Admit it. Shopping is entrenched in your blood, whether you’re a proud member of the shopaholics club or prefer to keep your retail addictions hidden; a good retail therapy session goes a long way. As an admitted shopping fiend, I am always looking for places to shop that aid in expanding my wardrobe and accessories collection. In Atlanta, you have a choice of standard, but plentiful mall shopping, exclusive access at boutiques and the consistently emerging fascination that thrift stores and consignment stores provide. Give into the temptation and allure of perusing clothing racks and trying on shoes and anything else that tickles your shopping fancy and check out the best places in Atlanta to work you into a proverbial shopping frenzy. Happy shopping!

Get ready to officially ring in some holiday cheer with a show that is guaranteed to put you in the spirit of the season. Playing at Atlanta’s Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre from December 16-24, The Holiday Ice Spectacular is a delightfully entertaining combo of music, ice skating, dance and comedy, sure to engage audiences and evoke an abundance of sentiment for the season. The holidays are meant to be celebrated and enjoyed and this is the perfect way to commence the festivities of the season.

Could you eat what you can’t see? That’s the concept behind one of the most innovative and talked about culinary events in Atlanta. Dining in the Dark is a culinary dining experience that takes places once a month through June 2011. This month, the featured chef is Gerry Klaskala of local restaurant hotspot Aria. On Thursday December 9, guests will deliciously enjoy a four-course meal while completely in the dark. I don’t know about you, but this seems like a very welcome (and tasty) Christmas surprise; being in a room with people and food you can’t see speaks to an enormous amount of adventure. Sign me up!

With the holiday season firmly upon us, now is the time when cooking for many is less than appetizing. That’s when a call to the professionals is the ideal solution to having amazing food that pleases family and friends. However, the bonus is that you don’t have to cook it! Calling a caterer is the best thing to do when you are having several holiday functions with varying themes and different menus requests from you’re guests. Atlanta has many great catering companies that are award-winning and featured in magazines and “best of “lists all over. So skip those dishes and leave the cooking to someone else!

Do you want to experience some great live music at one of the city’s most fabulous hotels? Then look no further because the W Atlanta Downtown presents an all-new music series called Symmetry Live featuring exceptional local singers and songwriters. Located at Drinkshop inside the W Atlanta Downtown, this concert series is the perfect companion to the beautiful hotel atmosphere, flowing, potent cocktails and a lovely crowd filled with Atlanta’s beautiful people. Happening every Thursday for the remainder of the year, Symmetry Live premiered earlier this year to great fanfare and accolades from local critics, but luckily for those that haven’t yet attended this hot concert, you still have a few weeks left to enjoy live music from some truly great artists.

Get ready for an evening of belly-shaking laughter as Emmy Award winner Leslie Jordan brings his hilarious new show Deck Them Halls Ya’ll! An Evening of Southern Humor with Leslie Jordan to the Buckhead Theatre on December 10 and 11 at 8 p.m. What’s a proper Christmas celebration without a barrel of laughter to highlight all of the ups, downs, highs and hilarious lows that often plague the holiday season? As funny as he is, I am certain that Leslie Jordan’s new show will quickly become a holiday tradition.

Holiday cheer is running rampant as the city of Vinings celebrates the 40th anniversary of the Vinings Tree Lighting kicking off December 2 from 6 to 8 p.m. One of Atlanta’s most anticipated and celebrated holiday events, families from all over Georgia travel from miles around to be apart of this wonderfully festive event that showcases the spirit and welcoming sentiment that the city of Vinings is known for.

The season of giving is in full swing, with everyone wanting to be nicer to and do things for, strangers, if only just to see the cheerful smiles that an act of kindness can produce. One of Atlanta’s most celebrated landmarks, Underground Atlanta, is in the full holiday spirit this year because they are kicking off a wonderful holiday series called Home for the Holidays which is a cluster of events guaranteed to warm your heart and fill you with holiday cheer, southern style!

Thanksgiving is the perfect time to highlight the numerous charities in Atlanta that make a difference for others all year long. Often we get so wrapped up in our own lives and the daily grind of work and family commitments, that we forget how little it takes to do something good for someone else. Sometimes all it takes is a little of your time or even a small amount of money, whatever the case, today we have selected the top Atlanta charities that aid in putting smiles on the faces of Atlantans everywhere. Happy Thanksgiving!