Dreaming up wildly elegant cakes, outrageously delicious cupcakes and other luscious baked goods defines baker extraordinaire and McLean native Lara Stuckey. After all, who else would name her bakery Fluffy Thoughts Cakes?

Located in a corner store in McLean, Fluffy Thoughts commands attention, if for no other reason than the store’s name. When asked to explain its origins, Stuckey tells this tale: It’s a childhood thing, she says, and an insider’s joke. “When I was growing up, when my sister and I said silly things, we would call them ‘fluffy thoughts.’ My sister says the name reminds us of our childhood,” she says.