😉💃 Our resolution: Try pole dancing

🙄 Sometimes, you just gotta let your intrusive thoughts win … At least, we’re assuming that’s what happened when this man decided to take his e-bike for a joyride on the frozen Charles River.

👀 What’s on tap today:

Up first…

Bank account still recovering from the holidays? Same. But lucky for us, a new year = a new batch of epic freebies around the city. 

Here’s what to do this month without spending a dime:

🖼️ Spend a day at the museum. In honor of MLK Day on Jan. 19, the ICA and MFA are offering free admission and special programming to celebrate. Here’s how to nab your tickets:

👠 Spice up your workout routine … with pole dancing. Wanna give it a go? Fly Together Fitness’ all-ages open house on Jan. 11 is your moment! Pop in for free mini classes all day long at their Watertown location, from pole pilates to floor flirt to flexibility. Plus, you can nab sweet deals on their intro packages. Register here.

💋 Celebrate your one true love … books. <3 Greater Boston’s only brick-and-mortar romance bookstore is turning one, and to celebrate, they’re throwing down all weekend. Admission to their daytime party on Jan. 30 is free with an RSVP, featuring merch, temporary tats, embroidery, pop-up poetry, and plenty of lOoOOove.

🚶 Strut your stuff on Boston’s ultimate hot girl walk. With the woman who coined the phrase, no less! HGW founder Mia Lind is leading a gaggle of gals around Castle Island on Jan. 25 for a ~Hot Girl Walk: Boston edition.~ Come solo! Bring a friend! Make new ones! The walk is your oyster!

🫠 Watch downtown get a little … weird. And by weird, we mean wacky art installations (see: this rocket ship atop a building). Winteractive is back on its BS this year, bringing some *spice* to the winter season with quirky sculptures that look a little ... out of place. Remember these guys? Bonus: You can meet some of the artists at the official kick off on Jan. 14.

🥾 Take this as your sign(s) to get outside: Sign 1: This guided hike n’ brew through the Fells on Jan. 18 that includes skyline views of Boston and a cold one at Idle Hands Craft Ales. Sign 2 (for our queer readers): Another guided Fells hike with the sapphikes outdoor club (great name) on Jan. 25.

📚 🌟 POV: You’re entering the “Should I go to graduate school?” stage of your 20s. Brandeis University offers master’s programs that help students drive discovery and innovation in tech, data, and the sciences just 20 min from Boston. With internationally-recognized STEM faculty — including Nobel Prize winners, MacArthur Fellows, and Howard Hughes Investigators — as well as a list of substantial scholarship opportunities for graduate students, advancing your career has never been easier. Explore degrees in areas like computer science, mathematics, and biotech and start your path to success today.  

🚇 Hot take: We should be more grateful for the MBTA. We know, but hear us out: The Globe recently compared the agency to other U.S. subway networks, and although it didn’t exactly top the charts, it held its own! Although it low-key flopped in categories like reliability and speed (can’t say we’re surprised), the T ranked fairly well in terms of size, age of the fleet, and open hours — it even ranked near the top for fare prices! New York could NEVER. Peruse all the comparisons here.

🌭 It’s a good day for the guy serving you a Fenway Frank. After a year of tense negotiations (including the park’s first-ever strike), Fenway's 1,000+ concessions workers secured a new union contract in late December. Supporters say it comes with major improvements in wages, staffing protocols, and protections against automation. Think: Significant hourly raises for tipped, non-tipped, and vendor workers, a set ratio of workers to automated kiosks, and perks for workers with more seniority. You might even call it … a home run.

⛷️ Wanna shred the gnar … without a car? It’s time for a ride on the ski train from North Station to Wachusett Mountain, which is officially back for the season. Every winter, the mountain and the MBTA team up to provide a weekend train-and-shuttle service that takes skiers straight from the city to the slopes in just under two hours (we even tried it out!). You can check out the schedule here … just make sure to keep those pesky North Station diversions in mind. 

😋 Our New Year’s resolution: Try more new restaurants. Globe food writer Devra First has some suggestions for where to start. On her list: Ceviche and dumplings at Acapella by X, the new globally inspired restaurant and live music spot in Fields Corner; Afro-Caribbean bites from the Black Cat Eatery’s new home at Wink & Nod in the South End; “dreamy” Middle Eastern platters at Moona in Inman Square; and citrus salmon sashimi from Cafe Sushi Nisei, the recently revamped Cafe Sushi in Central Square. Here’s the whole list!

Below are two of the hottest local things to do. This month, B-Side members can save more than $150 across our events, in addition to over 60 other awesome perks. 

💃 Tate McRae “Sports Car” Dance Class | Jan. 15 | 6 p.m. | DivaDance Boston | $10 member, $32 regular | Join our first-ever dance class with DivaDance Boston and groove to Tate McRae’s “Sports Car.” All levels are welcome for a confidence-boosting movement session! Click the members-only link on your perks sheet to get a ticket.

✨ 2026 Vision Board + Workout Class | Jan. 10 | 11 a.m. – 2 p.m. | Time Out Market Boston | $45 member, $50 regular | Join GirlFriends Boston for movement, guided journaling, vision boarding (materials included), snacks and drinks, meditation and EFT tapping, plus mingle time with like-minded women in the community.

👀 Want to feature your upcoming event above? Click here.

We never thought we’d see the day when both WAP rappers made local headlines. But apparently, 2026 is the year of Megan Thee Stallion-Dunkin’ collabs and Cardi B shopping at Star Market. 

Megan became the latest celeb to drop a silly Dunkin’ ad as the face of its new protein refreshers, complete with a protein-themed song and alter ego, Pro’Tina. Which, TBH, is pretty clever.

As for Cardi, she’s been spending a lot of time in Mass. lately with her Patriots BF Stefon Diggs (yikes). But this week, she was spotted shopping at the Dedham Star Market(!) by a fan who chronicled the encounter on TikTok. She noticed a giant black SUV with New York plates in the parking lot, but didn’t realize who was in the building until she ran into Cardi in the produce section. 

— Written by Gia Orsino, Emily Schario, and Claire Nicholas

🛒 Thanks for reading! If someone sees Doja Cat in Framingham next, our inboxes are open.

💜 Special shoutout to today’s sponsor, Brandeis University, for supporting local journalism and giving Boston students the tools they need to build better futures. 

📝 The results are in: 59% of readers say they’re still locked in on their New Year’s resolutions. One reader said: “Doing dry January, but ate a slice of tiramisu last night.... is that cheating?” We love a loophole!

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