I came up with this random, odd idea when my mom was dropping me off at the airport the other day. While I’m in San Francisco, why not invite all of my online customers / strangers who I’ve never met before, to come eat pizza with me at a completely random pizza shop. Nothing fancy, just some good ole' greasy, hot pizza (my treat) + hang outs with me. I’d love to meet all these people who've supported my business and have helped gotten me where I am today. I will also fill everyone in on more details + secrets for Johnny Cupcakes 2009 plans.

Hope to see you there, and make sure you wear your Johnny Cupcakes t-shirt!

See you THIS Saturday.

Currently visiting California reminded me of these old California Raisin commercials. My mom got me some of their action figures and even a sleeping bag when I was a kid! I thought these little characters were great. Looking back on them now, it was pretty random? Maybe that's why I was so into them? Raisins are such an odd thing to go all out with and spending lots of money on commercials featuring claymation raisins playing instruments + dancing. Nevermind hiring with Ray Charles and Michael Jackson (see below) *Note that there is a raisin grabbing his umm...raisins in the Michael Jackson esq commercial. Enticing! I wonder how parents felt buying into these for their kids? ...I'm not sure if that raisin-grabbing raisin is the best way to quench peoples hunger for raisins?

As the ball begins to drop, I rest home alone packing for my trip to California. Wind + snow try to wisp through my windows + down my chimney, as it echos through my house in a spooky manner. No television on, no music. Just me at my dining room table, comfortably slouched back on my wooden chair - sipping on warm tea while whittling away at some last minute e-mails + this blog post right here. Don't feel sorry, I am perfectly content. New Years Eve isn't a huge deal for me. Maybe I'm just being bitter because I don't drink, do drugs or party like a bro-dude? Maybe I'm bitter because I only know how to slow dance? Or could it be that I don't have that special someone to kiss at midnight? A lot of variables have to do with this. Especially seeing that with the wind chill, it's NEGATIVE FOURTEEN DEGREES out right now, and the roads are dangerous, covered with 10 inches of snow + ice. However, turning over a new leaf and having a fresh start is great. My mind is clear but starting to cloud up again as I begin to brainstorm more and more antics for Johnny Cupcakes 2009 and beyond.

2008 was great for my brand. Thank you everyone who has helped in any way. Below are few memorable JC moments of 2008;

-New Cupcake Headquarters.
-Design, build-out and opening of the Johnny Cupcakes Los Angeles, Melrose Ave shop.
-Boston + LA "There's Something In The Cupcake Mix" releases.
-Witnessing lines longer than Bigfoot's ****.
-Die-hard customers camping out for 4+ days on both coasts.
-Johnny Cupcakes Presents / movie nights.
-Voted "America's #1 Young Entrepreneur" by BusinessWeek Magazine.
-Sold out Lecture series at many Universities.
-Kevin Garnett being tricked into walking inside a bakery, but then hanging out for over a half hour, and happily purchasing many shirts.
-Getting to meet, talk to and hang out with amazing JC customers + new friends.
-And most of all, having fun, being happy, staying strong + growing without compromise of business morals + ethics, while gliding past this scary economic crisis. (doing great without selling out to investors + mall stores.)


2009, I'm looking forward to;

-Cut + sew expansion.
-Lots more webisodes.
-More designs, but way more limited.
-The Bakers Dozen.
-Pop up shops.
-Headquarters build-out.
-Newbury Street: mini changes/additions.
-More College + high school lectures, both nationally + internationally.
-Traveling tons. (London + Japan especially.)
-Even more blog posts.
-Getting to meet, talk to and hang out with more amazing JC customers + new friends.
-And many other secrets + surprises that you'll just have to wait for.


2009 is going to be a great year. What is my New Years resolution? To be more spontaneous when it comes to traveling. I want to feel like James Bond and book last minute trips to random foreign places. Can you believe that I've never been out of the country? Or overseas rather. I wonder what it's like? I bet my head is going to swell with inspiration and ideas (never mind my stomach from trying out many foreign foods.)

My mom's picking me up in 4 hours to drive me to the airport, I should finish packing and sneak in a long power nap. Happy New Years everyone! Do me a favor, (and yourself) - Purchase a notebook and fill it up with lists. Lots of lists. Ideas, places you want to visit, activities you want to try out, things that make you happy, and pretty much anything you've wanted to do. Set a goal to cross off an item from that list 'x' amount of times a month. The feelings you get when crossing off things from your list, is priceless. I've been doing it for years now, and as simple and weird as it may sound, it's one of my favorite activities to do. Maybe I should add 'List making' to my list? But then I'd have to cross it off.

All of this technology and e-mail checking is making my fingers + brain hurt (I apologize to anyone I haven't gotten back to.) I thought I'd post links to official Johnny Cupcakes networking pages. In addition to getting a heads up on special releases and deals, you can also network and meet new friends from around the world who are also Johnny Cupcakers, trade limited shirts, organize meet ups + camp outs with new and old friends, and you can post images of you in your shirts (be creative!) And who knows, maybe you'll see that special someone that you were too shy to talk to at the last release, and you can be creepy and send them a message? Maybe they like creepy things? We all have something out of the normal that we're into..

Anyways, below you will find links to said sites. They've definitely helped Johnny Cupcakes customers stay in touch with eachother + remain pen / keyboard pals.

CLICK HERE - Johnny Cupcakes Facebook Group 
In addition to this, I do have a personal page and have had a lot of customers trying to add it. I'm trying to keep in touch with longtime friends + family, so don't take offense if I don't accept. I know some customers have slipped through the cracks when I first started. But who knows, maybe I'll give in at some point... until then, you can be a part of the Johnny Cupcakes Facebook Group by clicking the link above. There's even a mini discussion board in which I'll pop by and answer general questions if they haven't already been answered by other JC heads.

CLICK HERE - Johnny Cupcakes Myspace Page
Good ole' Myspace. I'm going to try to get into the habit of switching up my mix tape on there. I also have someone working on a brand new layout for me, which should be finished soon. I also just updated my Myspace calendar, which has a listing of dates (and tentative times) for my lectures, travels, in-store hang outs, and releases. I do update the Events section + Blog on my website with more details and such... however, my Myspace calendar is a bit quicker to give a general date for those early planners + die hard customers. Some people prefer Myspace over Facebook and vice verse. I'm trying to efficiently juggle both, so bare with me hahaha..

CLICK HERE - Johnny Cupcakes Twitter Site
"Twitter??" That's what I said when I first heard of it. It sounds like a word describing a bird's thingy when it gets sexually aroused. "Ewww... look at that birds little Twitter poking out of it's feathers!" - It's a silly word, and even more silly hearing newscasters talk about it. It's unbelievable how fast something like Twitter catches on. I guess if you create something unique and worth talking about, the word spreads. See, I'm even talking about it, ha! But anyways, Twitter is sorta like away messages on aim/ichat, except you choose/'follow' who you want to receive updates from. They then get sent to your Twitter page and/or via text message to your cell phone. For instance, I can send a text message to my Twitter account, something as plain as "In the Boston shop hanging out." or something as random as, "In line at Upper Crust Pizza, crossing my legs cause I have to go wee wee." OR I could give an informative secret, "About to put the limited edition t-shirt online in 10 minutes, there's only a few made so hurry!"  -- Those are all just examples.

All of the above are free, fun and useful. Oh yeah, and a bit addicting. Sign up and join my group / add me, using the links above.

I stumbled upon this great pixel couch while poking around the internet. Designed by Cristian Zunzunaga, made by Danish manufacturer Kvadrat and to be sold through Moroso shop in Italy.

This couch makes me very happy.

Oh mannn... I think I just peed my pants listening to some of these. This is great. I'm going to have to try it soon! The instructions in the video seem pretty simple. I stumbled upon this video via Married To The Mob blog (thank you for keeping me entertained.) Enjoy everyone!

I'm not sure what I'm doing on New Years Eve, but this looks bonkers.

Boxer Christmas Card 08' from Boxer Design on Vimeo.

Brand new girls underwear + mens/unisex boxers are available NOW in the online shop.

The signature Johnny Cupcakes gloves have been restocked and still only $5.99  -  "Everyone should own a pair! These black, unisex gloves which may seem simple, were actually made from scratch. I wanted these to have slightly longer material on the wrists, for extra warmness. There's nothing worse than getting a cozy pair of basic, inexpensive gloves, but having the wrists be sorta short and leaving you slightly cold, irritated + goofy looking. I hope you enjoy my new basic glove experience! Say bye-bye to those cold wrists... And with these being so inexpensive, why not grab some extra pairs for your friends, family or that special someone?"

There are also TONS of marked down, LAST PRESSING items. Whats does that mean? It means they will never be printed or restocked again after we sell out of certain sizes etc.. Don't sleep on these deals! And remember, Valentines Day is right around the corner...

My family and I made the trip out to Sudbury to visit some friends of the family that we've all grown up with. We watched the Celtics play the Lakers (uh), played games, danced, laughed at old memories, played tricks on each other and exchanged some gifts.

Tiny and Norman cooked up some killer crab legs.

Jake and I played some intense games of ping pong in the basement.

I made everyone shake their faces until they got sick. This one of Jake was my favorite out of the batch.

Jesse, my sister, Jake and I being goofballs. We might all be growing / grown up, but when we get together it's like being in a time portal and feeling like we're kids again.

Here's a shell ornament my mom made from back in the day. This one has Jesse and my sister eating popsicles. Around that same time period, Jesse and my sister were playing dolls, and for some reason my sister was sucking on a Barbie shoe. Low and behold, she got the Barbie shoe suctioned-stuck on the inside of her mouth. Twenty minutes later when finally ripping it out, there was a fat chunk of mouth flesh stuck inside of the little plastic shoe. This Christmas, they got my sister a near-replica, tiny, plastic Barbie shoe and wrapped it up in a giant gift box.

This one is myself and Jake. I must of been 6 or 7 years old in this photo. When we were little (probably around the same time this photo was taken too) - Jake used to have this fluffy cotton-like blond hair. One time I threw my neon green Nickelodeon Slime or Gak, up on the ceiling in my parents house. It oozed down, landing directly in Jake's hair, staining it slightly green, clumping batches of his hair together. I think his mom and my mom had to cut some of his hair off in order to get all of the slime completely out. Meanwhile, my parents had a green blotch / slime stain on the ceiling in our dining room hallway for about 18 years or so.

I got this photo from 1989, blown up and framed for their family. It's a photo of my dad and their dad playing basketball together. My dad is the one with the mean mustache, spinning the basketball on his finger. Look at those shorts guys wore back then! Especially with jumping around and playing basketball, I'd be afraid of my you-know-what peeking out.

There's nothing like tradition and spending the holidays with loved ones. Especially those who date back so far, with infinite goofy memories. It feels like we step into a time machine - and like I said earlier, no matter how much we 'grow up'. it feels like we're little kids again.

This has got to be one of my favorite candies of all time. People either LOVE 'em of HATE 'em. They feel and taste like... the body of Christ crackers that are given to you at some churches. The outside tastes like cardboard and/or nothing, and the middle is filled with little confectionery colored balls, which taste like... umm... nothing. Maybe it's the texture that has got me popping these things in my mouth, one after another? Some of my friends think I'm insane because of how wacky these taste, but to my family and I, we can't get enough.

Since our addiction, every Christmas my mom gets each of us a box of these. I've literally gone through an entire box in one day with no problem at all.

These little treats were made in no other place than Belgium. Maybe one day I'll take a trip to visit the factory? I love the simplicity and old world feel of the design on this packaging. I think my favorite part is that the word 'EDIBLE' is boldly placed on the box - as if they were originally intended on being used as toys.

MmmmmmMMMmmmmMmmMmm...

Thanks mom!

I passed out on Christmas eve after wrapping heaps of presents and watching Home Alone 2.

My friends Elan + Adrian stopped by when I woke up, and we exchanged gifts + holiday greetings.

Bundled up, my parents came over and cooked a gigantic breakfast before the age ole' unwrapping festivities.

My little sister always tries taking my Super Nintendo from my house, to her college. I decided to get my sister her very own Super Nintendo, equipped with Super Mario All-Stars. She's also fascinated with the movie Gummo, but more so she gets a kick out of her friends reactions to parts from that movie. It's a pretty odd, unforgettable movie - that's neat + artistic in it's own special way. I promise, you will never forget this movie once seeing it. But going back to Super Nintendo, my sister and I grew up playing this all the time. From ClayFighter, Super Mario All-Stars, Paperboy 2 -- to Zelda, Ren + Stimpy, Donkey Kong, and much much more.

Memories...

I stopped by my parents house to say hello to them and to my cats. I also wolfed down some traditional holiday treats that my mom bakes every year.

Even though I'm not Greek, my godparents who helped raise me, were (RIP). These are Greek cookies that they use to make for me every Christmas and Greek Easter. In addition to the naughty words they passed down to my family and I, they also left us with this simple recipe that lives on.

Homemade fudge with extra extra marshmallows and no nuts. When I used to live with my parents, I'd often catch my dad picking through + eating half of the tray during the middle of the night.

Basic, tasty Christmas cookies -- still using the same cookie cutters from my childhood. Brings back fond memories of my flour-covered overalls + face.

There's my dad taking a break from his hard work + craftsmanship, hanging out next to the very same chimney where I'd see Santa's snowy foot steps going to and from the Christmas tree. I later found out that it was my dad's work boots dipped in flour. I thought that was a pretty imaginative trick that I will probably pass down for my kids to experience.

My parents cute tree, proudly decorated with our families time line of memorable ornaments, elementary school projects and foggy Polaroid pictures.

For some reason we're all in love with this beat up ornament which consists of a homeless looking Christmas caroler, equipped with a grungy cast + splintered crutch.

This little trooper has made it through 26 years of holidays. Pretty neat idea for an arts + crafts project.

This ceramic Russian castle plays festive Russian music when picked up. My little sister and I use to make up a new, foreign dance each year - to the sounds that this mystical piece of treasure makes when lifted.

There's my wise cat Pumpkin, running the show.

And my cat Tuko who just got out of prison. See mug shots below.

There's no place like home.

Seeing Christmas commercials left and right for all these video game systems - can't help but make me think of the sweet commercials from back in the day. SEGA, TurboGrafx16, Nintendo Entertainment System, Super Nintendo, Gameboy, etc.. Hopefully these video clips bring back a bit of nostalgia.