Bath, NY had one pizza shop and one bakery. All a kid could ever want. My dream of owning a bakery just like Betty Kay’s Bake Shop was fostered through my Aunt Denise’s “baking school.” Her technique was rooted in baker’s intuition. “How do you know when the crust is ready?” “Oh, you’ll just know,” as she tosses an undisclosed amount of flour in a bowl. The result? Decadent cakes, pastries, and pies that could be on display in a French bakery. Aunt Denise showed me the magic in baking and lit a fire in my heart.

I was a long way from my first job at Dunkin’ Donuts, but I wasn’t clicking my heels together saying, “there’s no place like home.” Although I was well beneath the poverty line, and living off of a self-imposed barter system with the local butcher (pastries made in class for meat, cheese, and bread) - I was the luckiest person in the whole world and I knew it. I gladly skipped through the snow at 5am for class and went to sleep dreaming about the next day.

Aunt Denise didn’t just introduce me to baking, but she also indirectly introduced me to “I Love Lucy,” my favorite show. She couldn’t sleep without the TV on which was a dream for a kid that typically wasn’t allowed to watch TV at night. After graduation, I got a job offer as a pastry chef in Atlanta and a celebratory tattoo: Lucille Ball as a pastry chef. I accepted right away and quickly learned that 1. Flowery Branch is actually an hour commute into Atlanta and 2. restaurant life wasn’t like the movies. I pivoted from pastry chef, to wedding planner at Château Elan, to director of marketing in real estate, always the unofficial baker/party planner of my community - my childhood dream close to my heart, but in the back of my mind.

Nowadays you can find me pushing my two bulldogs & little terrier in a stroller around east ATL, baking for friends, or volunteering with the Georgia English Bulldog Rescue. I’m often told I should open my own bakery, which I laugh-off, until recently. My dear friend, and director of GEBR asked if I would donate baked goods to the 15th annual Bully Ball (Great Gatsby x Bulldogs x Fundraiser). Of course I would - I love when two of my worlds collide. Knowing I was sitting on a dream, she said there was a stipulation - I had to launch Lucille’s. Thank you, Stephanie & everyone else who has encouraged Lucille’s.

I can’t wait to bake for you!