😵‍💫 This week is gonna get WEIRD

🎄 If you’re struggling to get into the holiday spirit … the comments on our latest vibey IG video about Boston during the holidays will have you feeling the love real quick.

🥳 Want your very own B-Side b-day shoutout? In 2025, we’re bringing birthday shoutouts BACK. Reply to this email with your name and your b-day to make the list! 

👀 What’s on tap today:

Up first…

Let’s face it, the five days between Christmas and New Year’s are WEIRD. The holiday magic starts to fade, you don’t know what day or time it is, and cheese and cookies become integral parts of breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

So please enjoy this local list of local things to do from Dec. 26 through 30 to get you through the holiday haze. 

🥁 BYOD for a BPL Kwanzaa jam. Translation: Bring your own drum. The week-long celebration of African-American culture kicks off Dec. 26, and the Roxbury BPL branch is getting things started with its own Kwanzaa celebration featuring live performances, vendors, and more. And we’re not kidding about the drums!

🧶 DIY your own cozy vibes. We saw tons of interest in Craft Loft’s chunky-knit blanket-making class, and lucky for you, it’s hosting TWO this week. Think you have enough blankets? Fine. But you can NEVER have enough candles. So head to Lamplighter on Dec. 27 where you’ll whip up two natural soy wax candles using festive holiday scents. 

🍪 You made cookies for Santa. Now make them for YOU. If cookies are on the menu this week, they might as well be cute, right? Give them a glow up at this Boston Public Market cookie-decorating class on Dec. 27. A ticket gets you 12 cookies, icing, and sprinkles, all free of the major food allergens. 

😹 Watch your childhood get ruined before your eyes. Tired: Disney adults. Wired: Disney adult content. The Dirty Disney comedy show on Dec. 27 takes the classics you love and flips them on their head, all dictated by your suggestions.

🕎 Trade reindeer games for dreidel games. Jewish readers already know that Hanukkah is LATE this year (starts Dec. 25). But even if you’re not Jewish, take it as an excuse to keep the holiday vibes going at Lehrhaus’ Hanukkah party on Dec. 28. Expect a latke and fried dough bar, welcome drinks, noshes, and dreidel games with prizes.

🧑‍🍳 Practice your “YES CHEF!” Hand-pullled noodles are on the menu at this cooking class at Pagu on Dec. 28. Fun fact: James Beard-nominated chef and Pagu owner Tracy Chang has given lectures on the science of hand-pulled noodles at Harvard and MIT, so you know it’s legit.

🏓 Cure your holiday hangover by hitting the pong. Going out? In the Seaport? For under $50? GASP. Now through Jan. 5, SPIN, the Seaport’s ping pong bar, is offering a sweet holiday promotion. The deets: Get $10 off all table reservations and enjoy a $10 food and drink special (a burger plus your pick of a beer, bubbles or, a special gin-based cocktail).

🥳 Celebrate New Year’s EVE Eve (Taylor’s Version). Remnant Brewing’s Cambridge location is observing this fictional holiday with a dance party of T-Swizzle’s re-released classics. The dress code? Make the whole place shimmer. Bonus: The first 25 people get a special gift bag.

🚇 The MBTA has given us the greatest gift of all. The T is officially slow-zone-free, baby! After over a year of shutdowns, on Saturday, Dec. 21, the T’s speed restriction tracker hit zero, marking the first time it's been slow-zone-free in decades, and the end of the MBTA’s massive Track Improvement Plan. That’s 191 slow zones nixed since last November. Now, this isn’t the end of T shutdowns or slow zones — in fact, a few popped up this weekend, but were gone by Sunday — but it is the end of an era. Thank you, Train Daddy Eng! 

❄️ Oh, the weather outside is frightful, and holiday travel’s not so delightful. Holiday travel is never pretty, but an unexpectedly snowy storm can certainly up the ante. Friday’s snow brought major problems to the busiest travel weekend of the year — Logan Airport saw literally hundreds of cancelled flights and even more delays. On the road, State Police responded to 200 accidents in Mass. on Friday alone. Heads up: More (albeit, lighter) snow is possible this week, so if you’re flying, get to the airport early, and keep your eyes peeled for changing info. 

🎁 Speaking of flying, here’s a pro tip: Did you know that if you bring a wrapped package through TSA, there’s a chance they’ll have to unwrap it (yes, even in checked and carry-on luggage)? So if you’re flying with presents, channel your inner Santa and let some elves do the wrapping, a.k.a. Logan’s wrapping stations in Terminals B and E through Dec. 24. You can get up to five gifts wrapped for FREE, which, let's face it, will probably look better than your janky wrapping skills anyway. 

⏰ Don’t want to chill at home on Dec. 25? Here’s what’s open. Spoiler alert … it’s not much. Federal offices, post offices, the RMV, banks, supermarkets, retail stores, and liquor stores will all be closed, and even some pharmacies are going to have limited hours. As for the MBTA, it’ll be running on a Sunday schedule. The good news? A handful of restaurants will either be open or available for take-out/pre-order, including faves Frenchie, Mamaleh’s, and Alcove. Browse some reservations here.

Around the holidays, all of the festive roundups can really pile up. Where to eat, what to bake, which lights to see, the best cozy movies and TV shows, the best holiday concerts … the list(s) go on.

But this year, the Globe made something truly incredible: “An ultimate guide to a magical holiday season,” a.k.a. the list to end all lists. It’s essentially a list of all the Globe’s holiday lists with every piece of need-to-know and want-to-know holiday info, all in one place.

Looking for the best times to drive? Check. Gift ideas? Check. The best sufganiyot in the city? Check. The best TV shows to binge? Check, check, and check. It’s pretty much everything you need to get by while we’re off on holiday break. 

You’re welcome!

— Written by Gia Orsino and Emily Schario

🎄 Thanks for reading! If we may: Looking for a truly wackadoo holiday movie to share with your loved ones (think: “Hot Frosty”)? This Lifetime movie “The Spirit of Christmas” is absolutely wild.

👋 Quick programming note: B-Side is officially on holiday break, but we’ll be back in your inboxes with a special New Year’s Eve things to do send on Monday. The full newsletter will be back and better than ever on Jan. 6. We hope you all have very happy holidays and get some much needed R&R. 

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