Here are some places we love for last minute holiday shopping (and we get absolutely no financial benefit from mentioning them):

• The Food Bank of Western MA Gift Catalog — click here to access their online store and donate to the Food Bank in the process
http://www.foodbank.wma.org/

• World Eye Bookshop, Boswell's Books, Odyssey, The Book Mill, Beyond Words and other great local bookstores

• The Williamsburg General Store (see the archived Williamsburg Town Spotlight for more on this amazing place)

• Wilson's in Greenfield — it's got (almost) everything a mall department store has and better still, it's locally owned

• Green Fields Market — make up a gift basket with specialty foods

• Bridge Street in Shelburne Falls — for antiques, handblown glass, objects d'art, and more

• Shelburne Falls Coffee Roasters (SF), Java Hut Roasters (Sunderland) or Blue Moon Coffee Roasters (Springfield)

• Atkins Farm Country Market in South Amherst

• Any of a number of great stores in Northampton — Faces, Intimacies (a woman-owned store), Ten Thousand Villages, the Mountain Goat, the shops in Thornes Marketplace

• Table & Vine in Northampton — I know, you have to go near a Wal-Mart to get there, but it's a fabulous place to find gifts of wine, specialty beers and gourmet foods. They even sell wicker baskets to help you "package" your present!

• Area restaurants — give a gift certificate for a post-holiday meal. How about Zoe's in Easthampton, La Cazuela or Spoleto in Northampton, The Big Kitchen Café in Northfield or Sienna in South Deerfield? And that's just the start of our list! I'm sure you've got some favorite places of your own.

Happy Holidays Everyone!

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