Bar Review: Gibliano Brothers & Blue Spark

tuesday night: Although Tuesday night's are usually spent at a favorite of mine, Zola's, my friends and I decided to try something new! First stop... Gibliano Brothers Dueling Piano Bar & Music House. Gibliano Brothers is the only dueling piano bar in Spokane and the Inland Northwest in general. Located in the heart of Downtown Spokane, Gibliano Brothers offers unique and dynamic entertainment week in and week out, featuring Steve Ridler, Jimi Finn, and Christan Raxtes every Thursday, Friday, and Saturday night. Tuesday nights simply feature a band and some karaoke (I seem to have a theme of loving bars that provide the opportunity to sing karaoke). Gibliano Brothers is a great place to just kick back, enjoy some music, and sip on your favorite martini.


Up next, Blue Spark -- "No Crap on Tap"! This downtown hot spot has a great beer selection, but can get crowded and sweaty. Catch trivia on Tuesdays and live music on the weekends (including Reggae!)

Mary Lou's Milk Bottle

Ladies and Gents... I have done it! My dream of eating at the Milk Bottle has been fulfilled! Located in the Garland District, the Milk Bottle sure is a local favorite. The food is made fresh (even the hamburger buns) and the shakes are to die for (made with real hard ice cream). 

This joint is tiny so be prepared to sit close to other people. BUT, the closeness is so worth it because the food is amazing. If you love diner food, this is the place to eat!

Bar Review: A Club & Monteray Cafe

sunday night: Also known as "Sunday Funday"... this is a great night to go out for a night of fun. Lets first start with "A Club" http://www.aclubspokane.com/ ... located next to "Chicken n Mo" ... you know this is a great place to be! The A Club is all about class, made up of a ballroom, a pool room and a smaller space where live jazz is performed on Wednesdays, and DJ's performing nightly. The A Club also features our favorite classy old man DJ (who informed us that he had just been through a gruesome divorce) ... "DJ Loves Girls" ... how can you go wrong with a stage name like that? 


Moving on to my favorite Sunday night hangout spot.. "Monteray Cafe" ... It’s a piece of So Cal right in downtown, with the requisite beach decor: surfboards, fishing nets and shells hanging from the walls and ceiling, plus a thatch-hut bar. The location’s perfect — right around the corner from several Sprague Avenue bars (so it must be classy) — and besides drinks, you can pick up a late-night slice of pizza! Not to mention the pizza, but Sunday includes a whole night of karaoke! As I mentioned in a previous blog (my bar review on the MarQuee Lounge) the DJ hates my friends and I. So, what do we do? Sing louder than the rest and steal the show.. THAT'S HOW WE ROLL! Monteray Cafe is always a good wholesome time to just kick back and sing some tunes. Here is a snapshot of half of the cafe...

If you are looking for a good Sunday night out on the town, Monteray Cafe will never let you down. And come on, you never need an excuse to have a drink and belt out classic songs!

SASSY QUATCH 2011

Sasquatch! I could not be anymore excited about this!!! I have purchased 2 single-day tickets, and will be attending Sasquatch 2011 at the Gorge Amphitheater in  George, Washington on Memorial Day Weekend! I could not be happier to be attending this amazing festival of indie bands with my girls Kelly Brauch and Kelli Murphy! Seriously, no words can describe the madness that will occur! To name some of my favorite bands that will be there ... Ratatat, Local Natives, Yeasayer, Bassnectar, Beach House, MSTRKRFT, Robyn, and more! If you care to see the full lineup and schedule, click here: http://sasquatchfestival.com/#/

Bar Review: MarQuee Lounge

friday night: MarQuee Lounge was the place to be... Kelly and I got VIP entrance, and got to go to the exclusive top floor lounge! This was nice because if we wanted to dance, we could go downstairs, but sometimes its nice to get away from it all and just chill. 

It's a pretty good time, but as  you can see, the picture only shows the bar area. There is a dance floor, lounging area, as well as a huge lounge area upstairs (under blue lighting). During the week, they have karaoke, which is SUPER fun, even though the DJ will NEVER let me or my friends sing... probably because they have heard our voices. Ha ha ha. The bartenders are fun and the music is great! All in all, great lounge!

Current Obsession: Bikram (Hot) Yoga

Hot Yoga: As of lately, I have really been into cleansing my body. What a perfect way to do this with hot yoga! I have started my introductory session ($30, 30 days unlimited hot yoga) at Yarrow Yoga Studio...

Owner of Yarrow Pictured: Beth

The yoga session I do is as follows: the yoga session is 90 mins. long and the studio is 104 degrees! There is also a humidity factor of around 30-40%. I go about 2-3 times a week. All in all, I would recommend this to anyone and everyone! It makes you feel so great after and your mind becomes stronger as well. Here is the website for all who are interested: http://yarrowyoga.com/

Bar Review: The Riff

thursday night: Last night, myself as well as some friends (Kelly and Cailin) decided to go out for a drink after our much needed reality TV dose of "Jersey Shore"!! 

This is... DUN DUN DUN.. "The Riff" ... a bite-sized east-end bar that is too small to share private gossip, but a great place to throw down a few after-work brews, especially on the enclosed, heated porch. The size of the bar is quite possibly the size of a dorm room.. filled with homeless people, old creepy men, and a couple of students every now and then. To be quite honest, I loved it. Although it seems dingy on the outside (sketchy on the inside), I believe this could be a future hang out spot for students. It is small and a great little bar to just kick back and enjoy their unbelievable happy hour. Luckily, Thursday is all day happy hour, with $1 draft beers and $2 wells.. incredible. My friends and I indulged in, of course, the group fave, Cranberry Vodka, and discussed politics.. PSH, ya right.. gossiped, of course, about everything from "why do men tan" to "our love for Gonzaga".. all in all, it was a great time.. minus the creepy old alcoholic men and the women with no teeth.  

Colly's Visit to Spokane!

Possibly the most thoughtful thing that Collin has ever done was surprise me in Spokane with a visit this month! Being that Collin had finished up his last class/internship at Gonzaga, and his collegiate soccer career was over, he decided to move his things back to his hometown in Boulder, CO and pursue his lifelong dream of becoming a professional soccer player. As of lately, Collin has been invited to multiple combines (a fancy word for a tryout) all over the United States, from Southern California to South Carolina! It is basically a waiting game as of now to see if any of the coaches (USL, MSL) try to contact Coll. I'm sure it sucks for him (me as well!), but he will continue to train and work hard to achieve this dream of his...

Anywho, Coll had been planning a trip up to Spokane, flight booked and everything. Now, the waiting game began for me, as I was so excited to see him.. the anticipation was killing me! The day before Coll was supposed to arrive in Spokane, I am sitting at work in my office, and there is a knock at the door. It was a man who had also worked in the building and said that somebody was in the lobby asking for "Christi D'Agostino".. our building is secure so you have to have an electronic key to get pass the lobby, or use the lobby phone to call. I kind of got nervous.. I mean, 2 things were going through my head: 1) Was I in trouble? Was there a cop out there to question me? (Not that I am a trouble-maker, it was just a thought!), or 2) Crap. It is probably some marketer trying to sell his/her product to me. Either way.. good thoughts were not running through my head. 

As I walk out, I turn the corner, and there is my knight in shining armor, Collin Harrison, holding a rose and his luggage standing right before my eyes, with the biggest smile on his face. How cute is that, right?! It was like something from a movie. Me.. jumping into his arms as if he had been away for years, when really, it had not even been a month. Ha ha ha. It is just super hard.. when you have been living with someone for awhile, you get used to that someone always being there with you, and then taken away.. the adjustment was very hard on me, still is! 

And now, enough of this lovey dovey stuff.. the funny part about Coll's surprise visit to my office, was he had an old teammate, Erik (who we have taken under our wing and call our "son".. weird and random, I know.. but that is mine and Collin's personality) pick him up from the airport, and Collin just hung out at Erik's Gonzaga apartment until it was time to come surprise me for lunch. Erik had class, so Collin, being the adventurous man he is, decided to pick up his rose and luggage, and walk down Division St. (possibly the busiest one-way street in Spokane), which may I add, is about 2.5 miles away from where I work--no compaints! I just laughed when he arrived and told me this... I could just picture Coll, rolling his suitcase down Division, with a rose in hand.. HAHAHA).

To sum up his almost 2 week visit, some of the things we had done were: we went out a couple times (happy hours and spent time with his old teammates), visited the Spokane Humane Society to walk dogs and visit the kitties (this has kind of become our thing to do on the weekends in Spokane.. exciting, I know), attended a screening of the "Animated Shorts" at the Magic Lantern Theatre for the Spokane International Film Festival (spIFF), celebrated some birthdays, shared a couple homemade cooked meals with Icelandic friends (thank you Sola!), and just simply shared some good, quality time together, enjoying each other's company. 

Point blank. I love this man. And wish the best for him and hopefully, for his future in professional soccer! 

SLACKIN...

Thanks to Layne Brosky (shout out!), and some other family members of mine, I have realized that this blog I created has not been updated for quite some time! I have been the ultimate slacker and a horrible person for not keeping those I love updated on my life. So, I have set a goal... to update my blog AT LEAST twice a week, if not more. 


I have had some ideas that will hopefully keep this goal of mine honest...


I have currently made an amazing friend here in Spokane, Kelly Brauch. We are seriously 2 peas in a pod. The thing is, we graduated together, we had obviously seen each other out before (specifically giving people wedgies at the senior event "Around the World"), but we had never actually, "hung out", so to speak. She is originally from Montana and stuck around in Spokane for the love of the city and more school (she's trying to get into nursing school, how cool!). Long story short, I love this girl, and we have been going downtown and attending different bars for drinks. I had never experienced downtown Spokane, and I'll admit, I have fallen in love with the downtown nightlife. It is so eclectic and fun, not to mention the amazing happy hour appetizer/drink specials! So, I have decided to write/review about the bars that we go to. 


I have also decided to start a "Current Obsession" post, in which I will talk about my latest, current obsession, whether it be a product, a hobby, etc. 


And of course, I will continue to blog about the current things going in my life, i.e. the boyfriend (and his pro soccer dream endeavors), the job hunting, etc.


Until then my friends and family... peace and love.