When owners Aaron Hein and Alyssa Agee officially opened Emma Rue’s in downtown Spokane the first week in January, they brought coffee (Emma Rue’s soft opened as a café in November), craft cocktails, food and desserts served late into the night to the culinary scene.

To say that Wanderlust Delicato owner Amber Park loves cheese would be an understatement. As the proprietor of the award-winning cheese, wine and charcuterie business on Main Avenue downtown, which is about to celebrate its third anniversary, the divine dairy food is her way of living and life.

It’s time to queue up your playlists as New Kids on the Block’s Mixtape tour brings the boyband to Spokane Arena on Monday night with Salt-N-Pepa, Rick Astley and En Vogue. Sure, Astley was 21 years old when “Never Gonna Give You Up” was released in 1987, so the British singer-songwriter is 56 now.

Mead by definition is “fermented honey in water,” but the confounding alcoholic beverage is widely known, incorrectly, as honey wine. I had never heard of mead until attending a mead-pairing pop-up dinner at Remedy in January – meaderies are far outnumbered by breweries – but immediately loved the alluring concoction.

Breakfast and lunch takeout is served at Ricky Webster’s new Morsel by Rind and Wheat, the second location of Rind and Wheat that is focused on sustenance beyond baked goods, wine and cheese the original location has become known for in Browne’s Addition.

The Seattle Mariners is hosting a watch party Friday at Flatstick Pub, a member of the Mariners Bar League, downtown for the baseball game against the Boston Red Sox. During the watch party, a pair of tickets will be given away each inning to a game this season. Also at the watch party: Mariner Moose.

The Electric Daisy Carnival is at Las Vegas Motor Speedway next weekend (Friday through Sunday) – I covered it as a journalist in its first year in Sin City in 2011 and then the next six consecutive years. It’s one of my favorite music events on Earth, and one of the reasons is the opportunity for discovery.

Have you “Been Caught Stealing”? Well, it’s time to break out your CDs of “Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness” and “Siamese Dream” … or, you know, stream the albums again. It was announced this morning that the Smashing Pumpkins’ Spirits on Fire Tour is coming to Spokane Arena on Nov. 9.