Ok, ok, enough strolling down memory lane. Let’s get to the good stuff. Christmas is really about giving, right?! This year we’re giving away a spankin’ new dvd copy of Bold Native AND a $10 gift certificate to one lucky winner! All you have to do is comment on this blog post and tell us what your favorite winter cinnamon roll combination is. Eggnog frosting with marshmallows perhaps? Best sounding roll, wins! (#gimmiegimmiegimmie)

2011 has been an amazing year. We’re looking forward to making many more memories in 2012. Thank you for your continued feedback and support. We wish you an incredible New Year.

From our kitchen to yours,

Happy Holidays from the Cinnaholic staff

Picture: VegNews Magazine

With that said, we’ve taken a look back on all of our progress over the last year as well as some areas that need to be improved upon. As of November 1st, we will be adjusting some of our prices to match the costs of what we pay our vendors. Some companies raise their prices without telling you, but we’re not shady like that. We felt it was right to put everything out in the open. Here’s why…

First, we believe that a happy employee makes a happy customer. We know that surviving on minimum wage is nearly impossible these days which is why we make it a point to pay our employees a fair, liveable wage. We consider our employees family and not only do we care about what’s best for the company, but what’s best for our employees as well.

Second, we make sure that all of our vendors use vegan ingredients which unfortunately aren’t as easily available (or affordable) as non-vegan ingredients. Often times, we end up driving for hours to pick up these ingredients to assure that our product meets certain standards. Since our purchasing options are limited to such a small amount of vendors, we have no choice but to pay up when they increase their prices. Sadly, this has been the case with more than one vendor over the last year. We’ve done our best to buffer you from those cost increases, but feel that we are no longer able to meet the financial demands without compromising the product. In order to continue offering an exceptional product with a variety of options, we’ve decided to slightly increase our prices . Nothing drastic folks. We’re talking cents. Not dollars. We just thought it best to give you a heads up and thank you for your understanding in advance.

In more exciting news, we’ve teamed up with Harvest Home Animal Sanctuary this year to celebrate a “Toast to the Turkeys!” For the entire month of November, we’ll be donating 50% of all Baby Bun sales to help out with feeding, housing, and general care for the animals. That holiday spirit is creepin’ up on us!

Speaking of, be sure to keep an eye out for some of our favorite holiday specials! Pumpkin spice frosting with gingersnaps and holiday spices, peppermint hot cocoa with marshmallows, candy cane pieces, peppermint ‘Oreos’, ‘egg’ nog frosting…*drool*

Thanks again for your continued support and positive comments in the shop and on Yelp.com. We are eternally grateful for your feedback.

We look forward to spending another amazing holiday season with you!

Shannon Michelle

You can read the full “Best of the East Bay” issue online and see who else is featured in the list of winners.

Thanks so much for all your support!

Michael, my step-father, walked into our lives with open arms. Not only did he have three of his own boys to take responsibility for from a previous marriage, but he happily embraced the task of caring for my brother and I as well. Unfortunately for him, I was a hellion at that age! I did what I wanted, when I wanted and I wouldn’t take no for an answer. Not once did he ever try to be my father or reprimand me when I deserved it. Instead, he was patient, understanding and extremely tolerant. He was my friend, someone I could confide in when I couldn’t talk to my mom, he provided a roof over our heads, food on our table, guidance and constant reassurance that I was a special, beautiful, unique person which turned out to be exactly what I needed to hear back then. He did more for me than my biological father ever could have and I thank him from the depths of my soul for that.

My ‘parents’ are still married to this day and continue to raise my two brothers. One of whom has been disabled since birth. I’ve seen them go through good times and bad and despite the circumstances, they always put us kids first. The amount of strength, dedication, love and compassion it’s taken to hold our small family together with all of our differences, hasn’t been easy and I admire him for sticking through it all and staying by our side.

With that said, this month we would like to offer a very special thank you for all the fathers out there who have made a difference in our lives. Whether you’re a father, a grandfather, a soon-to-be father, a step father or perhaps just a father figure, this month is dedicated to you!

On Sunday, June 19th, we are offering all dad’s a free roll of their choice! All you need to do is bring dad into the store with you for a special treat. Buy one, get his free!

For all those long-distance dads, from now through June 15th, we will be offering FREE SHIPPING on all online orders!

Happy Fathers Day!

We were given the opportunity to present the movie premier of Bold Native when it came to town which was SUPER exciting. The movie captured Charlie Cranehill, an animal liberator wanted for domestic terrorism, who emerges from the underground to coordinate a nationwide action as his estranged CEO father tries to find him before the FBI does. Cool, right?

After the show, guest speaker John Robbins and Jake Conroy (one of the SHAC 7) dropped some crazy inspiration on us that left us all feeling enlightened and empowered. Finally, after months of emailing back and forth, we got to chat with director Denis Hennelly and producer Casey Suchan after the Q&A segment of the show. They’ve definitely made our list of top ten raddest people!  We ended the night with a round of hugs from friends we hadn’t seen in a while with hopes to catch up with them more at the Saturn Cafe Space Lounge later in the week. Turns out Joaquin Pastor, the main character in Bold Native, was playing a show with his band Masks. Amazing people, amazing music, amazing vegan peanut butter milkshake. That pretty much summed up the night.

Speaking of shows, we attended another event later in the month at the Regency Ballroom in SF that we thought was worth mentioning. One of our good friends who runs the sound board for Bad Religion was in town so we decided to trudge out in the rain to deliver some rolls and say hello. After briefly being hassled by security with our somewhat soggy box of cinnamon rolls in hand, we finally made it backstage in time to watch the end of the Bouncing Souls set and bump fists with Fat Mike and the Bad Religion guys before the main event. Needless to say, an incredible night for us, our friend, and our cinnamon rolls.

At the beginning of the month, a good friend of ours, Cello Dias, popped his head in to try out our rolls and drop off a demo cd for his new band Against All Will. If you live in LA, definitely check these guys out!

We were also blessed with a surprise visit from pro skater and artist extraordinaire, Ed Templeton and his wife who popped in to buy a few rolls! Staffer Justin, managed to snag a quick pic before they headed out.

By the end of the month we were beaming with excitement from everything that had happened. This was about the point where I logged into our Twitter account and saw a post that said…

“MV” meaning, Milo Ventimiglia. As in the star of the TV show ‘Heroes‘. You might also recognize him as Rocky’s son in Rocky 6, or the hot tattooed guy in Fergie’s ‘Big Girls Don’t Cry‘ video. You know exactly who I’m talking about ladies! Somewhere between being flattered and stoked, I noticed that he had almost 32,000 followers! Flattered just went out the window and turned into GRATEFUL. Thanks for the Cinnaholic mention Milo!

Ok, so all these crazy awesome things had been happening throughout the month. I was worried that I was about to have a stroke from all the excitement so we decided it was time to schedule a mellow night with our friends to celebrate and give thanks. We ended our perfect month with a perfect meal. A ridiculous all vegan Thanksgiving dinner with homemade Seitan and all the fixin’s!

Somehow we’ve managed to digest a weeks worth of Thanksgiving leftovers and now… we’re hungry for more action!

We’re gearing up to help you redeem your gift certificate purchases that you all generously purchased back in September when we needed a helping hand. We’ll be offering our tasty seasonal specials (Candy Cane topping, Peppermint Hot Chocolate anyone?) as well as organizing some fancy surprises and other exciting store announcements for the month of Decemer. Be sure to keep an eye out!

BRING IT December!

Shannon Michelle

Check out a preview of the Bold Native trailer here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EB0ITQfWjfk

John Robbins, best-selling author, activist and former heir to the Baskin-Robbins ice cream empire, will host the San Francisco premier of the independent feature film Bold Native, the first fiction film about the Animal Liberation Front (ALF), a non-centralized group of animal liberators and economic saboteurs that the FBI calls their top domestic terrorist priority. The San Francisco screening concludes an independently booked summer tour by Bold Native which brought the film to capacity audiences in Los Angeles, Portland, Seattle, Washington DC, Des Moines, and New York City.

This special press event and screening will be  held on Thursday, November 18th at 7:00 p.m. at the Red Vic Movie House, 1727 Haight Street, San Francisco. Doors will open to members of the press at 6pm and the film will begin at 7pm. John Robbins will be available for interview & photos at 6:15 p.m. and will introduce the film at 7:00 p.m. A second screening will begin at 9:30 p.m. Following each screening, animal liberation activist Jake Conroy, who served three years for nonviolent activism that targeted an animal research lab, will say a few words followed by a Q&A with Suchan, Hennelly, and stars Joaquin Pastor and Nik Tyler.

The film reflects a growing cultural debate about the use of animals for food, clothing, entertainment, and scientific research. It introduces viewers to the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act (AETA) of 2006, a law which enables the prosecution of activists as terrorists if their actions result in economic damage to corporations in animal industries like factory farms, slaughterhouses, research labs or fur farms. In addition to narrative storytelling, the film incorporates undercover footage from labs, farms, and real-life animal liberations for stunning realism.

If all that awesomeness isn’t enough to convince you to get off your booty and come see it, how about this?

Anyone that stops by the Cinnaholic store this weekend has a chance to win 2 pairs of tickets to the SF screening! Just leave us your contact info and cross your fingers! SO. EXCITED. Are YOU?!

Sadly, it’s time to tuck our flip-flops away. BUT we’re gearing up for what’s sure to be an awesome Autumn! Our friends Alex Eaves (Stay Vocal) and singer/songwriter Roger Harvey (Dandelion Snow), are helping us break in the fall season with some kick ass music, crazy cool reuse apparel, and of course, some super sweet cinnamon rolls and piping hot De La Paz coffee!

So who’s this Alex guy and what’s Stay Vocal you say? Stay Vocal’s mission is to encourage people to reuse whenever and wherever possible.  They provide a variety of ReUse Apparel that embraces different fashions, styles, and humor. By reusing, we help to preserve and protect our planet’s precious resources. Stay Vocal was also recently nominated for Top 10 Finalist for Green America’s Green Business Of The Year! Woot woot! “Go Alex, it’s your birthday!”

Roger Harvey (Dandelion Snow), is a rad vegan singer/songwriter who just happens to be produced by one of Cinnaholic’s favorite dudes, Chris (aka #2) from Anti-Flag. Remember those Rocky Road rolls they took on tour last winter? We’re super stoked to have the opportunity to feature Dandelion Snow as OUR FIRST EVER live acoustic performance in the shop!

Dandelion Snow – The Grand Scheme of Things

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r2_23xbK6Gk

So when is all this going down and how can you be a part of all this ridiculously awesome action?! Come down to the store between 3-7 pm THIS THURSDAY (Sep. 23rd)! Grab some coffee and a roll, listen to some sweet tunes, check out some badass apparel… oh did we mention Stay Vocal will be slangin’ limited edition Cinnaholic shirts?! There are only 25 of these bad boys left so get em’ while they’re here! Thanks to last months t-shirt design contest winner, Suzy Tolen. Total cuteness!

If all that wasn’t enough to convince you, we’ll be offering a very special roll that day AND if you purchase a limited edition shirt, a free cup a joe is on us!

It’s lookin’ like it’s going to be a fun evening. See you there!

Assuming our final inspections pass next week, we plan to officially open up shop on Saturday, July 17^th!!! Please stop by from 12pm – 4pm and check out all the delicious treats we have in store for you.

We bake everything on-site and allow you to customize your own cinnamon roll! Feel like a Pina Colada or a Rootbeer roll? Perhaps a Rocky Road or a Banana Nut are more your style? Whatever you like, you got it!  And you know what the best part is? As a thank you for celebrating with us for our grand opening, we’ve decided to offer you any roll for just $3.50!!!

We couldn’t have fulfilled our dream of serving you tasty treats without the help of friends and family. We are so grateful for our investors who made this all possible, to our grand opening organizer Karine Brighten of Karine Brighten Events, to our new staff, to the press for spreading the word, to those who have supported us by attending local bakesales and events, and to YOU for your kind words and business.  We are honored to be the Bay Area’s first gourmet cinnamon roll shop (and vegan ta’boot)!

For the latest updates on our offerings and specials, please sign up for our newsletter! You can also find us on Twitter and Facebook.

We look forward to meeting you on Saturday, July 17^th!

The bakesale takes place in front of Issues from 11-3pm. It’ located at 20 Glen Ave. (@ Piedmont Ave.) in Oakland. There will be several amazing professional bakeries contributing as well as a great mix of home bakers. For more info on baking, eating or whatever… you can email them at EBVeganBakesale[at]gmail[dot]com or find them on Twitter @EBVeganBakesale.

Feel free to leave us a comment if you would like to request a specific flavor.

See you Saturday!

I’ve been getting a lot of emails asking when we expect to open up. As of now, we are still getting our permits signed off with the city of Berkeley and remodeling the shop. Here’s a little glimpse at the disaster that’s taking place as I type.

After construction is complete, hopefully in about 3 weeks, our next step is to install our bakery equipment. Once everything looks all nice and pretty, we need to get it approved by the health department and fire and safety. Once all that is squared away, they hand us our official business license! We don’t really have an exact opening date just yet but we’re hoping to be up and running within a month or so.

In the meantime… we’ve decided to pair up with PETA for SF Pride this year! We had so much fun dressing up at “lettuce people” and handing out vegetarian starter kits last year, we decided to sponsor the truck this year! Grab a veg starter kit packet this year and find more info on our shop as well as a 25% off coupon on your first purchase!

We’re getting super pumped about everything coming up in the next few weeks! We hope to see some of you at Pride on Sunday, June 27th. The parade kicks off at 10:30 a.m. at Market & Beale and ends at Market & 8th St. in downtown San Francisco.

If you can’t make it to Pride, we hope to see you in the store very soon!