Five Things: Shoe Shopping with Mike Ross

1. Partly sunny, with a high near 74. Slight chance of showers in the evening, and foggy after midnight.

2. I took City Councilor Mike Ross up on his offer to take me on an off-the-beaten-path tour of Back Bay. We went shoe shopping at Bodega (it's a secret store, notice the Snapple machine), met with the owners of Buz, a new company that's combining the Charlie Card and social media for some cool deals on Newbury Street (story to come) and explored the First Corps of Cadets Museum on Comm Ave. (some awesome local history, but by appointment only...they don't have a website but I'll post some pics later.)

3. The season kicks off on Friday. Check out our on the first ever female to join the horn section. “It seemed that the barrier should’ve been broken awhile ago, but it makes a little sense because there isn’t a lot of turnover here,” she says.

4. Here's a scary fact: iParty is predicting that Charlie Sheen, Casey Anthony and Arnold Schwarzenegger will be among the most popular most popular Halloween costumes this year. Also on the list: The Real Housewives, Anthony Weiner and (for kids), Angry Birds.

5. Back Bay Patch is your site. I run it, but you, the readers, can and should contribute. This means adding your own events, commenting on articles, answering polls (there will be more polls) and contributing any way you like. We'll be doing some rearranging of the site to encourage this, so keep your eyes (and ears) open.