Oh the joys of being a teenager: awkward growth spurts, crushes, questionable fashion choices, testing your limits only to realize you’ve stepped over them. It's such a priceless chapter, isn’t it!? 

As Dolce turns 13, I thought it would be fun to poke a little fun at ourselves (as teenagers do…) and share some sweet, silly and slightly cringe worthy memories that have taught us some valuable lessons and helped us grow along the way.

Messy floors

8 or 9 years ago, we were prepping for a busy holiday. 12-18 hour work days blurred the lines between day and night for weeks. My lean team and I were all doing our best and sometimes we just had to call it a day before we were actually done. I came in one morning to discover that the floor had been haphazardly mopped the night before. I was half laughing/half complaining and blurted out, “This floor looks like it was mopped with a Christmas ham!” Those that overheard me that morning still tell me that they think of that comment and chuckle any time they see a greasy, messy floor.

Pure bliss

We have a lot of regular kiddo customers, but there was one that really took the cake in expressing her love for Dolce. This little fan ran up to the pastry case with eyes wide and arms outstretched. The next thing we knew, she was blissfully swaying from side to side, eyes closed, and was LICKING the pastry case from end to end with total abandon! We watched in happy disbelief and just couldn't interfere with this moment of pure bliss. Rest assured, we promptly and thoroughly sanitized after she happily skipped out the door. 

My Squad

2020 has been the scariest year of my business life. As we approached Easter during a global pandemic, my team and I realized that we needed to quickly and drastically change the way we do business in order to weather the pandemic. Within just a few days, we started offering delivery and created a ‘drive thru’ for order pick ups in an effort to abide by social distancing guidelines.  As the orders thankfully poured in, we worked around the clock to bake and decorate while we created brand new systems that we had never done before. We were exhausted and we ran out of supplies and hours to make it all happen. 

We were in over our heads, we knew we needed help and we sent out our bat signal. 

It brings tears to my eyes to think of all of the husbands, sisters, trainers, mothers, fathers, boyfriends, girlfriends and friends that SHOWED UP. I remember standing at the icing mixer, making the 20th batch or so of the day, and looking up through my tears of gratitude to see all of these helpers, masked, gloved and READY to pour in their time, love and support to help us succeed. 

Lesson learned: People are full of goodness. We can only do this together.

I am so proud of the bakery that Dolce is growing to be. And growth never quite looks the way I think it might. We are constantly learning and changing and expanding - our space, our team, our menu, and our hearts. Thank you for being here and supporting us as my team and I bake our best for you every day.

I would love to hear any fun stories or memories you made at Dolce or with our treats!

xo, Erin