opening band was playing their last few songs.

Although this is the second time I've seen Alabama Shakes, the first show I went to was after I spent the day partaking in the North Avenue Stumble. As you can imagine, the show was a bit of a blur after eight consecutive hours frolicking from bar to bar. This time around I intended to be fully present for the show.

The concert was completely sold out and the seats filled quickly. I maneuvered to the front, hoping to score a great view of the show. It didn't take long before Alabama Shakes took the stage.

Lead singer, Brittany Howard, completely blew me away. Her voice rivals that of the best female leads. She brings a sort of classic rock charm to the bands overall feel. The e…