🤪 Boston likes big balls and cannot lie

🍹 These Saturday plans come with a boat, a patio, AND a spritz. We have a few tickets left to our ReelHouse Supper Club at 4 p.m. on Saturday! Your $40 ticket gets you dinner, a spritz, and an optional water taxi to and from the restaurant (tax and tip included!). Check out the menu here and get your ticket here before they’re gone!

🥳 And everyone say HBD to B-Side Member Victoria L.! We know you asked for a boat, but we could only afford a water taxi … hope you like it!!!

👀 What’s on tap today:

Up first…

Folks, we’re sweatin’, too. But this weekend's event lineup will make you forget alllll about the heat. Promise. <3

Here’s what’s happening:

🌽 Put your reusable totes to good use. Seasonal veggies? Check. Sweet treats? Check. Honey and jam? Check check. You’ll be browsing all the local produce and treats at the Assembly Row farmers market every Friday this summer.

🐧 Just smile and wave, boys. Take a trip to the Franklin Park Zoo’s outdoor penguin habitat, part of the newly opened African Experience exhibit that has the safari animals of your dreams, from zebras to wildebeests to ostriches.

💪 Start your day with a morning sweat. Join this FREE Rev’d Sculpt class at Dawes Field in Cambridge Crossing on June 13 for a high-intensity workout. Need something more lowkey? Bring your mat to Powder House Park for free yoga classes every Saturday.

⚽ See the world’s largest soccer ball (hopefully). We’re walking about this 45-foot-tall soccer ball in Eastie. Watch Massport go for the Guinness World Record on June 12, then stay in the fútbol spirit at FIFA Fan Fest on City Hall Plaza to tune into the World Cup.

🛍️ Shop ‘till you drop, with rooftop vibes. Add some thrifted pieces for your wardrobe at FOUND’s vintage market on June 13, featuring 50+ vendors, city views, AND a pickleball court at the Urban Roof in Kendall. 

🎨 Watch this battle of the brushes. Twelve artists. Three rounds. One champion. Who’s in? See these painters flex their skills in a live creative competition at the Foundry on June 13. Plus, there’ll even be a silent auction that night for every piece.

🐲 Cheer on dragon boaters along the Charles. Head over to the Dragon Boat Festival on June 14, where boats (with dragon heads!) of 20 paddlers compete all day in 500-meter races. Plus, there are performances, food trucks, martial arts, and more. (Bonus points if you see Kelly racing!)

🇺🇸 Strut your red, white, and blue. Celebrate the nation’s 250th b-day in Charlestown on June 14 at the Bunker Hill Day Parade, one of the oldest parades in the country! Want to start the party earlier? Join this Bunker Hill bar crawl on June 13.

💃 Wear your brightest fits for SomerStreets Carnaval. Remember that multicultural fest that got rained out last weekend? Well, now it’s rescheduled to June 14. Dance to all the groovy Latin rhythms you were waiting for!

🥑 Are you a guac-star? The Painted Burro is hosting its annual Guac-Off on June 14, where you could win a $400 gift card, a menu feature, and bragging rights. Bring your best recipes and get ready to mash.

Boston’s fave self-care event is much more than a fitness class. RITUAL is back for its second year, turning Saturday morning at Park City in Southie into a high-energy wellness social through October. A ticket to RITUAL includes a choice of workout — RITUAL Run Club, Battista Bootcamp HIIT, or Handle Bar Pilates — giving you the flexibility you need. Stay after class with old and new pals to enjoy a live DJ and drinks, try the cold plunge lounge, and browse wellness freebies from on-site vendors. 

🚨 Boston is ready to turn up ’till 3 a.m. Mayor Michelle Wu announced that bars and restaurants can now serve alcohol for an extra hour through July 31 (if they’re serving already until 2 a.m.). And in other boozy news, Cambridge plans to launch some *lax* alcohol rules, including bypassing open container laws for outdoor drinking (as long as they’re served by a bar or restaurant in branded plastic cups). You can see the zone map here! TBD on when those rules go into effect, but this still feels like a W.

🚇 Riders think the new Red Line seats are giving Slip ‘N Slide. Remember when the MBTA got rid of those nasty fuzzy fabric seats on some trains? Well, riders are now complaining that their cabooses are flying off the new plastic seats — and into the passengers sitting next to them. “I always feel like a peeled boiled egg on a plate,” one wrote on Reddit. Our advice: Buckle up, because the MBTA is planning to change out the seats on all of the cars to plastic slides … 

🕷️ It’s gettin’ sticky ticky. New England tick szn is in full swing, and they’ve been spreading a LOT of diseases recently. Here’s how to stay on top of it: Use an insecticide called permethrin on your clothes, which kills them on contact. (Luckily, it’s on Amazon.) Then, spray your skin with mosquito repellent that contains DEET and Picaridin — they also work on ticks! And pro tip: Wear light colors so you can spot them quickly.

Taste of Cambridge returns to University Park on Wednesday, June 17 from 5 to 8 p.m. for an evening celebrating the best food the city has to offer. We're talking Mamaleh's, Shake Shack, The Hourly Oyster House, The Smoke Shop BBQ, Roxy's Arcade, Barcelona Wine Bar, and 30+ more local spots, all in one place. Tickets start at $68 — snag yours here before they sell out!

New England just keeps catching reality TV strays. Meet Kayda Bosse, the New Hampshire baddie who’s stirring the pot on this season of “Love Island.” 

The 22-year-old Manchester native came in mid-premiere-episode as one of the latest “bombshells.” If you’re new here, a “bombshell” is a surprise contestant meant to bring the ~drama~. And BOY did she.

She immediately whisked away two men for a 24-hour getaway. By episode two, she chose to couple up with Zach Georgiou, stealing him from another girl on the island. Tea!

Aside from the spice she’s adding to the mix (along with being the center of some online controversy), some viewers say she (and her face card) is putting the state on the map. Especially since she’s been asking everyone in the villa if they know where New Hampshire is …

“New Hampshire needs to put her face on its state flag,” one user posted on Threads.

— Written by Kelly Chan and Emily Schario

😂 Thanks for reading! “Live Free or Die for Kayda” has a nice ring to it.

💜 Special shoutout to today's sponsor, RITUAL Boston, for supporting local journalism and giving us the ideal way to have a good Saturday morning.

🥪 The results are in: Most of you would NOT pay more than $25 for a sandwich … Unless it was huge and counted for two meals. One of you said: “Recession indicator is a $25 sandwich.” Well …

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