As you're making a list and checking it at least twice, to find stuff that's really nice you should be coming to town. OK, now you see why I write columns instead of jingles. But the truth is, holiday gift missions can start—maybe even finish—in our boutique 'burb. You can get offbeat items without confronting freeways, vast lots, escalators or distant wrapping counters. Here are 10 unusual selections to help your list-making: 1.  130 gift-makers: This is first up due to size and timing—it's only today, Nov. 19. The annual Winter Holiday Gift Show at The Community House runs from 9:30 a.m. to…

I've lived in Birmingham since 1976 B.C. (Before Coffeeshops) and seen our city change without losing its small-town appeal. Yes, we've gained — if that's the right word — movie multiplexes, five parking decks and office suites. Yet we still can enjoy hand-scooped ice cream, burgers with grilled onions at a 1952 Woodward Avenue landmark and parades of classic cars, costumed kids and kerchief-wearing basset hounds. Way back in 1938 — five years after the village of Birmingham incorporated as a city — a local history buff named Lenore Gomberg described this as a place "where one may find all …