I absolutely love Christmas time...

I am listening to Amy Grant's "Grown-Up Christmas List" as i start this blog. Its amazing to me who i love to listen to at Christmas time. Any other time of year Amy would not get 2 words in before the music got changed, but right now she is perfect. There are 3 songs that i will listen to for sure every christmas till i die, "Another Year Has Gone By" by Celine Dion, "River" by Sarah Mclaughlin, and "Happy Christmas (War is Over)" by John Lennon. I think those songs sum up my feelings at Christmas time.

This is my first X-Mas (thats for all you baptists out there :) ) with 2 kids. Darcy does not realize what is going on around her at the moment, but she loves the lights. Olive on the other hand is unreal. She takes everything in. I love experiencing this with her as she grows up. Which, by the way, brings me to the point that i am very selfish with her right now. She is learning so much and so fast that i dont wanna miss a thang (aerosmith reference ftw).

This is technically my 13th christmas with Casey. You want proof....

Yes that is awesome.  I would not be here with out her.  I would not be a quarter of the person i am today without her.  And i am glad to know that i weighed less than her at one point in my life :)  Dont let her fool you, she is perfect, and i miss those glasses.

Anyway, Christmas makes me very thankful for the family and friends i have in my life.  I just read an old blog post from one of my closest friends Jason, and i realized just how thankful i am that he is still in my life after all these years.  I am thankful that none of my family lives out of town anymore.  I am thankful that i get to see everyone that i love at christmas time. There is more i am thankful for, just not enough to blog about.

Directly behind me right now is a dead 9ft tall christmas tree, its 5 days till christmas, and for some reason it does not bother me at all.  Directly in front of me i can see the neighbors christmas light outside, they are very nice.  And on the the CCM music tv channel is Steven Curtis Chapman's "I WIll Be Here," a song that i will always love.  I love christmas time.

Back from San Diego and other stuff

Just got back in town from San Diego. Loveless had a booth at the ASR Show in the big SD. Looking back, this is the biggest step LVLS has taken in the apparel industry. We really put our best foot forward at this point in the game, and we where well received. I dont know that there was a span of 10 minutes where we had an empty booth. People where in and out ranging from boutique stores to Pac Sun and to GQ. No negative comments, no one thought the line was just alright, everyone was completely positive to our brand. Whether or not they where being honest or not, not my problem, well, maybe it is. We will see the outcome in the upcoming weeks.

While at the trade show we met a pretty amazing non-profit called Krochet Kids.

Krochet Kids International is a youthful movement fighting poverty by producing and selling distinctive, life changing products. This movement was started by a group of university students compelled to LOVE, to help, and to have fun doing it. Help make a difference.

You cant get a better mission statement than "To empower people to rise above poverty." Amazing. Please hit up the website and make a purchase, get involved, or just tell others of the amazing work that is going on.

Flying home on the plane from san diego gave me a lot of time to think about a lot of things, life in general. Blah blah blah. Flipping through fashion magazines, trying to get inspired to create another line for the summer of 2010, i found myself needing to unplug and watch a movie. Being in first class allowed me that freedom. I know, snob status, achieved :) I had seen most of the movies on there and i did not want anything too crazy or intense. I went with Adventureland. From they creators of Superbad. So i thought it was going to be pretty funny, or at least funny enough to kill some time. I was so wrong. It did have its gratuitous crotch shots and teen awkwardness, but do not let this movie fool you. I found it pretty dramatic, and oddly enough i really liked this movie. Maybe the sleep deprivation was part of it but that does not matter. There was a great part in the movie where the lead guy and the lead girl had an extreme emo moment. Now dont get me wrong, if you could give me a genre, i would be emo. Im not going to deny it. The pics of nail polish and guyliner are incriminating enough. Anywho, during this emo scene the guy was in a bar, and picked a song from the jukebox to sit and listen to while he drank his sorrows away. For whatever reason, i just realize just how underrated a jukebox actually is. You get one choice, to pick one song, to express exactly how you are feeling at that moment. Now it was either the lack of sleep or the rum and coke, but i totally felt like that piece of musical equipment was revolutionary and made for the inner emo inside all of us.

All in all a great trip. Glad to be home, totally missed my family. Keep and eye out for LVLS in the future, hit up Krochet Kids, and watch Adventureland and let me know how lame i am. (BTW, i kinda like Kristen Stewart now, even if she fixes her hair every ten seconds.)

peace

I fail to realize im not a failure

I really dont know what it is. I never feel like anything i do is good enough. I dont even know if thats the right way to say it. More like, i dont even know how i am supposed to play in the same league as some of these players. I know that i do my best with what i have. At least i think i do. But is that good enough? I dont need bullshit. I need honesty. Dont tell me you like something just to avoid the awkwardness of having to tell me i suck to my face. I can take it. I already assume thats what you are thinking anyway.

But heres the problem. Even if you, 100%, whole heartedly love my work, I dont believe you.

I keep telling myself its the devil in my head. But then i think that i am making myself think its the devil in my head just so i feel better about it. Gaahhhh.

I dont know what it will take. But i do know that in the end, I tried.

peace.

Busy busy busy

The beginning of the fall is always the busiest time of year for me. Its extra busy this year. It seems like all that bands i do merch for are all going on tour at the same time and all wanting new merch. Which is cool, it is my job, but man im exhausted

On top of all my normal work, Loveless is gaining speed. Which is good. Surf Expo was last week and in 2 weeks we will be heading to ASR in San Diego. I am pretty stoked about Cali, i think the first class plane ticket has a little to do with it :) Those who know me know i am not a snobby person, well, sorta. But i love flying first class. I try to every chance i get.

Come to think of it i am a little snobby. Hmmm. Ok moving on.

I am pretty amped about music right now. MuteMath and Imogen Heap came out with great albums. The Used, AFI, 30 Seconds to Mars, Switchfoot and MUSE all have albums coming out in a month or two and its going to be a great fall for music. Speaking of MUSE, they are opening for U2 at the concert i will be attending... yeah i know, amazing. Oh and speaking on AFI, fun fact, Davey and i share the same tattoo. I'll talk about that some other time :) Ok one more speaking of... Speaking of Switchfoot, i will be in San Diego when they are in Orlando... think about it... its annoying.

peace.

New Screen Printed Art !

I finally got around to doing a screen printed poster for LVLS. A friend of mine told me to hit up Mama's Sauce printing here in Winter Park, and they did great work. Check it out!




They are only a limited run of 200. If you want one just email james@lovelessapparel.com.

Surf Expo Fall 09 | LVLS

Just wrapped up the Fall 2009 Surf Expo. It was the first expo that i have been to as the exhibitor. It was pretty exciting and exhausting all in one. Going from 7am to 9pm on your feet all day will kill just about anyone. It was all worth it in the end. The amount of new contacts/possible clients was unreal. And the response to the line was better than i had ever hoped. Check out a couple of the pics from the show...







I think one of my favorite things was when people got to the booth, they already knew about Loveless. "Oh yeah we have heard of you guys." And even when other clothing lines knew of us it was real cool as well. Especially the ones i admire. We got to meet some non-profits that we might partner with in the future. We got to meet with industry veterans that gave us priceless knowledge in the do's and don'ts in starting a brand. Best of all we made great friends who want to make a difference in the world.

I think we did an amazing job being our first expo and our first real forum introducing Loveless to the retail world. Now its time for the buyers to put their money where their mouth is! Nah just kidding, but seriously :)

peace.

I'm back, from outer space.

Yeah thats right. I have been traveling the galaxy. Thats why i have not been blogging, thus the reason to start a new blog.

I'll be around. peace.