"Bar Month" at OnMilwaukee.com – brought to you by Stoli Vodka, Altos Tequila, Fireball, OR-G, Jim Beam, Plymouth Gin and 2 Gingers – is back for another round! The whole month of February, we're serving up intoxicatingly fun articles on bars and clubs – including guides, the latest trends, bar reviews, the results of our Best of Bars poll and more. Grab a designated driver and dive in!

As a jewelry maker, Desiree Silva appreciates the creativity involved in working behind a bar.

"I love to improvise and make a drink based on the person’s likes or dislikes," says Silva.

Silva started working at Stage Right – the bar attached to the Miramar Theater at 2844 N. Oakland Ave. – at the end of 2014, but she already feels at home in the space and has visions for it.

"I’d like to get more local beer on tap, maybe a Milwaukee Brewing Company product, and although I love the art on the walls, I can think of other artists whose work would look really good in here, too," she says.

Stage Right is open Tuesday through Saturday, from 5 p.m. to 2 a.m., regardless of whether or not there’s a performance at the Miramar. Acoustic musicians and DJs perform on Tuesday evening.

OnMilwaukee.com recently stopped in for a chat and a glass of wine with Silva, who was in a particularly good mood because it was the night before she left for a long-awaited vacation to Denver and Los Angeles.

OnMilwaukee.com: Why are you going to Denver and L.A.?

Desiree Silva: Friends, family; the mountains, the ocean. I want to move to Denver someday to study metal work and there are a lot of inspiring people who live there. I have a lot of family in L.A., I lived there until I was 13, and I have not been back since I was 15. Some of my cousins have never even met me.

I’m really excited. I’ll be gone for nine days. In L.A. I’m going to rent a car so I can travel and see everyone and go to San Diego. And, you know, so I can get stuck in traffic on an eight-lane highway.

Also, dry heat will be nice. My hair hasn’t seen that in awhile. And I can’t wait to eat tacos in Los Angeles – I love tacos so much that I even named my wiener dog Taquita.

OMC: Where are your favorite places to get tacos in Milwaukee?

DS: El Local on Mitchell Street is amazing. I live in Riverwest and I like Cafe Corazon, too.

OMC: Are you Mexican American?

DS: My father was born in Michoacán. His family is originally from Brazil. My mother is black, Native American, German and Italian.

OMC: What brought your family to Wisconsin?

DS: My mother was from here originally. She graduated from Shorewood High School and UWM.

OMC: Where did you go to high school?

DS: I went to Brookfield East for a year and then a small college-prep school in Hartland.

OMC: What do you like about working here?

DS: I like the customers and I really like bartending. I helped out behind the bar at other serving jobs I’ve had – like when I worked at Crisp on Brady – and I always had fun so I got my bartending license and finally got a job here. It’s tough starting out as a bartender with little experience, but I think it’s going pretty well. I know my pours.

OMC: What do you like to drink when you’re not working?

DS: I’m a big tequila fan. Milagro, Cazadores. I went to an excellent tequila tasting at Mexican fest but I might have been too hung over to really enjoy it.

OMC: What do you like to do when you’re not working?

DS: I also serve at AJ Bombers, which I love. My coworkers are great.

I recycle vintage jewelry and create my own pieces – necklaces, bracelets, earrings, headwear, ankle bracelets, hand chains.

Some friends and I just started a cooperative called The Regular Room Wedding Cooperative. We have a make-up artist, photographer, seamstress, florist, stylists – I do jewelry. We just started out with our first wedding, but it's for people who like and appreciate handmade things but don’t want to spend a ton of money. People who love Pinterest.

OMC: Anything you'd change about this bar?

DS: I really like this bar, but I wish more 88Nine-type bands would play at the Miramar. It’s such great space. And then more people could stop in here for a drink.