I mixed equal shares of eating, shopping, and travel and created the perfect holiday season. Starting with the Christmas potluck at office which had an enormous dessert table, literally creaking under the weight of calories it carried to the Shrimp Quesadia at Baja Fresh, it was one long eating fest. Followed closely by shopping frenzy – from Northwoods Mall, Peoria, to Jersey Garden Mall, it was easy to be carried away by the press of humanity and the lure of deals and blow up a lot of money. And by traveling to New York, I made up for missing Diwali this year. Here are some highlights. Silent Night at Wuthering Heights Powder Hills, Morris Plains, NJ, had one thing in abundance this holiday season – mood. Swirling mists, dark wooded slopes, still houses, and gloom all around. I saluted the imperative by nursing a dark mood an entire day. It had its moments too – I tried to climb up an iced slope, slipped, and slid all the way down, ignominiously and inexorably. Luckily, no witnesses.