Is it even a hot cocoa bar if there is no sign proclaiming it to be one??

Deep thoughts over here in Ohio on this mild December day! 

Before I can attempt to get to the crux of the matter- is it even a hot cocoa bar if there is no sign proclaiming it so??- I am going to back up and give a brief history of the inception of the hot cocoa bar. 

It started with coffee... sort of. A few years ago, the girls pooled their money together to buy a Keurig coffee machine. They assured Donnie and me (both of us non coffee drinkers at the time) that they weren't planning on having coffee everyday. But they wanted to make an occasional cup and to offer it to friends when they came over. I found the idea of them buying a coffee maker sort of cute, sort of horrifying. On the one hand, I am the descendant of coffee drinkers so even though I don't drink it, I understand its appeal and I LOVE(d) the smell of coffee (long Covid sense of smell loss that hasn't returned all the way "survivor").  On the other hand, CHILDREN drinking coffee seemed vaguely wrong AND I was not crazy about the idea of yet another appliance making its way into our kitchen. 

My mom (speaking of coffee drinkers- she could not eat anything sweet without a cup of black coffee. And she loved sweets. So she drank a lot of coffee) had a saying of, "Make yourself useful as well as ornamental."  I decided to employ that concept to the dining room. Here we had a good sized room that only had a dining table/ chairs and a china cabinet. In juxtaposition, we had a kitchen chock full of things. I didn't want to add an appliance to the kitchen that was only going to be used occasionally. I asked Donnie what he thought about placing the coffee maker in the dining room. He said that was fine. So I found an old, small table in the basement, placed it in one corner of the dining room, set the Keurig and cups on the table and we had ourselves a coffee station. We knew we'd get a new table or cabinet at some point but we wanted to make sure the set up made sense and we didn't regret it.

We continued to like the set up of having the coffee maker in the dining room. No one complained about the few steps walk from the kitchen to the dining room coffee station. At some point, the girls doctored up a coffee drink so well that they convinced Donnie to try it. He did and liked it so the girls kept making him drinks with various creamers, adds on, whatnot to the point that Donnie became a coffee drinker himself.  Me, I was and remain a coffee hold out. But, one Christmas season, I decided to add hot cocoa mix to the table with the Kuerig along with some festive decor. I loved how it looked and liked having an alternative to coffee to offer guests and for us to enjoy,

During the pandemic, we decided to purchase a cabinet to place the coffee maker on that had doors to store coffee supplies and mugs. We looked online and Donnie and the girls found one that they liked. I did not like it at all! It seemed way too small to me. We were, of course, limited to what size would work for the area- a wall on one side and a window that we didn't want to cover on the other. But  we could have picked a slightly longer and wider one. Nonetheless, I did not get my wish. We bought the cabinet that Donnie and the girls liked. It was smaller than the table and there went my dual coffee/ hot cocoa station for the holidays. There was no room for hot cocoa accessories on the top of the cabinet. 

But the heart wants what it wants and I wanted a hot cocoa bar. With one (cabinet) door closed, I looked for another door to open. I realized that I could fit a small table in front of the window and all of my other Christmas necessities like a Christmas tree in the room (the Christmas tree was not necessary (of course!) but one set of our Christmas china did depict Christmas trees on it so I thought that a Christmas tree in the dining where we used Christmas china with trees on it made plenty of whimsical and festive sense). I figured if the table was centered in front of the window, it would look ok. 

Donnie wasn't crazy about the idea of a hot cocoa bar or station- he thought that the room would look too crowded and that we didn't need a hot cocoa bar. Well, yeah, the whole concept is nothing short of frivolous, but I still had my heart set on one.  I decided to take a little look to see what I could find. It had to be a table because the area had a heating vent on the floor that I couldn't cover.  I decided to try to find a used table to save some money. (And to ameliorate/ offset buying additional pieces of Christmas china that I dare not try to justify purchasing.)  Donnie didn't list the cost of a table as a deterrent; nonetheless, it would make me feel better if the table didn't cost much. I found the perfect table at a flea market in town. It was (looked anyway) solid wood and had the cutest dropped sides. Most importantly, it would fit in the space. I loved it! I like that I bought it used instead of buying a new one and not just because I paid less for a used one than I would have for a new one. The Christmas china that we have looks vintage and so I love having a vintage looking piece of furniture for the hot cocoa bar.

So the table is a work in progress... if people are works in progress then I see no reason not to apply that to hot cocoa bars ;). I added some garland to the front. I can't decide if I am going to keep it or not. I kind of like it... but I kind of don't.

Then there is the issue of a sign: so many photos of hot cocoa bars I've seen have signs proclaiming them as such. Would it be odd to not have a sign?? If Etsy is any indication, I should have a sign!!

Maybe this counts as a sign?

Had some fun with the Nikon documenting the hot cocoa bar and dining room 😍

A way of life!

The coffee area has a sign- I'm thinking the hot cocoa doesn't need an official one...