Walking around town with Katy taking photos for the brochure was so much fun. It got me in to visit new stores as well as old stores I hadn't been to before. I saw so many great gifts- but let me tell you three of the things I loved a lot:

1) the wide selection of supercute little shoes at Puffer Red's! There are many kid-sized shoes, but there are also infant booties that are way cooler than any I have seen. (Leopard-print Timberland booties!) There are a lot of fancy athletic shoes there, but men can also get more basic everyday shoes there (Rockports and such) too. I saw a really great pair of tall black lace-up boots that I loved too.

2) The Rocket has Sour Cream and Onion Larvets Worm Snacks! There were spicy crickets too!

3) Simply deVine's wrapping paper was so nice! They carry one line that makes coordinated, beautifully-designed (nothing cheesy, very clean lines, good colors) gift wrap, boxes, bags and ribbons. I'm a horrible present wrapper, but this inspires me. I hate spending money on gift wrap usually, but I will be happy to support this new store as well as to enjoy wrapping presents in this stuff.

Instead of dreading all of the gross consumerism and false cheeriness of the holidays, I am looking forward to making the experience something more real by shopping locally for gifts that are useful (or consumable) and interesting. Here's to holiday shopping that's painless (even joyful!), convenient and meaningful!

I was amazed that more of the stores in Depot Town (for example) were not listed.

Here are a few idea for folks:

Buy someone a gift card for Cafe Luwak. $20 gets you a $25 card.

Go out to the Wittikar Road Ypsilanti District Library and shop that the "Friends Shop" The money goes to support the library, including the downtown branch.

How about a Corner Brewery Mug Membership for the beer drinker in your family? Or a growler they can use over and over?

Does anyone know where Michigan Ladder ladders retail? You don't have to shop inside Ypsilanti to support that Ypsilanti business.

What about the non-bricks and mortar businesses? I don't know of any, except my wife's art website (see the link under my name); but, someone must be able to create a list.

I was amazed by the number of events scheduled in town this season! I'm definately going to moonlight madness, starlight shopping and the tree lighting in the park next to the library. Of course, Shadow Art Fair is a must do!

John: you are right about Depot Town not being represented very well so far on the site, and that is my fault. I have received lists from the downtown association and various others for content on the site, so that is what I posted. I have been spending so much time building the site over the past week I havent had a chance to get lists from Depot Town. Now that most of the site is working, I will be adding more content to the list. You should see more items appear on the business list over the next few days.

The "thank you for taking the pledge" bounce back email is a great touch! Thanks Jim!! Any chance I can get a different gravitar? This one looks way too much like me for my comfort level. ;^D

I am not sure how the gravatars on here work. I used the BlogEngine.NET software for the blog, so I didnt write this portion of the website. This is my first time using this software, so I am not totally familiar with it. I do like how easy it was to intigrate it into the site and make it look like it is part of everything that I did write.

A book is always a perfect gift, and local author Coralie Johnson has a new book about growing up in the UP. She did a reading/booksigning for the Normal Park Neighborhood Association recently; very entertaining, and at $14.95 the book is a steal, and a good gift for almost anyone. She'll be at the Ypsi Senior/Community Center on Friday, Dec 14 @ 12:15, too, where you can purchase books at the discounted price of $12.95, 15% off the retail price. I'd love to hear about other Ypsi authors.

Thanks for doing this Jim - the site looks awesome!
Rebecca - the book you mention sounds like a good gift for someone on my list, do you know where else I could purchase it? (can't make the senior center event)

Katy, you can also order the book online at her Ypsilanti-based publisher, www.wildwoodpress.org. Another interesting local book (maybe for kids middle or high school age): Ypsi author Brian Banks' "How to Make it in the NBA: a more realistic approach" -- available from Amazon I know, not sure if anyone sells it locally.