Baked With Love: How One Girl’s Sweet Dream Came to Life
From childhood memories in the kitchen with her mom and nana to a full-blown hometown bakery dream come true, this is the heartfelt story of how one girl's love for baking—and a lot of frosting—turned into a sweet small-town business. Through ups, downs, and a whole lot of cookies, she shares how it all came to life, baked with love every step of the way.
Some of my favorite memories are from being in the kitchen with my mom and nana, flour in the air, something always in the oven, and love in every bite. I remember making my own mini apple turnover while my nana baked pies for the holidays. And I’ll never forget sneaking frosting straight from the piping bag after my mom finished decorating my birthday cakes.
So when I got to high school and started thinking about what I wanted to do with my life, I kept coming back to those memories. After a lot of back and forth, I finally landed on a dream that felt just right: I would go to business school, then pastry school, and eventually open my own bakery in my hometown.
That’s exactly what I set out to do.
I graduated high school in 2013, took a gap year, and earned my business degree with an emphasis in accounting from Centralia College in 2018. After that, I enrolled in the Baking and Pastry Arts program at South Puget Sound Community College (one of the best decisions I’ve ever made.) I not only gained technical skills and tried desserts I had never even heard of, but I also made lifelong friends and had the support of a truly wonderful program.
After graduating, I jumped straight into bakery life. I was incredibly lucky that my grandparents already owned a sandwich and ice cream shop in town called Nana and Papa’s Place. They let me take over part of the space, and in October of 2019, my bakery was born. By February 2020, I had taken over the whole place...
…and then the world shut down.
We had to close, and I felt like I had failed before I even got the chance to really begin. It was discouraging, and for a while, I was ready to give up.
But I didn’t. While working full-time elsewhere, I baked at night and sold my treats at local farmers markets every Friday. Slowly but surely, word got out. I started gaining more clients, more orders, and more momentum. Somehow, cookies became my thing, probably because I’ve always loved baking them, especially loaded with toppings!
In 2022, I met and married my husband. I was still doing markets, but he kept encouraging me to go after my dream again. He’s truly my biggest cheerleader. So with his support, I quit my job and reopened the bakery in November 2023—this time for real.
The past few years have been a total whirlwind. My little hometown welcomed me back with open arms. People stop in regularly to see what the monthly cookie lineup is, or to grab ice cream (yes, even in the winter!). The love and support I’ve felt from this community has been overwhelming in the best way.
And I’m just getting started.
That’s why I launched this website to make it easier to share my cookies with more people, near and far. Soon, I will start to ship these little bundles of joy all across the country. Whether you’re down the road or across the map, I hope you can taste the love in every single bite.
Because around here, everything is baked with love.