I decorated the place a bit with some luggage from the plane crash and some jungle foliage.

Here is Charlie’s Virgin Mary statue and a lil’ polar bear.

The Dharma shark!

And a few Dharma staples.

Pierre Chang’s time traveling bunny rabbit was even there.

This next photo of a bucket of Mr. Clucks chicken is a great introduction to the costume contest!

Mike and Melissa (whom you might recognize) came dressed as the cutest Mr. Clucks employees ever! They were one of the winners of our costume contest.

This is my little sister Sara who was, obviously, pregnant Claire. Its a fake bump, but she actually fooled some people!

Paul and Lesley were Charlie and Sun.

Rhonda as Sayid Jarrah and Seven as Richard Alpert.

I love the authenticity. He wore Isabella’s cross and totally rocked the guy-liner!

Rhonda took first place in our costume contest! I gotta say she made a pretty convincing Sayid!

That’s me with Eric. I was dressed as Dr. Juliet and Eric was Dr. Jack. Scrubs are really comfy by the way!

Ryan and Renee were Jack and the Smoke Monster. Renee your costume was awesome!

Geoff was a Dharma member from the motor pool. He was also the amazing chef for the night, but I’ll get to that in a bit.

All the party-goers who dressed up: Charlie as the Polar Bear (check out those claws!), Dharma motor pool member, Miles, Mr. Clucks employees, Richard, Sayid, Jack, Smoke Monster, Charlie, Sun, Claire, and Dr. Jack.

Baby Eva…as cute as ever.

Chef Geoff was master on the cooking front. From the fried raviolis, to avocado bruschettas, to the delicious fajitas, everything was awesome. I love you Geoff!

Around the 8 o’ clock hour, I held a LOST Trivia game. Here we are during the lightning round.

After that we all sat down to witness the end of LOST. I truly will miss our weekly dosage of the greatness of that show. The more I think about it the more I love the way it ended and think it could not have been more perfect. The theme of the end was all about “letting go” and I think that this episode did that for the viewers. Yes, there were plenty of unanswered questions, but in the end that is not what matters. What an epic work — here’s to LOST!

Click here to see all the photos from the LOST Finale Party

He is seriously cute and so sweet and mellow. He is one of the cuddliest dogs I’ve known. We love him so much and he brings such happiness into our crazy lives.

Charlie is pretty happy about his little buddy sticking around too!

I mean, COME ON! Look at that face! You kill me Charlie.

He was being such a good little model!

The past few weeks our home has had a little visitor! This tiny cutie, who we lovingly refer to as “Little Dog”, followed me home when I was walking Charlie one day. We tried to find his owner, posted signs everywhere and such, but we have a neighbor friend that thinks his owners might have moved away and left him. I can’t imagine anyone wouldn’t want him, he is SO SWEET. Such a little cuddle-bug.

Awww. Sweet as he is, we are looking for a home for him as we are trying to keep our home shedding-dog free. But he’s so great we don’t mind hanging on to him until we find a good family for him.

I think Charlie will miss his buddy though!

Here I am with the adoption papers! We were just waiting for the vet-tech to bring Charlie out to us and make the long journey home!

Our first picture together! Charlie being distracted. He was so excited to leave the pound!

He may look big but it’s mostly fur! He’s so cuddly and fluffy! I like these photos because right before they were taken I asked Geoff, “Take a picture of the three of us.” We don’t have any kids (yet!), so it made me feel like we were officially a little family now. That makes me smile.

Once we got home and he finally got a chance to run free he was having a blast! He ran all over the backyard as fast as he could!

Geoff and I are so excited to have little Charlie in our lives! We can already tell he’s going to be a great dog. He loves to be around people and follows us around the house all day. He likes playing with his ball and cuddling up on the couch with us. We are so happy to have him!

We started off with the ever-iconic Dharma Beer. Lots of Dharma Beer.

I trust you fans out there remember Sawyer’s fish biscuits from Season 3?

Yummy!

What is that behind the pile of fish biscuits?

Mmmmm…time for some Dharma Chilli Mac!

The amazing Beth Baugher brought us some LOST cookies.

Here is my darling hubby making some delish cheesy rice balls…

…and he made some “wild boar”, (ie. pulled pork). It was sooooooo gooooood.

And to celebrate my best friend Helena’s birthday (who is just as LOST-crazy as me), I made an Icebox Cake. I original saw this lovely looking desert on Smitten Kitchen and have been kinda obsessed with it since. It is surprisingly easy to make and absolutely delicious! It is basically chocolate wafer cookies layered between lightly sweetened, real whipped cream. You refrigerate the cake overnight and the cookies soften to a cake-like consistency. It was to die for and so simple!

The black-and-white went well with the Dharma motif we had going around the house!

Last night’s episode was great! I can’t wait for next week. And for the series finale, we’re going to throw an even bigger LOST soiree! So excited!

Our first stop of the trip was Droitwich, England, a tiny town in the midlands where Geoff’s family is from. Geoff got to drive on the other side of the road for the first time as we traveled some 2 hours in the rain (yikes!) from the London airport to Droitwich. Geoff said it was nothing short of terrifying, but after being on the motorway a while he got used to it. The smaller roads were killer though. Even I was scared.

Droitwich was a cute little place and it was wonderful to meet Geoff’s relatives whom I’d never met before. Geoff spent a lot of time in England as a child (both of his parents were born in the UK) but he hadn’t been back here in 17 years.

A beautiful cathedral in Worcester, not far from Droitwich.

After just a few days in England we hopped a plane to Paris! The drive from the airport to the hotel was so surreal. I couldn’t believe after all the dreaming, planning, and waiting, we were actually there, in such a magical place with the person I loved most in the world. When the Eiffel Tower came into view for the first time I nearly lost it.

This is the view from our apartment. Every single day I’d wake up and just stare out the window, admiring the city, feeling grateful for what we were able to do. Not only that but we had a view of just about every major landmark – la Tour Eiffel (that photo above was taken out this window), Notre Dame, Centre Pompidou, Montmartre — it was breathtaking.

Us at the Eiffel Tower, just before Melinda and Greg’s portrait session. Geoff on his phone, of course.

Oh, the pastries! We could not get enough of them! Just about everyday we were there we stopped at the Pâtisserie for a baguette and something sweet. The bread is incredible, so pure in flavor, soft and crisp. And I’m telling you, the butter in France is to die for. I could have gone all day just eating bread and butter.

For New Years Eve, we headed back to the Eiffel Tower along with about a million other people. The streets were literally flooded with party-goers. I guess it was good for keeping warm’s sake — it was freeeeeeezing!

Look at all the people! The Tower had a cool colored light show that went off every hour. Even though I spent the last 20 minutes before midnight practicing counting backwards in French, there was no count down! Guess we’ll have to hit up New York for that one!

Of COURSE we had to visit the Apple Store!

And American icon #2 — McDee’s. Bet you can’t get a beer with your extra value meal in the states! Seriously even the McDonald’s is better in France!

We visited the Paris Catacombs, where the bones of Parisians lie along the walls of tunnels underground the city. It what very cool and very creepy.

At the Louvre.

Ladurée has THE best macarons EVER. Not to mention the other delicious goodies like the cream-puff pastry filled with raspberry cream and rose petal icing known as Le Saint Honoré Rose-Framboise. I am still drooling. You bet there were a total of three trips to Ladurée.

One Dimanche matin we went to the street market about a block away from our apartment. This put our farmer’s markets to shame! Tons of fruits and veggies of course, along with all kinds of meats, cheeses, dairy, honey, seafood, cooked meals, clothes, knick-knacks, everything! We enjoyed a petit roast chicken with potatoes cooked in the juices that day for lunch. Sooooo gooood…

Notre Dame.

Hotel de Ville aka city hall. Gorgeous. Bright lights twinkled on the rooftop we could see from our apartment window.

Another trip to the Eiffel Tower, this time to go up top. So sad it was closed for maintenance in January! We got a nice view from the second floor though.

Speaking of spectacular views, Montmatre was amazing. It’s the highest point in Paris, only the Eiffel Tower will get you up higher. The Sacré-Cœur was a beautiful cathedral — I liked it even better than Notre Dame.

On the way back to the Metro I spotted the “I Love You Wall” in a tiny little park. It is described as a place for lovers to have a meeting place; a space where love comes together in every language. Can you spot the English “I Love You”?

On the metropolitan and very modern end of Paris is La Grande Arche de la Défense, a monument to humanity as opposed to war victories.

Thumbs up!

Here is said Arch dedicated to military victory. A bit more famous though.

Did we get crepes every single day? Just about! This was our go-to spot for freshly made crepes at the Place de Bastille, just around the corner from where we were staying. My favorite is the tired and true sucre citron — lemon juice and sugar. So simple. So good.

The monument we’d see everyday as we’d head out. After spending over two weeks there it felt like home.

Eclairs from Fauchon featuring Miss Mona Lisa and Brigitte Bardot, our long lost relative! Ok not really. But my new married name is Lisa Bardot and all over the place we were getting asked if we were related to Brigitte! Hey…I just realized this photo is saying my name…Lisa…Bardot…cool!!!

C’est délicieux!

On the VERY CROWDED Metro at rush hour. The Metro = awesome. We took it everywhere — such a great way to get around.

The street performers in the Metro were great too! One day there was, I swear, a twelve-piece orchestra! This little band of three were playing one of my favorite songs, Hallelujah.

I couldn’t finish talking about Paris without (once again) mentioning the FOOD! I think the highlight of the trip was all the scrumptious things we got to eat. I would have never of guessed it but the BEEF WAS AMAZING! So tender and flavorful! Everything I put in my mouth was a million times better that anything I’ve ever eaten in the US. The quality of food is incredible. The grocery stores were incredible (oh and if you go to France and you love food and cooking, definitely check out the food section at Le Bon Marche, called La Grande Epicerie de Paris. Or don’t. It will spoil grocery shopping for you forever). Our favorite restaurant we went to was Le Gaspard de la Nuit, just a few doors down form our apartment. The food is exquisite and the service is amazing. We even made friends with the owner, Myriam who was just a joy to know. Below are a couple pics from a wonderful Italian restaurant we ate at on our last night in Paris. Unforgettable cuisine.

Our last stop was a quick trip to London! It really was quick too — two nights!

The first night we were there we went to see Wicked, which I have been dying to go see since I found out it was going to be a musical. It was fantastic!

Trafalgar Square. Geoff has a picture of himself here as a kid surrounded by pigeons. I guess there were more pigeons back then — all we could find was this one, who was very well-fed, it seems.

Buckingham Palace! God save the Queen!

Doing what we do best.

We climbed the 311 steps of “The Monument”, the tallest freestanding stone column in the world, dedicated to the Great Fire of London. It said the height of The Monument was the exact distance from that spot to the place the fire started.

From the top — Tower Bridge. (It was not falling down.)

They gave us little certificates for climbing up!

Crazy huge ravens at the Tower of London.

Ahhhhh…it was the most incredible trip. One of many more to come we hope. Geoff and I both love everything about everything we did, but most of all, experiencing it all together. Thank you, my love, for taking me on this amazing journey, I love our adventures together and I love you!!

Until then, I leave you with a ridiculous photo Geoff took of me when we got our Christmas tree. Merry Christmas and HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

The house! Not crazy about the paint color. I dream of a sunny yellow house with white trim. We also want a porch on the front!

House hug!

Geoff carrying me over the threshold! Been dreaming of this moment for so long!

I felt so honored to be in the room when Eva was brought into the world. I’m telling you, it was EMOTIONAL! I cried like (excuse the pun) a baby.

Our first little peek at baby Eva!

We were all completely shocked when she appeared to us. Eva is one huge baby! Everyone in the room took guesses for how big she was…9 pounds…10?

I loved seeing Helena’s face when she first saw the little person she had been so anxiously waiting to meet.

Sol was a proud papa too. I love that you can tell he’s got a big smile on his face even though he’s got a mask on.

Finally, she was weighed and measured. Eva was born 11 pounds, 1 ounce. She was 22 inches long! Helena you are amazing for carrying her around!

This next photo just gets me. Just look at all the emotion in momma’s face from the first time she got to see her baby up close.

Check out all Eva’s adorable little features.

After a while big brother Shae came to the hospital, terribly excited to see his new little sister.

Many congratulations to Helena and Solomon for creating such a beautiful and healthy baby girl. She is absolutely perfect and I know you both will be wonderful parents for her. Thank you for letting me be a part of the birth, I cannot even express how amazing it was to witness Eva coming into the world and to be one of the first people to meet her. I am so proud of you both! Geoff and I both love your little family so much and we feel so lucky to know you.

Click here to see all of Eva’s birth day photos