Butch Walker at the 40 Watt 9/7/13

Last month, I found myself back in the 40 Watt, a venue I don't think I'd been in since high school.  The 40 Watt was originally opened in 1978 by Curtis Crowe who often joked the club was lit by a single light bulb hanging from the ceiling.  Since, the space has become a staple for Athens bands as well as more well known acts.  In high school, I saw The Whigs, The Modern Skirts, Fun., Band of Skulls, and Motion City Soundtrack play here, just to name a few.  Needless to say, I was very excited to be back there to add Butch Walker to this roster of acts.

Butch opened the show, just him and a keyboard, playing "Joan" and a couple of his heavier songs.  I was taken aback by this, that is sad material to start the night with.  But I quickly saw what he was doing.  By the time his band joined him on stage for "Mixtape," he had the whole crowd in the palm of his hand.  It stayed this way all night, people daring themselves to look away long enough to go to the bar. Granted, half of the crowd was before the social networking generation, but I felt like there was a minimal amount of cell phone use that night.  He played a wonderful high energy "Synthesizers" with pieces of "Come on Eileen" through out.  He covered bits of other songs including "Teenage Wasteland" and "The Ocean," joking that his younger band had never heard them before.  At the end of the night, he came into the crowd.  Everyone gathered around him waiting to see what he would do next.  The show ended with an amazing energy, everyone in the room experiencing a major endorphin release.  All-in-all it was an amazing show.  Now that I've seen Butch Walker once, I can't wait to see him perform again.  There's something about a group of people belting out songs like "Mixtape" and "She Likes Hair Bands" that warms my heart.  It is something everyone must experiences.

You can view the 40 Watt's full calendar here.

You can follow Butch Walker at Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

Birthday Weekend

My twenty-second birthday was about a month ago and it turned out to be a wonderful long weekend of celebration.  It started Friday at the Buckhead Pub Crawl.  This particular pub crawl was in anticipation of the SEC/ACC football kick-off weekend.  We paid $15 for access to seven bars and a mixed drink at each.  I had never been out in Buckhead before and this was an awesome way to get a taste of most the bars in the area.

The next day I arrived back in Athens for lunch at one of my favorite spots, Last Resort.  I had crab cakes with a side salad drenched in their divine vidalia bacon dressing.  Of course, a trip downtown would not be complete without a stop at King of Pops.  Today I choose to with a new choice and had the coconut lemongrass, which did not disappoint.

We had people over to watch the first University of Georgia game of the season.  We may have just been tailgating at home, but we had a spread fit for kings: pimento cheese and curry chicken salad from Marti's at Midday, a Chick-Fil-A nugget tray, pizza dip, Mom's corn and pea salsa, and a heavenly red velvet cake.

One of my favorite gifts from my parents was my Mary Blair inspired Lesportsac weekender.  I have always loved Mary Blair's whimsical art and illustrations and this bag is the perfect tribute to her work.

We had a delicious seafood lunch at Marker 7.  If you haven't been yet, you must go.  You will feel as though you have been transported to the seaside by their Beach Boys heavy soundtrack and brightly colored decor.  The evening's activities included going to the new movie theatre to see "The Spectacular Now."  The movie was recently filmed in Athens, so we were very excited to see our home on the silver screen.  The movie was incredible.  I don't remember the last time one film caused me to feel so many different emotions.  People who have seen James Pondsolt's film, "Smashed," are familiar with his beautiful use of raw emotion, seen many times throughout "The Spectacular Now."  As a lover of young adult literature, I am now hoping to read Tim Tharp's novel which the movie is based on.

After the movie, we went downtown to Five Bar for dinner.  We started our meal with their delicious baked avocado, topped with baby shrimp and tempura flakes.  For my entree, I had the stuffed shrimp.  These shrimp come stuffed with crabmeat and wrapped in bacon.  They are served with a fresh greens salad topped with fruit, goat cheese and basalmic vinaigrette and their ever-changing risotto, tonight's being parmesan and eggplant.  Five is currently running a special on Sundays and serving their burger for $5.  This burger is topped with a mayo-based spread of tomatoes, onions, and bacon and served with french fries and their very own Five Sauce, a sort of wasabi honey mustard that I could happily eat on everything.

We came home to one of my favorite cakes in the world--Cecilia Villaveces' key lime cake.  My family has been ordering cakes from her bakery for years and they never disappoint.

Monday began leisurely by enjoying the "Arrested Development" marathon on IFC and a late sushi lunch at Sakura.  After lunch, we were craving something sweet so we went downtown to Always Baked.  Their homemade cookies come in a variety of Georgia themed flavors like Gregg Almond and, my personal favorite, the On My Mind.  Today we had ice cream sandwiches, two on my minds surrounding two scoops of cinnamon ice cream .  This is seriously the perfect sweet treat.

Upon the return to school, we began a celebration the Milledgeville way--with margaritas at El Tequila. I woke up on Tuesday (my actual birthday) to find a package from a package which contained what has quickly become my favorite item to wear around the house--Freudian Slippers!  They are the perfect mate to my "Freudian Sips" mug and I can't get over how thin my legs look in them.  If only I was the type of person who wears slippers outside of the house.

Celebration on Tuesday continued in usual Milledgeville fashion, with brunch at the Local Yolkal, dinner at Amici and karaoke at Buffington's.  Taylor Swift karaoke on your 22nd birthday may be one of the biggest cliches ever, but if just felt right.  My little sister even got to come and play for the night!

I don't know about you, but I actually am 22