My dream job and an island...

Today I left my desk, walked an incredibly chilly half block down the street and entered chocolate heaven. Haven's class went on a highly educational (NOT!) field trip of Hazel Hill Chocolate, a local chocolate shop that has been calling my name since I started working on the block.

First we watched the employees make fudge from caramel, marshmallow creme and white chocolate. It was a nice way to get a sugar high at 10am. And while watching them make the fudge, I fell in love. With an island...

You are looking at 800 pounds of marble. 800. It was gorgeous. I've been a bit island obsessed here lately. It's because I have convinced Adam that I need more counter space in my kitchen, so he is going to knock out a wall so we can put an island in. I definitely won't end up with anything as impressive as an 800 pound slab of marble. But it will be functional. Especially with my newest thrifting score.

I stopped by my favorite T-town thrift store last night and spied a brand new looking stock base cabinet. It looks something like this...

And I just now discovered that this cabinet costs $334.76 at Lowe's. Any guesses how much I shelled out? $40. That's it. $40. Do you see why this is my favorite thrift store? The doors don't match my current cabinets, but we are going to fix that. We are most likely going to replace them with the doors to the cabinet we are removing to go from a cooktop to a full stove. I have been thinking about the possibility of putting shelves on the end of my island, to store my canisters and keep my cookbooks handy, but couldn't really convey what I was wanting to Adam. Imagine my excitement last night when I stumbled across this beauty on Pinterest...

Isn't that fab? It's exactly what I have been dreaming about. So my kitchen makeover is officially under way. (Beware, though...it will most likely take MONTHS to finish. I have some other projects I want to wrap up before we knock out the wall, etc.)

But back to chocolate. I was so happy to be able to join my Kindergartener on such an educational trip. Hazel Hill must have had quite an effect on her career aspirations. She has now decided that she will "work at the chocolate shop in the morning, then go to my job as a zoologist in the afternoon". You go girl.