If a trio of ladies goes Christmas shopping and doesn’t take a selfie, did they really go shopping? Are they really ladies? Is it really Christmastime at all?

I sure hope so on all counts, because today my dear friends Kelley and Rachel went Christmas shopping with me and we neglected to take a selfie to prove it, but I know I bought some things and I know it is Christmastime at all because my husband was perched on the roof hanging icicle lights this afternoon.

Anywho. Today is Small Business Saturday, which is an American Express marketing ploy but also a rather nice idea. There are some wonderful small businesses in West Asheville,^[1]it’s the best Asheville, but don’t tell the tourists and today we went to a couple of them and I wanted to tell you about them.

One nice thing about West Asheville is that it’s a little bit like stepping back in time, because there’s a record store and a video store. Harvest Records sells new and used vinyl and also CDs, hosts the occasional in-store concert — I was pretty sad to miss Sylvan Esso there in September — and even has its own label. It’s a weird, quirky little corner shop, and with Pete’s burgeoning interest in records I feel like we may be spending a lot more time there in the future.

Once upon a time, in a land before streaming video, Orbit was just a video rental store. And it’s still an excellent video rental place — you can find just about anything there, and they have categories like “Movies That Will Make You Sad” — but it’s evolved into a video-rental-and-place-to-buy-geeky-stuff store. The people there are nice and know everything about movies, too. The only thing I don’t like about it is that they took the picture of Jeff Goldblum out of the bathroom.

And then there’s Whist, which is practically across the street from Harvest Records and packs in the most whimsy per square foot of perhaps any store in all of Asheville, which is saying a lot because this town is pretty dad-gum whimsical. I have to pace myself when I’m in Whist because I love just about everything in there. Just look at this stuff:

They have puzzles and games for the fun-loving folk on your Christmas list…

Beautiful wallets for the fiscally but fashionable set…

Tiny frogs for everyone …

Vintage Blogs and other notebooks, sketchpads and activity books for the writers and artists in your life…

A ton of beautiful and/or fun planners for your organized auntie…

A decorative and useful cat tray for the crazy cat lady in your life…

An array of gorgeous calendars suitable for anyone who needs to know what day it is…

Beautiful gift wrap to make your Christmas tree pop…

And thank you notes and other lovely stationary for after the holidays!

Looking back at the pictures I took there, I’m thinking I might be able to do all of my Christmas shopping at Whist. Maybe I should take that on as a challenge next year. For this year, I’m going to stick with trying to get everything I need at locally owned shops. It’s good for the people in my neighborhood, and when your neighborhood is chock-full of places like this I’m not sure why you’d shop anywhere else anyway.