Lately Birmingham Weekly is trying to be the giver. So far we have two winners and a second place.

As we round the bend to Christmas there is more ballet toe-pointing and pas-dedeuxing than we ever imagined. While the productions differ, they are all striving for the most elegant lines through technical perfection.

Thanksgiving is upon us, so we can add to our food memories. Franklin Biggs and Ann Rose will both regale us about dining, while Wendy Watts gives us some ideas for wine. Earlier she related her feelings about rose wines, and I think that is the wine for Thanksgiving turkey.

As usual I was at Whole Foods waiting for Bunny to decide which sushi she’d buy and trying to avoid the wrath of the sullen country girl. So why not while away the time with a little automated health check, sitting down at the machine.

The rest of us may not have quite skipped over Thanksgiving yet, but the girls at the Alabama Ballet are already practicing for the Christmas season because you know the Nutcracker is coming.

This week I will be off traveling around wearing one of my other hats, South American wine importer.

Well you didn’t need me to tell you that this time of year, the best thing to do is go out and look at some leaves. Some prime spots in Alabama are Mentone and Scottsboro. In North Georgia try Dahlonega and, of course, Lake Burton.

Shana Robbins is the daughter of one of Halston’s models and a career model hersself. She is urbane, sophisticated, high cheek-boned and even has a mole more perfectly placed on her cheek than Cindy Crawford. By all appearances cooler than a cucumber.

I was outside the Quick-Split in Avondale to get some breakfast one morning this week when I looked across the street and saw a blonde mop and I would have sworn it was an infamous country girl I know in the flesh.

I have seen a lot of artists studios, but Trés Taylor may have the most amazing space in town. It is next to the Birmingham Weekly on 41st Street in Avondale.