🤭🍪 Did someone say free cookies?!

🚲 Let’s start today on the right foot pedal: Everyone say thank you to Blue Cross Blue Shield for a $15 Bluebikes credit! The code is BCBSMAWELLNESS and is available while supplies last.

🥳 And then wish a big HBD to B-Side Member Melissa Doris! We hope you bike to your happy place today. :)

👀 What’s on tap today:

Up first…

POV: You checked your July credit card bill … *shudders* Don’t worry, we’ve rounded up THE best free events and goodies this month to give your wallet a breather.

Here’s what’s going down:

🍪 Be a smart cookie. Translation: Get free cookies on National Chocolate Chip Cookie Day on Aug. 4. How? Be a Flour rewards member and spend $10, or sign up for texts at Gary’s Pizza in the South End (there’s a QR code at their register!).

🍿 Feel like an AMC Stubs A-Lister. We’ve got banger after banger for free outdoor movies. Start with “The Parent Trap” on Aug. 6, “Shrek 2” on Aug. 8, “Wicked” on Aug. 14, and end with “Bring It On” on Aug. 22.

🎤 Get snazzy ‘n jazzy. Bask in the ~rhythms~ of world-renowned acts at the Charles River Jazz Festival on Aug. 8, plus enjoy local art and food vendors. 

🎄 Celebrate Allston Christmas … with a little less *chaos*. Style Exchange is popping up nearly every weekend where you can shop other girlies’ closets at a fraction of the price. (Basically Poshmark IRL.). Sign up for their Aug. 9 and Aug. 15 events here!

🎉 Celebrate at these cultural fests. First up, the August Moon Festival in Chinatown on Aug. 9 for a lineup of lion dances, martial arts, and calligraphy. Then head to the African Festival on the Common Aug. 15 for drumming, fashion shows, and more. 

🤸 Make the ICA your weekend playground. Jam out to alllllll kinds of tunes (think: soul, electro, disco) at the ICA’s Vinyl Nights in the Seaport throughout August. And don’t forget the ICA’s Watershed block party in Eastie on Aug. 15, ft. music, games, and art!

💋 Channel your inner Jane Austen. Lovestruck Books is throwing a big ol’ Bookstore Romance Day bash on Aug. 15. Expect wine pairings, mini tarot readings, a photo booth, and a love letter wall.

🍽️ Taste yo’ way through the Greenway. Yup, the Food Truck Festival is BACK Aug. 22. Imagine: 15 food trucks, an inflatable obstacle course, rock climbing, AND mini golf.  Pro tip: BYO chairs or blankets!

🎶 Partayyyy at JP Porchfest. Stroll through the ‘hood for live tunes, curated porches, and interactive art on Aug. 22. But first, pregame at Sam Adams’ kickoff party with a raspberry lemon gose, a.k.a. the official Porchfest beer.

🀄 Sign up for a mahjong crash course. Learn the tile game at Allstonway’s monthly mahjong series on Aug. 24. Plus, clack away at the South End Mahjong Club at Posto every other Monday.

💃 Put on your dancing shoes. Bust your moves on the Esplanade at Swing Charles every Sunday. No experience needed! Then kick it old-school at the Donna Summer disco party at City Hall Plaza on Aug. 28, with a roller rink, and of course, a disco ball.

🎶 🎤 Berklee is making history on Sept. 19 with its inaugural Homecoming Block Party — a first-of-its-kind daylong celebration bringing together powerhouse alumni to perform in one place. Susan Tedeschi, Tiwa Savage, Fabiola Méndez, Dreion, Dogs in a Pile, and more music luminaries will be there, with additional artists to be announced. And homecoming isn't just for alumni — everyone's invited! to witness artists who've shaped the music industry perform at the institution that helped launch their careers. Tickets on sale now!

🐀 Tired: Rat City. Wired: Rat SUMMIT. As in, the National Urban Rat Summit, which Boston is hosting from Sept. 23-24. The event will bring together experts, researchers, and public health leaders on how to curb the rat population. City officials will also talk about our own pest control strategy, a.k.a. the Boston Rodent Action Plan. ICYMI, Mayor Michelle Wu launched this plan in 2024 to shift away from rodenticides and toward new tech (see: sewer traps) and environmental solutions like better garbage removal. 

✍️ PSA: You have an *extra week* to noodle on your budget ideas. What would you do with $2 million in the palm of your hands? No, seriously. Now through Aug. 7, you can propose how you’d spend $2 million of the city’s budget to help your community (they extended the deadline <3). Need inspo? In years past, we’ve seen programs for immigrant legal defense, farmers market coupons, and even rat-resistant dumpsters. Remember: Your proposal must be within the city’s authority (so the MBTA doesn’t count). Submit your ideas here!

👀 Readers clocked the Globe’s things to do recs … Remember how the Globe pubbed its Best of the Best list in June with Boston’s hottest spots? Well, some thought these fave local gems should’ve made the cut: Grolier Poetry Book Shop (a.k.a the oldest bookstore in the U.S.) and I AM Books for bookstores. For jitter juice? Cannonball Cafe, Nine Bar Espresso, and Phin Coffee House. Some good tunes? Tres Gatos for all your records needs, and Club Passim and Midway Cafe for live shows. 

😋 Now arriving: Two new foodie deals. 1. Committee in the Seaport just rolled out a Midday Mezze special, where you can snag a chicken sandwich or lamb pita, plus a glass of red or white sangria for just $20. And yes, it’s available EVERY DAY from 3-5 p.m. 2. You can also take on the NoToro Passport Challenge. The rules are simple: Dine and get a stamp at Matsunori, Norinori, and Mai by the end of August to secure BOGO handrolls every day for a YEAR.

King Kahan made former president Barack Obama’s summah playlist!!! Specifically, “Doors” from “The Great Divide” album (Kelly’s fave Kahan song btw). 

In case you’re new here, Obama has been releasing lists of his top tracks and reads every year for a loooong time now — and getting featured on it has become an award in itself. 

“I can finally rest,” Kahan posted on X. The best comment? A screenshot of slightly photoshopped lyrics from another song, “Come Over”: “Someday I'm gonna be somebody people Obama want.”

Take us back to hearing “where the Charles meets the sun” at sunset … life peaked in that moment, fr.

— Written by Kelly Chan and Emily Schario

🎶 Thanks for reading! Grammy voters, you listening???

💜 Special shoutout to today's sponsor, Berklee Homecoming, for supporting local journalism and giving us all the reasons to be concertgoers this summer.

🤳 The results are in: 64% of B-Siders support businesses banning influencers. One reader wrote: “If a movie or show is filming, they have to have consent from all parties who are filmed. Why shouldn't influencers?” Touché!

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