Milwaukee, I think I’ve fallen for you.

Over the years, this city has earned some major heartstrings and living at home for three months plucked them big time. Don’t get me wrong, there were some pleasant distractions, like Chicago baseball, “(500) Days of Summer,” a job I loved and even a vacation in Spain. But, still, I really missed you.

There’s a famous bar in Chicago called The Hideout, surrounded by factories and the City of Chicago Fleet Management Facility. It’s not so much hipster as it is working class, which is beautiful. The Hideout extends a warm welcome to both city workers and artsy folk, and the place looks like it may fall apart with the next lake effect snow. It has stuffed fish on plywood walls with fake wood grains. They serve $1 cans of Old Style and good bands, artists, writers and talent walk in the door every time you turn around. The place, quite frankly, is boss.

This criteria alone is enough to love a place, but it’s The Hideout’s compatibility with Milwaukee that seals the deal. As I sat in the room lit by Christmas lights, I thought of how Milwaukee and The Hideout would be friends. They have a lot in common: no frills, no pretensions. It’s a place where snobbery goes to die. I love it when a bar is more famous for its authenticity and blue-collar feel than the drink specials. Milwaukee doesn’t really have a bar as well known as The Hideout, maybe because there are too many just like it.

There’s a lot to love here, both big and small, and I’m glad to be back. I’ve missed going to shows at Turner Hall where you can sit at a small table with those great little candles flickering all around the room. I’ve missed movies at Downer and Oriental Theatres, two old school venues that beat commercial megaplexes any day of the week. I’ve missed frozen custard, Alterra coffee and Lakefront brews.

Now I’m back, throwing darts terribly off target at Wolski’s while two of my favorite albums of all time play back-to-back throughout the bar. I’m back to marking events in my planner like Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, a band that just made Rolling Stone’s “Artists to Watch” list, playing a show that’ll shake the floorboards at Club Garibaldi, 2501 S. Superior St., for 10 bucks on Saturday.

The 10-member band is from California and their concerts have been compared to folk-rock hippie revivals—listen to the song “Home” and you’ll understand why. I’m looking forward to experiencing how a hippie revival feels in an old Italian bar on Milwaukee’s south side.

This city, like The Hideout, isn’t for everyone but is for every one, and that’s cool. I hope this crush doesn’t end, Milwaukee. I have a feeling it won’t, because there will always be more cool restaurants, bands, art and people to fuel the fire. It’s good to be back.