🎁🤯 We’re giving you $8,000 in freebies

🎁 👀 Meet your new local gift shop. Introducing the B-Side Collective, our new online shop(!) where you can find gifts from Boston-area businesses for everyone on your holiday list. From cookies to Dunkin’ prints to pickle-flavored cotton candy, there truly is something for everyone. Start shopping here!

👀 What’s on tap today:

Up first…

It’s the most ~B-Side-i-ful~ time of the year. Yes, it’s a thing! Since B-Side was a wee baby, we’ve celebrated the “12 Days of B-Side,” a.k.a., our tradition of making the last 12 newsletters before our winter break as holly, jolly, and festive as possible.

But this year … we’re adding a little *spice* to your stocking …

👀 The plan: Starting Thursday, we’ll be injecting your inboxes with a fat dose of holiday fun … and giving away over $8,000 worth of stuff (not a typo!). Each day, we’ll be dropping 10-20 freebies for our B-Side Members to grab.

Here’s everything we’re giving away (in no particular order): 

😋 Free special B-Side holiday cookies from Lakon Paris Patisserie (priceless <3)

🛍️ 10 gift cards to Boston Public Market ($15 value)

🥟 10 dumpling-making classes at Mei Mei Dumplings (~$100 value)

🧖 10 Moki Sauna passes ($65 value)

🚲 10 two-week unlimited passes to Rev'd Indoor Cycling (~$100 value)

⛳ 10 sets of two free games at Puttshack ($45 value)

💅 10 free classes to Tiny Chaos Nail Studio ($75 value)

🍰 10 of these cake-sampling boxes from the award-winning Lizzie's Bakery ($50 value)

🍪 12 gift cards to The Half Cookie ($20 value)

🍕 12 gift cards to Bardo’s Pizza ($20 value)

👃 15 scent class vouchers from Olfactory NYC ($85 value)

📚 20 gift cards to Lovestruck Books ($20 value)

😎 20 Baggu-style B-Side totes and tees (Priceless <3)

🤯 And the granddaddy prize of them all: A 30-minute facial from Demma Aesthetics, a one-hour coaching session up to four people at PickleBOS, a $100 gift card to Bootleg Special, a $150 gift card to Prezza, a $150 gift card to Post 1917, a $100 gift card to Karma Asian Fusion, a birthday party at any Momentum Enterprises Owned Launch Family Entertainment or My Gym Location, and two VIP tickets to the Revere Hotel’s NYE Party. Yes, ONE PERSON wins ALL of this. 

Here’s how to play:

💜 Don’t say we don’t love ya! Stay tuned for the first drop tomorrow …

🥳 Roll out the red carpet — it’s daddy B-Side’s b-day! The man, the myth, the legend (and our boss), Andrew Grillo, turns 34 today! You might not see him in the newsletter or on social media, but as B-Side’s general manager, he helps keep the lights on, the emails sending, and the vibes thriving. Naturally, B-Side’s money man just wants one thing for his birthday: For you to become a B-Side Member. So help a brother out and join the crew right here. We love ya! 

🪪 REAL ID requirements are about to get … real. Starting Feb. 1, showing up at the airport without one will = an additional security screening that’ll run you $45 and up to 30 minutes, per the TSA. The good news: If you have another acceptable form of ID (think: passports, military IDs), you won’t face the charge, and if you know you don’t have the goods, you’ll be able to pay the 45 bucks online in advance. But, in our opinion, a stress-free flight is well worth an RMV schlep. Here’s how to get one.

🍎 Introducing: High school grad requirements (Gov. Healey’s version). Remember when Mass. residents approved a ballot Q to ditch the MCAS as a high school graduation requirement (a.k.a. state-administered standardized tests)? Well, Healey just dropped a tentative plan to replace them, including capstone projects and state-administered “end-of-course exams.” There’s just one problem: The Mass. Teachers Association — which dropped a BAG to get said ballot Q passed — isn’t exactly on board, saying it “defies the will of the voters,” to include more state-administered tests. Stay tuned!

🌡️ Here’s one reason to turn on the heat: Post-government shutdown, federal funding has finally been released for the home energy assistance program (HEAP), a free resource that helps folks afford their winter heat bills. The program is available from now to April 30 for households making under 60% of the state median income (e.g., under $51,777 for a household of one, or under $99,573 for a household of four). And yes, that includes renters! You can check if you’re eligible here.

✈️ This might be the BEST travel deal of the year. In honor of Travel Tuesday, JetBlue is offering 35% off base fare for a TON of flights using code SAVE35 on its website. The rules: You can redeem the code on most nonstop flights between Jan. 6 and Feb. 11 or Feb. 24 and March 11, minus trips on Fridays, Saturdays, and transatlantic flights. The only catch? The offer’s only valid until 11:59 p.m. on Dec. 3. Here are some other primo Travel Tuesday deals.

Sure, Drake Maye can throw a football. But Ann Michael Maye can bake. 

While the Pats have been racking up the W’s on the field (see: the best record in the NFL), Drake Maye’s wife has been racking up views on TikTok, especially on her bake-with-me videos, where his fans LOVE hyping her up in the comments.

Her creations include a spiced apple cider doughnut loaf, iced pistachio bread, and lemon raspberry cookies. But these apple cinnamon oat bars might be her best work.

Apparently, she baked them for the entire Pats offensive line, and earned extremely high praise. Center Garrett Bradbury called them “phenomenal.” But don’t take his word for it. Globe writer Nicole Yang tried them out for herself, too. The consensus: Big thumbs up. 

You can check out the recipe here.

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

🥧 Thanks for reading! Drop the cookbook, Ann Michael!!

😋 The results are in: 34% of B-Siders say they eat out two to four times a week. One reader said: “A girl needs a break now and then.” Amen!

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