Back to back snowstorms? No problem. Dig out and escape the holiday stress-- Our friends  at Radiance MedSpa (www.radiancenj.com) in Hackensack are offering NJ My Way readers $50 off any treatment!

The spa specializes in non-invasive beauty treatments—lip plumping, facial peels, wrinkle reduction. You can also bring in your teenager for skin care treatment…and we think that if you manage to drag in the husband he will love how he feels after a facial, or how their Arasys treatment compliments his hours in the gym. Simply mention NJ My Way  when you book the appointment.

Maybe you’ll feel so great you’ll want to have your cake and eat it too. Do it at the Gingerbread House Contest Sunday, 3 p.m., at the Burlington County Historical Society (http://08016.com/bchs.html) in downtown Burlington.

Or maybe you’ll want the free hot cocoa and cookies for merrymakers who donate toys at warm, gorgeous Gladstone Tavern (www.gladstonetavern.com) in Gladstone, which is holding its second annual Holiday Toy Drive Sunday 4-7 p.m. They’re having Clydesdale carriage rides and a choral group—along with their acclaimed seasonal menu.

You can enjoy a tour of downtown New Brunswick in a horse drawn carriage as well. The free carriage rides leave Friday and Saturday night from the Hyatt and the Heldrich, details on www.newbrunswick.com .

Elsewhere, performances at college campuses help get you into the spirit of the season.

At Princeton’s Richardson Auditorium, it’s the Holiday Pops show by the Princeton Symphony Orchestra (www.princetonsymphony.org) with the New Jersey Tap Ensemble (www.njtap.org) and the Princeton High School Choir (http://phs.prs.k12.nj.us/Choir). Saturday, 3 p.m.

Also on Princeton’s beautiful campus, the world renowned American Boychoir (www.americanboychoir.org) sings Christmas classics Saturday at 8 p.m in the University Chapel and Sunday at 4 p.m. in Richardson Auditorium.

Up Rt. 27 and On the Banks of the Old Raritan, New Jersey Opera Theater’s Young Artists Program perform holiday music of different cultures at Rutgers’ Zimmerli Museum (www.zimmerlimuseum.rutgers.edu) in New Brunswick. The concert is Sunday at 3 p.m.

Another Christmas concert for a worthy cause: the New Jersey Youth Chorus performs at Mayo Center for the Performing Arts (www.mayoarts.org) in Morristown for the benefit of BD Diabetes Center for Children at Morristown Memorial Hospital.

Or…go hear the New Jersey Chamber Singers (www.njchambersingers.org) perform Handel’s Messiah at All Saints Episcopal Church in Bay Head, Saturday at 4 p.m.

Yes, go down the Shore. It's even nicer under a blanket of fresh snow!

One thing we love about Enn-Jay is that we can go from urban to country to suburb to Shore in the snap of a finger.

Or, at least, on two lanes that will take us anywhere—to enjoy the holiday season.

You say urban?  There’s the New Jersey Symphony’s (www.njsymphony.com) holiday concert with the Canadian Brass (www.canbrass.com) and the New Jersey Youth Chorus (www.njyouthchorus.org). Shows Friday at New Brunswick’s State Theater (www.statetheatrenj.org) and Saturday at NJPAC (www.njpac.org) in Newark, 8 p.m.,  $20-$75.

And there’s the Holiday Festival of Lights at the Camden Children’s Garden (www.camdenchildrensgarden.org), every weekend the rest of December. Santa will be there, of course, and also Melchor, Gaspar and Baltazar, the Three Kings of Hispanic tradition. They’re staying be at Plaza de Aibonito, a exhibit of Christmas in the Spanish-speaking tropics.

Or maybe you want country. North or south?

Saturday up in Sussex County, Linda Russell (www.lindarussellmusic.com) recreates 200 years of American folk songs at historic Beemerville Presbyterian Church at 6 and 8 p.m. $10 adults, $8 children, (973) 702-2209.

Down in South Jersey the Pinelands Cultural Society holds a holiday musical celebration at Albert Hall (www.alberthall.org), 7:30 p.m. on Saturday.  $5 adults, $1 children.

Still in the Pinelands, one day later, there’s a Christmas Bazaar at Buzby’s General Store in Chatsworth, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Pine Barrens jams, books, and crafts. www.pineypower.com.

And for Christmas shopping in deepest suburban Essex, you are bound to find unusual gifts at the 14th Annual Crafts Fair sponsored by Pierro Gallery (www.pierrogallery.org) of South Orange. We are told you will find jewelry, ceramics, hand-painted silks, wood, woven and glass ornaments, metal wall sculpture, stationary—all of it hand-made by this year’s roster of guest artists. It runs through Sunday.

Maybe you want music and shopping together.

You can find both in Cape May, where carolers will be strolling the Washington Street Mall tonight and Friday while stores offer free holiday snacks. Then on Saturday 5:30-8:30 p.m. it’s the Mid-Atlantic Center for the Arts’ (www.capemaymac.org) Christmas Candlelight House Tour, with visits to homes, inns, and churches decorated for the holidays. $24 for adults, $12 for children. Tickets at Washington St. Mall or by calling or 800-275-4278.

There’s also holiday music and shopping at the Walk of Lights Festival at Dutch Neck Village (www.dutchneckvillage.com), near Bridgeton. They’re having a bonfire and a live Nativity Saturday and Sunday, along with the quaint stores.

And at Tuckerton Seaport (www.tuckertonseaport.org), organizers are calling this weekend’s “Christkringlemarkt” celebration “New Jersey’s only outdoor holiday market under a heated tent.” Sip hot mulled cider while you consider what piece of Jersey Shore folk art—prints, carvings, basketry—is right for that Jersey Shore lover in your life. 

We mean Salem the county seat in deepest South Jersey (www.salemcitynj.com), which is having its holiday party Saturday. Festivities start at 11 a.m. with the annual Christmas Parade. At 1 p.m. there’s the annual tour of historic houses, churches and other buildings. (tickets $10, call 856-935-8800). And at 6 p.m. they’ll light the town Christmas tree, with music and a visit from Santa.

The shopping we mean today is waaaay at the other end of the state, in Cresskill, where the upscale women’s specialty store Hamrah’s (201-871-4444) is hosting a shopping fundraiser to benefit Women United in Philanthropy. There will be a tasting of chocolates provided by Xocolat Corner (www.xocolatcorner.com) of Closter and a raffle of gift certificates to Hamrah’s, which earlier this year was chosen by Harper’s Bazaar magazine as “Style Leader.” It’s tonight, so hurry and call (201) 784 1818 or email This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .

More shopping? Yes! Stock up on luxury grooming products at Caswell-Massey’s (www.caswellmassey.com) warehouse sale with up to 80 percent off. It runs through Saturday at their Edison warehouse, (732) 225-2181.

The weekend is packed with holiday shows. Starting Sunday and running through Dec. 23, Princeton’s McCarter Theater (www.mccarter.org) stages its  critically acclaimed production of Charles Dickens’ classic holiday tale A Christmas Carol. Tickets $31-$42, online or by calling (609) 258-ARTS.

You can enjoy another perennial holiday favorite, It’s a Wonderful Life, at the Surflight Theater (www.surflight.org) in Beach Haven through Dec. 16. Tickets $17-$23, check website for show times or call (609) 492-9477.

Still another classic, Scrooge, is on the stage of the Paramount Theatre in Asbury Park in a production by Premiere Theatre Company (www.premieretheatre.com). Evening performances tonight through Sunday and 2 p.m. matinees over the weekend. Tickets $10-$20 at the website or by calling (732) 774-STAR.

And of course there is “The Nutcracker,” in a production by the New Jersey Ballet at the Bergen Performing Arts Center in Englewood. Tickets $20-$50, (201) 227-1030 or www.bergenpac.org.  

Now, about that Champagne….what we have this weekend is Master of Wine Chris Cree, owner of  56 Degree Wine (www.56degreewine.com) in Bernardsville, holding a tasting of artisanal, small-grower Champagnes and sparkling wines at the Bernards Inn Sunday 3 to 5 p.m.  Proceeds ($85 per person, call the shop at 908-953-0900) benefit Grapes for Good, the store’s new nonprofit foundation that holds wine events to benefit local charities.  

We can feel it. The season is poised for takeoff.  We’ve got the holiday wind beneath our wings.

Start your non-stop shopping blitz by combining two of our favorite things; chocolate and pearls. A source sent us the e-mail from Walter Bauman Jewelers promising a terrific discount on a sweet surprise; a chocolate pearl necklace!  Plus, they are giving away a free pair of chocolate cultured freshwater pearl earrings with every jewelry purchase this weekend. See www.walterbauman.com for store hours and locations.  

If you are looking for handcrafted holiday decorations, the historic Van Vleck House & Gardens (www.vanvleck.org) in Montclair is the place to be. The annual Deck the Halls festival is this Thursday-Saturday, with local artists putting their wreaths, topiaries and other Christmas-y things up for silent auction (to benefit maintenance of Van Vleck’s gardens and its educational programs). Admission, $5.

You can also see vintage decorations in another historic home, the Physick Estate, which kicks off Cape May’s holiday season with “An Old-Fashioned Christmas: Holiday Traditions Through the Years.”  On Saturday at 7 pm. Santa will throw the switch to light the Christmas tree and the thousands of twinkling lights adorning the estate. More info at www.capemaymac.org.

A different version of a traditional holiday show will be performed by the Alborada dance company on Sunday. It’s called Sueño de una Niña—A Spanish Nutcracker, and brings to the stage Spanish Christmas traditions through dances that include Goyescas, Verdiales, and Flamenco.  Show starts at 3 pm at the Richard Marasco Performing Arts Center in Monroe Twp. Admission, $12–$14. www.alboradadance.org.

You can warm up your palette for Thanksgiving with a Taste of Rahway (www.rcpnj.org/) on Friday.  There are sample offerings from at least 30 food establishments from Union County, as well as wine, beer, and aperitif-tasting stations. Food and presentation will be evaluated by judges including chef David Drake. It’s 6:30–9:30 pm at Rahway Recreation Center, at West Milton Ave and City Hall Plaza (732-396-3545). $40 at the door.

There are even activities for those who think the week before Thanksgiving is too early to start Christmas. Saturday at 2 p.m, at the Tuckerton Historical Museum (www.tuckertonlehhs.org)   in Little Egg Harbor, they’ll celebrate Veterans Day by serving the kind of lunch Americas ate during World War I.

Finally, our friends at the Community Food Bank e-mailed to remind us the annual turkey drive is underway this weekend.  You can drop off frozen turkeys, and canned goods at locations throughout the state.  Go to www.njfoodbank.org for locations.

Take a deep breath. The season is just starting.