Editor’s Letter

_{August 2016}

by MP Mueller

When it comes to nightlife and me, an evening of revelry on the town sometimes leaves me feeling a bit out of my skin. Post-babies, I Goodwilled my bandage dress. I swapped my stilettos for kitten heels right about the time I realized that, with a few Sharpie lines drawn on my kneecaps, a Shar-Pei emerged. With dance moves that some generously described as quixotic (no kin to exotic, unfortunately), Netflix came close to being the new plus-one. Perhaps it was the collision of Puritan and Catholic backgrounds that had me calling in the cool: Can you party with a purpose and avoid a confessional?

Not long ago I tagged along with a friend to a dinner on the lawn at Laguna Gloria. It was my first evening out after a heady succession of life shifts. Being immersed in a party scene after being out of it for awhile felt familiar. It reminded me of when I returned to college, having been in the work world for two years. I had savored the blissful numbness of nights out with friends to ease the pressures of grades, social or otherwise. Initially, at Laguna Gloria, I found myself clinically observing social interactions. My conversation chops needed a little oiling. As the night unfolded, however, the richness of the setting and the company of interesting, open, fun people heightened the sense of being alive. That … that, I realized, is the power of the night. The communal experience of getting together with others — engaged in the moment, losing thoughts of responsibilities, kids, parents, illnesses, global and local conflicts. Enjoying things that are much closer to primal, than pressing, on the life scale.

And Austin abounds with those opportunities. This issue is packed with nocturnal adventures for you to discover, cocktails to quaff and characters you may meet out on our town. We explored the edges of Austin, north and south, uncovering new nightclub scenes. We gleaned insights on the local dating scene with a queen from the Bumble hive. What to wear? We’ve got fashion notes from a karaoke bar, modeled by the local band Los Coast. We came between people and their late-night chow at three popular drive-thru restaurants to find out how they spent their evenings. Finally, we plopped down at a new brunch spot ideal for eating/drinking your way to the sun-shades-no-longer-needed side of a hangover. Nightlife can be demanding. But relax. There’s no velvet rope wrangling required to enter the party on these pages …

_{Read more from the Nightlife Issue | August 2016}