SATURDAY, NOV. 30 2013 >>>

1. Winters here are cold and wet, and it's better to admit that fact and find a way to enjoy the season than to stay home depressed. Ice skating, with its low requirements in start-up costs and athletic prowess, may be the perfect way to beat the winter doldrums. It's charming and, in Tacoma, it comes with live music. Every Saturday night the Weekly Volcano turns on the amps to the Electric Salchow Stage at the Franciscan Polar Plaza ice rink. Back from recording a kick ass album in Nashville, voted Best Band in the 2013 Best of Tacoma issue and recent winner of the WAVE Radio Jammin' Challenge Battle of the Bands at the Hard Rock Café, SweetKiss Momma will fire up its Southern soul rock sound at 7 p.m. and perform for skaters until 9 p.m. Oh momma, that's sweet.

2. The Lincoln Winter Market organized by Make Olympia is just what the doctor ordered. Well that, and a hot buttered rum. The market is in its third run, and has grown to more than 70 vendors from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Lincoln Elementary Gym in Olympia. Shanty Slater, who has been heavily involved in Make Olympia (which hosts markets at a variety of locations) since its incarnation in 2010, said the Lincoln Winter Market is "a very special place to buy gifts and treasure from the community." Discover the seven must-see items at the Lincoln Winter Market here.

3. In an effort to make it easy and fun to shop local this holiday season, Duchess of Downtown Tours, best known for its monthly Tacoma ART BUS tours, has hand selected nine of its favorite locally owned shops for the Small Business Saturday Shopping Tour at 1 p.m. Tickets are $25 and include pizza, beverages, VIP swag bags and entry into the raffle for several awesome prizes including two tickets to the sold out Santarchy craziness, a gift basket from Blue Mouse Theater and more. Tickets and list of shop can be found at brownpapertickets.com.

4. For the fourth year in a row, the entrepreneur and hilariously funny and talented Nate Jackson will treat the Puget Sound to a holiday event chock full of fun, class and comedy. Nate Jackson's 4thAnnual Thanksgiving Weekend Super Funny Comedy Show will consume the Temple Theater Plaza Ballroom at 8:30 p.m. featuring a live comedy show followed by an after party. Shang Forbes, whose socio-political views graced CBS's The Late Show and BET's Comic View, will join Jamie Foxx 2011 NBA All Star Comedy vet Lil Rel and fellow Comic View funnyman Ronnie Jordan and Tacoma's own Mr. Mookie on the Temple stage. Afterward, The D1 Experience Band and DJ TuMuch rock the party. Jackson's events are always full of fun, good-looking people and mo' fun.

5. So you don't want to admit to drinking and going to the mall with your friends when you were a teenager. Fine. But there's no shame in shopping at The New Frontier Lounge Saturday night with a few drinks in hand. The fine folks at Feather & Oar men's clothing store are hosting a fashion show with Tacoma Apparel Co., Paper Diamonds Clothing, Gallery of Ambition, Kinfam and Noble Suit Co. with original music by the Keyboard Kid from 9-10 p.m. at The New Frontier Lounge. Rumor is the tickets are going fast; you might want to give Feather & Oar a buzz, or jump on Brown Paper Tickets. After the show, The Flvr Blue will fill the joint with synth pop in between the funky beats spun by Mr. Melanin. Hot Topic this ain't.

PLUS: Holiday Events Calendar

PLUS: South Sound Holiday Command Center

LINK: Saturday, Nov. 29 arts and entertainment events in the greater Tacoma and Olympia area