Shop New Orleans

I wish I would have found out about this earlier in the holiday season, but my mom just sent me a site that collects a bunch of New Orleans local businesses with an online presence. The basic idea is to help rebuild the city by helping revive the economy with an infusion of out-of-state cash that not donated or loaned, but actually going straight to the heart of the mom-and-pop places that make up the soul of the city.

A few suggestions from the list:

• The Times-Picayune's store has a wealth of visual and newsworthy delights: Snow (really!) in 2004, the pope's visit, Katrina, Katrina, Katrina.
  
• Scriptura, a great shop for readers and writers- paper, ink, and more. Classy but not pretentious.
  
• The Michalopoulos gallery, a local artist with a distinct style of painting architecture- one day I'll own one of his actual paintings.
• Perlis, the men's clothing line with crawfish-embroidered polos.
• Emeril, Paul Prudhomme, and Cafe du Monde all have an online presence.
  

If you can't visit New Orleans, try the next best thing.