⛸️🎨🤸 The best FREE things to do in January

Happy Friday, Boston!

🚨 PSA, sushi lovers: LoLa 42 in the Seaport is bringing back their Sushi Sundays deal starting this weekend, where you can enjoy BOGO sushi rolls (yes, even the speciality ones), nigiri, and sashimi. You’re welcome!

👀 What’s on tap today:

• A storm’s a comin’!

• New England’s cutest rotaries

• Be a TA for Tay

Up first…

JANUARY FREEBIES

Our New Year’s free-solutions

Now that the holiday excitement is over, we’re unfortunately left with just January. Which is arguably the worst month of the year. It’s cold, dark, and frankly, looking at your bank account after your holiday shopping bender is just painful. 

So here’s how to ease your way into 2024 without spending a dime:

🏋️ Jump back on the gym bandwagon without the gym membership. From Zumba to cardio kickboxing, you can keep your New Year's resolution in check with the City of Boston’s winter fitness series classes; The Rink at 401 Park in Fenway is offering IceFlow Yoga on Sundays this month (admission is free and skate rentals are only $7 if you need them); and if you’re feeling spicy, you can try pole dancing (!) at Fly Together Fitness this Sunday in Watertown. 

🍹 Speaking of resolutions … An added bonus to Dry January is saving tons of money on drinks. But you can still head to the bars this month to enjoy free jazz performances at Long Live Brewery in Roxbury on Thursdays at 6 p.m., and hit up Time Out Market for their Jam’uary Happy Hours with live music from local band Legends of Summer. Note: If you do have a few bucks to spend, Time Out has a fresh winter menu of mocktails to try. 

⛸️ Grab your skates and hit the Frog Pond. If you’re a college student reading this, this is a PSA that you can skate for free on the Frog Pond on certain Tuesdays this month. Admission is always half-priced for college students Tuesdays from 6 to 9 p.m., but if your school is on the list on that particular Tuesday, it’s free. Take a look at when your free skating night is here. 

📚 Cuddle up indoors at your local library. If you’re not already going to the free events at your Boston Public Library branch … What are you doing? Just this month, you can learn to crochet, knit, and sew at the Uphams Corner branch’s fiber arts class; the Honan-Allston branch has a hot chocolate taste testing event; and there are craft circles, game nights, puzzle nights, even hygge-themed events. Check your BPL branch’s event listings here.

🖼️ Celebrate MLK Day at a local museum. Three of Boston’s biggest museums — the MFA, ICA, and Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum — are dropping the admission fee on Monday, Jan. 15, in celebration of Martin Luther King Day. But if you want guaranteed entry, here’s what to know for each museum:

• MFA: Tickets are available in person on a first-come, first-served basis for those with a valid Mass. zip code. Learn more here. 

• ICA: Free advanced tickets are required. You can reserve yours starting this Sunday, Jan. 14 at 10 a.m.

• ISGM: Advance registration is encouraged for free timed-entry tickets (registration is officially open here!). 

CITY

Quick & dirty headlines

☃️ It’s the final countdown … to Boston’s first snow! Here are the latest local predictions: If you live in western and central Mass., expect a good old fashioned winter storm — some forecasters are predicting up to six or more inches! But for us Bostonians and eastern Massholes, things are more up in the air, with estimates ranging from just an inch to half a foot. So place your bets now, and cross your fingers for a winter wonderland. Stay updated here.

🌎 Tired: Vineyard Vines. Wired: Vineyard Wind. Vineyard Wind, the country’s first large-scale offshore wind project, recently achieved “first power,” meaning electricity from the project is officially helping to power the New England grid. This news is a major W for the project and the country, which has been struggling to get offshore wind off the ground for years. But, the project isn’t quite finished yet. It’ll remain under construction until early 2024, but once it’s done, will be able to power about 400,000 homes in Mass. 

🚦 Rotaries finally got a better PR team. The latest (mini!) version of this New England traffic staple, a.k.a. “Neighborhood circles,” have recently popped up in Somerville in hopes of bringing order to otherwise uncontrolled intersections near schools and senior housing. Though they’ve been compared to rotaries, they work a little differently: You don’t have to go in circles around them, and they mostly serve as a check for drivers who would usually barrel through.

🛩️ If your resolution is to travel more … You’re in luck! Low-cost airline PLAY is offering a New Year’s deal of 35% off flights to all of their European destinations from Boston through Jan. 10. The only catch is that your trip has to fall within a couple windows of time (translation: No summertime flights). Plus, JetBlue’s winter sale just dropped, with great deals on some domestic (and select international) flights out of Boston through March 27 on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. 

QUICK QUESTION

❄️ How much snow do you think Boston’s going to get this Sunday? 

THINGS TO DO

Weekend plans

Pssst! To celebrate Dry January, all our things to do listings this month will be alcohol-free. Cheers! 

🎥 Stream the Golden Globe nominees. Rumor has it we could be snowed in to some extent on Sunday, so it’s the perfect opportunity to catch up on any unwatched GG noms. See where you can stream them here. 

🍵 Party (sober) in South End. Dray Drinks, Boston’s new non-alcoholic spirit shop, opened its doors in November and this Saturday, they’re celebrating with a grand opening party with product tastings, mixologist sessions, and more.

🕺 Move your body. Or should we say Bolly? Come one and all to Sunday’s Bollywood Fusion Workshop — Bollywood moves with hip-hop and Latin flavors — at Rumba Y Timbal Dance Company.

😂 Make it a serotonin Sunday. Comedy Night at Remnant Brewing’s Cambridge location returns this Sunday! Get in some laughs to quell your seasonal blues with some of Boston’s funniest comedians.

🖼️ Spend your night at the museum. We heard the MFA makes a fantastic backdrop for the first Fridays of each month. That must be why admission is free — this month, feast your eyes on “Tiny Treasures: The Magic of Miniatures.”

— Written by Claire Nicholas

🎉 Want more things to do recommendations? Refer five friends to unlock four bonus items. For those who already have, enjoy below.

ONE LAST THING

Seeking: a TA who loves Tay

Calling all Swifties! Okay, maybe not all Swifties. More like, all Swifties who live in Greater Boston and, crucially, have the qualifications or experience to teach a writing intensive college course. But if that sounds like you, we have quite the opportunity. 

Remember that Taylor Swift themed class running this semester at Harvard? Well, the professor, Stephanie Burt, is seeking additional TAs for the course due to its (unsurprising) huge popularity. If you’re interested, her DMs are open, but do keep in mind that you should only reach out if you’re actually qualified for the job.

And no, tragically, knowing the words to every single song in her discography does not qualify you. 

— Written by Gia Orsino and Emily Schario

🌟 Thanks for reading! Although, if any of you do know the words to every single song in her discography, that’s no joke. You should win some kind of award for that.

🍷 The results are in: Turns out, most B-Siders are not taking part in dry January, with 35% of you voting that it’s not your thing. One reader said: “I instead try to create habits … that I can sustain past January.” Fair!

💃 Keep up with us @BostonBSide on IG, TikTok, and Twitter. Send comments and suggestions to [email protected] or [email protected].