"As early as I can remember my mom would let us bake. We would be in the kitchen together and she would walk us through the process of making butter-cream frosting. The frosting recipe was never written down. To this day I just throw all of the ingredients in without measuring!

​

I've always loved baking. I enjoy being creative and indulging in the end product. When my son was an infant, my husband asked if I would be interested in baking Christmas cookies for all of his clients. As a pharmaceutical representative he called on over 100 animal hospitals. I decided to give it a try. It worked out well with all of the clinics enjoying the baked goods and expressing delight in the freshly baked cookies. As the years rolled on, we got this Christmas baking down to a science. Mixers and a double oven became our new best friends. At some point, we began to count the number of cookies going out of the kitchen. In a month leading up to Christmas, we were baking anywhere from 5000 to 6000 cookies! For years we jokingly called our kitchen Ivy Lane Bakery as our children are named Ivy and Lane. 

​

During the baking season of 2016, we began to kick around the idea of opening a bakery. It had long been a dream, but never seemed realistic with raising a young family. As the children were getting older, it started to feel more possible. 

​

We began looking to acquire used commercial kitchen equipment. This lead us to Cravin Donuts at 405 N. Main in Downtown Bloomington. The owner was looking to sell equipment and find someone to take over his lease. After sometime discussing the opportunity we decided to go for it. 

I'm so happy we did. The time that we have had the bakery has been the hardest I have ever worked and the happiest I have ever been working. Our family continues to rejoice in and benefit from this experience. At Ivy Lane Bakery, we deeply believe in serving the local community and expressing love for all. 

​

I'm happy to say that I still surround myself with good friends and family in the kitchen at the bakery."