So, of course, the Finn's walked towards Charly's Bakery. We rounded the corner, only to approach what looked like a giant castle. I became five years old again, sitting on my front lawn trying to dig "jewels" out of our landscaping rocks. I was the young girl who turned the side room in the garage into a space ship. And, I was the child that collected mini tea cups and figurine dogs, just because. We walked through the doors with hungry bellies and hearts and we were fed at Charly's.

I walked right up to the counter. And I smiled. I asked the woman behind the counter, decorating cupcakes, "Can I live here?", as I glanced up at the mini teacups and the bride and groom cake tops hanging from the chandelier. Her smile took up her face and she said, "Sure, we have a place upstairs." We ordered quiche, cabbage salad, a  whole slew of cupcakes, and cookies. After we were seated, one of the women came out, and asked if I would write a story about my experience walking into Charly's. She handed me a piece of paper and pen, and a box of brownies that weighed about twenty pounds. Heaven. On. Earth.


Jackie, the inspiration behind Charly's Bakery, came out and asked if I had written the piece.



Little did I know I found a fellow soul sister when I walked through those doors. Her smile was enough for me. But her big beautiful heart, and those of her daughters, had my jaw drop in wonder. Everything from the thirty different cake pans, to the mason jars filled with colored marshmellows, all of it had me at hello. I could not help but smile in Charly's. Out of Jackie's mouth came words like play. Joy. Passion. Heart. She founded Charly's in a building that was once a Jewish bookshop. She had to have that building and she got it. And I can tell you, God is in that place. God is playful, creative and spontaneous. And all of that is allowed at Charly's. Her daughters can write whatever the hell they please on those cupcakes. Just take a look at the ones above.



I haven't even mentioned the savory quiche with homemade crust and roasted vegetables. The tangy cabbage salad and the crisp and delicate gingerbread girl. Even, my taste buds came back to life in a new way!

Magic was afoot in this place. The Feminine flows in this bakery. Blue butterflies circled a white cake and red roses adorned a gold painted layered cake. Every cell of my being came alive in Charly's. And, I could live there. Jackie doesn't know this, but when I went to the bathroom upstairs, I actually looked if there was someplace I could set up camp. I actually looked. That is how alive the little child in me was. She wanted to live there. And guess what? She can. She can live in all of us. That is what Jackie and Charly's Bakery reminded me to do. Don't take my life so seriously. Love what I hate. Love is the answer.  Love lives. In the broken heart of a man. And the playful heart of a woman and her daughters. God holds it all. And if we forget, to remind us, God gives us Noor and Charly's Bakery, all on the same street. Mucking Afazing, as Jackie would say. Mucking Afazing.