😍 The most wonderful news of the year

It’s Monday, Boston.

🎄 If you’re a “holiday decor goes up the moment the turkey leaves the table” kind of person, Boston.com shared a helpful guide on where to buy a real Christmas tree around the city. Some start as low as $20!

👀 What’s on tap today:

• Green Line information overload

• A liquor store, sans the buzz

• Tiny, perfect things

Up first...

GOOD NEWS

It’s good news o’clock

It’s officially the most wonderful time of the year. And what better way to kick it off than with some equally wonderful news? 

Here are some feel-good stories you may have missed this month:

🍎 This Lexington teacher made Massachusetts history. De’Shawn Washington, a fourth grade inclusion teacher at Maria Hastings Elementary School in Lexington, became the first Black man to receive Massachusetts’ “Teacher of the Year” award. As an inclusion teacher, Washington teaches students about conflict resolution and he says his goals as a teacher are “to cultivate change makers and develop students’ agency in their learning and their community.” Congrats, Mr. Washington!

⚽ Lewiston’s boy’s soccer team won the state championship. Just weeks after a tragic mass shooting that killed 18 people in Lewiston, Maine, their boys’ high school soccer team rallied together to win the state championship title. They secured the trophy with a 3-2 overtime W over Deering High School after vowing to “do it for the city” in the wake of the tragedy. Players described the victory as euphoric, with the fans’ and coaches’ reactions as the best parts of the win. Just watch the video of the winning goal here; it’s a real tear-jerker. 

✈️ Plus, Lewiston residents received messages of hope from Southwest passengers. When a crew member on a Southwest flight found out that passenger Andy Garmezy and his dog were onboard as part of a trip to Lewiston with the National Crisis Response Canines (essentially, a traveling group of therapy dogs), they let Garmezy hop on the intercom to speak about their work, and asked passengers to write messages of hope to the Lewiston community. The video of Garmezy on the flight’s intercom is incredibly sweet. 

🚇 The MBTA got rid of one of its longest-lasting slow zones. Huzzah! Red Line riders suffered through a brutal slow zone between JFK/UMass and North Quincy Stations for over a year (trains would abruptly slow to 10 mph). Seriously, it had been around longer than MBTA general manager Phillip Eng and Gov. Healey have been in charge of the T. We still have 179 slow zones to go, but progress is progress, people!

🦃 A woman makes Thanksgiving for 500 people in Roxbury. Leslie Stafford has overseen the "Gratitude Project" for Madison Park Development Corporation for eight years, providing Thanksgiving meals for more than 500 folks in the area. But this effort is just a drop in the bucket of her overall work in community health and wellness equity. Thanks to her efforts, Stafford was honored this year with her organization’s “Community Catalyst” award. You go, girl! Get a glimpse into the action here. 

— Written by Gia Orsino

QUICK QUESTION

🍺 Have you ever considered giving up alcohol?

TOGETHER WITH THE MFA

Stumped on artsy gifts? Let’s make this easy.

🎨🎁 No more holiday gifting guesswork. Find the perfect present for the creative soul in your life with the MFA Shop's Ultimate Gift Guide for Art Lovers. Whether you’re shopping for your work bestie, partner, little Picassos, or treating yourself, this curated collection of vibrant prints and budget-friendly treasures will pass the vibe check for every art lover on your list. Explore the guide online today and breeze through this year’s holiday hunt. 

CITY

Quick & dirty headlines

🚃 Green Line riders, brace for shutdowns. Starting today through Dec. 5, the Green Line is shut down from North Station to Kenmore. For the C and D Lines, the shutdowns stop there (for now), but on the B Line, the shutdown extends through Babcock, and on the E Line, all the way to Heath Street. The shuttle bus situation is a little hairy, so definitely consult this MBTA explainer for alternative transportation. Plus, the GLX will be MIA at night: Both branches will shut down at 8:45 p.m., starting tonight through Dec. 10 (and ditto on the shuttle bus note).

🍸 Sober? Sober-curious? Gearing up for dry January? Even if you’re none of the above, this new South End shop is worth checking out. Dray Drinks, a non-alcoholic “liquor” store, which sells more than a thousand non-alcoholic beverages from zero proof hard liquors to non-alcoholic beer and mocktail mixes, opened for biz on Nov. 17. The space also offers tastings and events, and a portion of all sales proceeds will be donated to community alcohol and drug recovery causes.

💻 Happy Cyber Monday! We’ve got the deals. For general shopping, this NYMag guide to early bird deals is, in our opinion, the most comprehensive (and cool) roundup of the sales going on literally everywhere you can imagine. Some of our faves include these adorable mushroom nightlights from Amazon, a super cute and trendy bag from Baggu, and the Glossier’s famous signature perfume, but there are tons more deals where that came from, so check out the whole list.

🛍️ Not so fast, fashion. But before you add those Cyber Monday Deals to your cart, here’s some food for thought: This Globe Opinion piece shares some tidbits on how to be stylish without killing the planet (*cough* fast-fashion). You can go deeper in their “Not so fast, fashion” project, too, where you’ll learn that tons of donated clothes end up in landfills, and although many consumers say sustainable fashion is important, far fewer actually take steps to investigate the companies they buy from.

— Written by Gia Orsino

THINGS TO DO

Weekday plans

😂 Laugh with Ziwe live in person. We know her, we love her, and we count on her wit to bring more awareness to today’s issues. Catch “Ziwe: The Black Friend” on Wednesday at The Wilbur. 

💎 Design your own bling. Codman Square’s Branch of BPL is bringing in a jewelry expert tonight to teach us the basics of necklace making. Hack: It’s always a free way to make a holiday gift! 

🧠 PIVOT!…your plans to make time for trivia. We all feel like we know the “Friends” cast like they’re our friends — the true test will be at “Friends” Trivia (for a good cause!) at Common Craft on Tuesday. 

☕ Practice mindfulness with a side of hot tea. Even as the holiday season ramps up, it can be good to wind down. Boston Public Market is giving us the perfect opportunity this Tuesday with $5 Tea Meditation.

🏀 Cheer on the C’s at home. Have you made it to a Celtics game yet? This week could be your chance! Watch them take on the Chicago Bulls at TD Garden on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m.

— Written by Claire Nicholas

🎉 Want more things to do recommendations? Refer five friends to unlock four bonus items. For those who already have, enjoy below.

GIVEAWAY

The ultimate holiday giveaway

Enter to win our BIGGEST giveaway yet (worth more than $600)! We’ve curated a gift basket containing items from some of Boston's favorite brands (Think Handlebar Cycling, Big Night Entertainment, Down Under Yoga and more!). Refer a friend before 11/27 to be eligible — if you have already referred a friend to B-Side (and they’ve accepted), you're already enrolled! Full details below*

ONE LAST THING

Tiny, perfect things

Sometimes the only way to survive winter in New England is romanticizing it. The Globe just released their list of 30 tiny, perfect things about winter in New England, and it basically moonlights as a list of adorable things to do this season.

Greater Boston highlights include: Drinking hot chocolate from L.A. Burdick Handmade Chocolates while strolling through the Comm. Ave. lights (arguably the BEST in town), seeing the evergreen courtyard of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, or sinking your teeth into a sufganiyot (traditional Israeli jelly-filled doughnut) from Kupel’s Bakery in Brookline. 

But there are many more submissions covering Mass. and beyond. Check out the whole list here.

— Written by Gia Orsino

✨ Thanks for reading! That list genuinely makes Boston feel a little more magical. And I’m heading to Kupel’s right now.

💜 Special shoutout to today's sponsor, MFA Boston, for supporting local journalism and fostering a vibrant Boston arts community.

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