💏 Strike out yesterday? Read this.

It's Hump Day, Boston.

🍫 Reminder: Valentine’s candy is 50% off today.

👀 What’s on tap today:

• Another round of shutdowns

• The drought is over

• Cute baby alert!

Up first…

DATING

Cure the post V-Day blues

No luck on Valentine’s Day? Boston-based dating coach Michelle Wax is here to help. She works with men and women in their 20s and 30s looking for love, so if you want to make sure you have a Valentine in 2024, here’s her advice:

🔮 Connect to your future self. Wax has her clients visualize what kind of relationship they want to be in a year from now, so they can reverse-engineer how to get there. Getting into a relationship should be treated the same way you’d getting a new job — you need a plan! She has a free visualization exercise if you want to give it a go.

👓 Get clear on what you want. Start asking yourself: Who is this person and what are their qualities? And then start becoming that list. “We attract what we are being,” Wax said. “So if you want someone who's optimistic [and] confident,” ask yourself: how are you showing up to your dates?

💸 Diversify your dating portfolio. Your dating portfolio is just like your investment portfolio: the more places you invest, the greater opportunity for return. Plus, it takes the pressure off from one specific area. So if you’re only using apps, try speed-dating, meeting people at an event, or even becoming a local at a bar.

🧑‍💼 Don’t treat the first date like an interview. It’s fine to ask where they’re from and what they do, but Wax has her clients come up with two to three questions they’d love to know the answer to and have them ask their date. “You get some really interesting answers,” Wax said, “and it allows you to stand out.”

👍 She’s pro second-date unless there’s a major red flag. “You never know what happened in that person's life that day,” Wax said. “They could have an upset stomach … They could not be feeling good. Something could have happened in their life that isn’t allowing them to show up in their best way.”

❤️ And just remember, you’re not alone. “Dating is such a vulnerable area of life,” Wax said. “And I think it can be one of those things where we can feel like something's wrong with us if we're not hitting the results we want.” But rest assured, “there’s plenty of people who want the same things you do.” So don’t be too hard on yourself and just enjoy the process. Your person is right around the corner.

TOGETHER WITH NOBEE

New year, new lease

What's a telltale sign you’re apartment hunting in Boston? If your answer is an empty wallet, it’s time to start working with Nobee. Change the way you rent and use Nobee's platform to save tons of money on move-in costs. Plus, you can book showings directly through the app, which means you never have to get ghosted by a real estate agent again. Download the app today.

CITY

Quick & dirty headlines

🚇 Another round of mini MBTA shutdowns. And they’re not just on the weekends this time. The MBTA announced March service changes on the Red, Orange, Green, and Mattapan lines, along with the Newburyport/Rockport and Haverhill Commuter Rail lines. It’s quite the laundry list of changes, so make sure to double check the dates before you head out. Luckily, the MBTA still managed to read the room, as there won’t be service changes on St. Patrick’s Day weekend.

🎰 More casinos are in hot water. Remember earlier this week when I told you that two casinos already broke the sports betting rules? Add another to the list. MGM Springfield recently accepted bets on two Harvard men's basketball games and self-reported the violation. While the Gaming Commission expects these kinds of violations to keep occurring, they’re still figuring out exactly how to penalize the casinos when they happen. So TBD on that.

💧 Good news! The drought is officially over. Energy and Environmental Affairs Secretary Rebecca Tepper declared Monday that every region of the state has returned to normal conditions (thanks to a particularly rainy January). In case you forgot, the drought started last spring with 94% of the state seeing severe or extreme conditions during parts of the summer. You know what they say: January showers bring an end to drought … ers?

🎤 Tina Fey and Amy Poehler are shipping up to Boston. The comedic duo announced their first tour together in their three-decade friendship, and will stop at the MGM Music Hall on June 9 for their “Restless Leg Tour.” Fey described the show as “evening of comedy, conversation, improv, maybe a little slow dancing between us. We don’t know yet, but it’s gonna be awesome.” Presale for the four-show tour starts on Wednesday, Feb. 15 at 10 a.m.

ONE LAST THING

Cute baby alert!

Babies in fun outfits make everything better. And these little nuggets at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital NICU only prove that thesis.

Brigham's NICU posted photos of the babies in Valentine’s Day onesies and accessories on social media this week. It’s a yearly tradition for the unit, according to NICU medical director Dr. Elisa Abdulhayoglu, as dressing up the babies for holidays provides a sense of normalcy and joy to the families of the little ones.

🥺 Thanks for reading! “They’re so damn cute.” — Katie Cole, B-Side Producer

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