🥳💜 THIS is Boston’s best day EVER

It’s Monday, Boston.

🍕 Want a bite of Boston’s most exclusive pizza? The folks at Brick Street Bagels are using bread scraps from local restaurants to make these absolutely gorgina pies under the name Scrappie’s Pizzeria. The catch: They only make 50 a week, so you gotta be QUICK. The preorder link drops today at noon. Sign up to get it here.

👀 What’s on tap today:

• It’s participatory budget szn!

• Your airport Uber just got pricier

• Making out on Memorial Drive

Up first…

OUT AND ABOUT

We made Boston’s best day ever

If a food festival, vintage market, and Boston Calling’s Orange Stage had a baby … Let’s just say, it would look A LOT like B-Side’s Best Day Ever Festival at Artists For Humanity on Aug. 2. We’ve ironed out the deets of our *perfect Boston day,* featuring EVERYTHING we love about this city all in one place … and have been DYING to spill. 

So without further ado, here’s what to expect at our Best Day Ever Fest:

🤤 It’s designed with foodies in mind. Complimentary bites (including off-menu specials!) from over 15 of our favorite Boston restaurants? Yeah, we did that. Our only ask: Come hungry. 

🤯 Which won’t be hard after looking at this incredible food lineup:

• Amba

• Anna's Taqueria 

• Baramor

• Bardo's South Shore Bar Pizza

• Blackbird Doughnuts

• Clover

• Cocorico

• Dumpling Daughter

• El Barco

• Greco 

• Jahunger

• Levain 

• Love Art Sushi

• Saloniki

• Summer Shack

• The Half Cookie

🛍️ The Select Markets squad is bringing the thrifting heat. Your favorite vintage clothing pop-up known for rejecting the line that “bOsToN iSn’T fAsHiOnAbLe” will be there, showcasing pieces from local vendors that’ll make you look good and feel good. Alsoooo … Not only do B-Side members get the cheapest festival tickets ($15), but they also get early access to the event, which = first dibs on hunting for vintage treasure AND the food. *whispers* … Become a member here.

🎸 Live music will be playing ALL DAY. The lineup in question: Viral singer-songwriter Simon Robert French, pop rock dream girl Emi Grace, indie-rock band Winkler, and hip-hop artist Latrell James (fresh off Boston Calling’s Orange Stage) will be our vibe keepers.

👀 And get ready for a couple of surprises and delights … We have a bad case of the “too much” gene, so we tacked on tarot card readings, complimentary drinks from Culture Pop, and a Harvard Bookstore pop-up … just because. Consider it our love language. <3

🤑 But you what really makes this the best day ever? We’re running a FLASH SALE! Now through July 9, score 50% tickets here! $20? For ALL of the above? Literally … what are you waiting for?!

CITY

Quick & dirty headlines

🗳️ Boston wants YOU to spend $2 million. No joke! The city’s participatory budgeting initiative is back for year two, so now through July 31, any Boston resident can drop their ideas for how to spend a chunk of its annual budget. Need inspo? Last year’s winners included a rat prevention initiative, a youth rental assistance program, and installing benches at bus stops. The city will host public forums to review and refine the ideas through the fall, and come 2026, we’ll vote on which ones get the $$$. Submit your ideas here.

🚗 Your Uber to Logan just got pricier. If you’re in the 30% of travelers who use rideshares to travel to and from Logan Airport, the surcharge on those rides just rose from $3.25 to $5.50. The bump is thanks to an agreement between Massport, Uber, and Lyft meant to tackle the airport’s infamous traffic and fund $1.5 billion in improvements (think: more parking, new remote terminals). To soften the blow, Uber and Lyft will bring back shared rides at Logan and pilot other ways to “improve customer experience.” Thanks, we guess?

🍕 If anyone comes for Boston’s pizza scene, show them this: Juan Gabriel Perez, the executive chef at Posto in Assembly Square, landed himself on TWO prestigious pizza lists in the past two weeks. He came in at No. 54 on the Best Pizza Awards list of the world’s top 100 pizza chefs AND cracked the 36th spot on the 50 Top Pizza USA list. And it’s not Perez’s first rodeo: He’s graced both lists twice before. Check out his (stunning) pies here.

🏋️ Keeping up with alllll of Boston’s fitness classes is its own kind of workout. And we would know … it’s literally our job. But Fit Scene Boston is making it way easier. It’s a new one-stop-shop for all of Boston's fitness classes, pop-ups, and events around the city. There are over 80 events listed in July alone, from free brewery pilates to run clubs to self-defense. If you want to keep up with them, you can check out their Instagram, website, or newsletter. 

THINGS TO DO

Weekday checklist

🎽 Take your top off! Tickets just dropped for the Trail BlazHers’ annual bra run — a massive run-walk slash party slash celebration of sisterhood — and trust us, they’ll sell out QUICK. It’s on July 20. Grab them here!

🍵 Grab a handmade matcha. This 20-year-old Babson student just launched by Chae, his very own matcha truck that’ll be popping up around Boston all summer. Follow him to find out where this dreamy strawberry cream matcha will be next.

🎶 Party in the park. Boston’s free ParkARTS Neighborhood Concert series is SO back, and kicks off this week with performances in Rozzie tonight, in Allston on July 8, and in Dorchester July 9.

📚 Read alone … together. Porter Square Books is bringing its silent reading party series to its Cambridge location on July 8. It’s BYOB (bring your own book).

🎨 Take a TikTok-approved crafty class. These free Wednesday watercolor classes from Ashley Eisenman at Lyrik Back Bay have been popping off on our FYPs. Registration opens today at 5 p.m.

🎥 Feel the need … the need for speed. Charlestown’s The Anchor hosts free outdoor movies every Wednesday, and it’s showing “Top Gun” on July 9. Check out its full summer schedule here.

🛍️ Vintage shop ‘till you drop. The Brighton Bazaar’s Night Bazaar will bring over 100 vendors, plus food, drinks, and music to the Charles River Speedway on July 10. Entry is free!

🌶️ Add a little spice to your life. Boston Jerkfest, the annual Caribbean food and spice festival, is coming to Allston on July 11 and 12. Think: Food, music, vendors, drinks, and LOTS of spice. And of course, B-Side members get 25% off tickets. <3

QUICK QUESTION!

👩‍❤️‍💋‍👩 Public proposals: Cute or cringey?

ONE LAST THING

Making out on Memorial Drive

If you don’t believe in true love … we’re happy to report that it is, in fact, alive and well. How do we know? This magical video of a couple getting engaged (then making out) on the Esplanade. 

The romantic clip went viral FAST, with commenters comparing it to Jim and Pam’s proposal on “The Office,” or “The Notebook’s” iconic rain kiss scene. There’s just one small thing … we don’t know who they are. 

Jen Cardarelli caught the moment on camera while stopped at a red light on Memorial Drive and shared it with @OnlyinBOS to try and find them. The couple in question remains a mystery as of Sunday evening, but we can confidently say it has successfully made tens of thousands of Bostonians believe in love again.

— Written by Gia Orsino and Emily Schario

💍 Thanks for reading! Do you think they met on Hinge? 

🚗 The results are in: 48% of B-Siders opted to stay home for the Fourth. But may we just say, reading through all your plans gave us some major FOMO. One reader said: “Do we count ‘traveling’ from East Boston to Roslindale? Because that's a pretty big trip.” Absolutely.

🥳 🎟️ Don't forget to grab your tickets to Best Day Ever, our Aug. 2 food, music, and shopping extravaganza at Artists for Humanity!

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