Hi Baking Buddy,

I've officially been running the blog for ONE FULL YEAR! And I wanted to pop into your inbox today with a personal story to celebrate that milestone.

I believe baking is the ultimate expression of love. Whether we’re baking cakes for birthdays, parties, weddings, funerals or ‘just because’... baking is about showing our loved ones they're worth our time.

Baking is my love language, and I suspect it's yours, too.

I took over Pretty. Simple. Sweet. at the start of April 2023, shortly after the birth of my son. It has been a lifelong dream come true! And, it may sound like a shock, but previously I worked as a mortician. (Many of my mortician friends are bakers too—after all, baking is chemistry!)

It's only when you look backwards that you see how it was all connected. Let's begin, shall we?

My baking adventure began back in 2011 when I started a blog called "Bake Your Time" right after finishing high school. Investing all my savings, I bought a DSLR camera for $1,000, starting my journey of food photography. At the age of 18, my skills in both baking and photography were pretty rough to say the least. It was a humble beginning.

When college life restricted me to a kitchen-less dorm, my baking was put on hold, and my first blog was retired. At that time, blogging was a "silly, time consuming hobby". The world hadn't monetized blogs yet. And to be honest, my baking skills at 18 weren't very good. My photography skills were even worse.

I was so excited when I moved into my first college apartment with my very own (shared) kitchen, baking whenever I had time! I celebrated each roommate's birthday with a unique set of homemade gourmet cupcakes of their choosing. I enrolled in a summer photography course to better understand my fancy camera and how to use photoshop.

Post-college, my life got busy working my 8-5 with on-call hours too. My passion for food blogging and photography was pushed to the back burner while I navigated adulthood... but... I'm a multi-passionate person and enjoy diving deep into many various subjects like personal finance, world travel, and interior design.

I fully believe in life seasons. I've been through seasons of 'work hard, save every penny, and invest' 'travel everywhere' and 'flip a house'. And I've realized this is my 'being a mom and baking all the time' season of life. And I'm really REALLY enjoying it.

So, why am I sharing all this?

Because life is a (wild, unpredictable) journey. And my journey brought me to you!

I'd love to get to know you better! What have you made in your kitchen recently? If you have any questions about my life, about baking, or just wanting to drop a hello... Hit 'reply' and your email will come directly to me. I do read every one of your emails!

I'm not a robot or some AI-generated spammer. Just a real human who loves other humans.

Thank you for joining me on this sweet adventure. Let’s keep baking wonderful things together.

Cheers,

Stephanie Gonzalez
​Pretty. Simple. Sweet.​

P.S. If you're looking for an excellent show to binge watch and haven't streamed ​Lessons in Chemistry​ yet, I highly recommend it!

P.P.S. My other love language is 'gifting' so expect more gifts, tips, and helpful free content coming to you real soon!

P.P.P.S. If you find my emails are no longer helpful, hit the unsubscribe button and I will vanish back into my sweet corner of the web. And in true Minnesota nice fashion, you're always welcome back anytime.