The Bakery Scout

Story by Barbie Wong

My sister Jenny is gluten-free and she really loves sweets. It was her birthday and I was just heading over to her house house in Berkeley to visit. I decided I wanted to bring at treat for her so I needed to fit in a stop at a gluten-free bakery. There are several in the area that are good but the gold standard is Mariposa Baking Company. They have a store in the Ferry Building (in San Francisco) and one in Berkeley, but not near her home. 

Before I left, I looked up a few places for cupcakes. They are often the easiest things to buy gluten-free. There were a few cupcake places in Berkeley and I thought, "Okay, I could go there" but I was still a bit undecided. Then, at some point, I realized I was a late in leaving, that I should have left about 10 minutes earlier. I hurried and I punched one of those cupcake bakeries into my navigation and got going out the door.

I started driving. It takes about 10 minutes to get to the freeway. And, right before I got to the freeway, lo and behold, a Mariposa bakery van pulls up right in front of me. It's literally right in front of me, with the sign and the address on the back of the van. I thought, "I think I need to follow this van." And, that's what I did.

I followed the van and it took me to an Oakland location, I'd never visited, with a plethora of baked goods for me to choose from. I got really nice baked goods for my sister (see the mocha cake photo below). It was perfect. It was exactly, I guess, what the universe wanted me to do. 

Barbie, how did you start your journey towards following your intuition?

I have this incredible friend who talks about intuition all the time. (Bridget!) I guess just talking about intuition and then hearing stories of other people's intuition and when things work out. In some ways, it's kinda simple. When I follow my intuition things work out. When I don't then things kind of suck. Intuition is like a wheel of fun because when you let go, and just allow what comes, then what comes is often more exciting that what I could ever imagine.

Mocha cake from Mariposa. Delicious and gluten-free!