The LOST Party at our very own Long Beach Hatch

We hosted a birthday party for our dear friend Danna last night. She wanted to have a LOST themed party, and for those of you who know about the show on ABC, all of these pictures will make sense!

The party was a huge success. We all tried to come dressed as characters from the show (as best as we could, atleast!) and Danna & Jarod went the extra mile by making tons of labels for all of the food and drink, just like the Dharma Initiative packaging on the show. We did improvise on a few by placing the Queen Mary in the symbol, to signify a Long Beach “hatch”. Jarod even found a screen saver that we hooked up that would beep every 108 minutes and wouldn’t stop until you punched in the numbers. Very over the top, but very fun.

Here are a few highlights (again, our apologies if you aren’t familiar with the show!):


This is the stocked fridge, after we finished labeling everything.


More food and drink.


These chocolates were probably the most impressive.
Notice the barcode even has “the numbers”!

We decided to dress up as Charlie & Claire for the party. Claire was EXTREMELY pregnant on the show, and Carrie was going for the ridiculous factor. Charlie was a blonde british rock star on the show, which was also pretty ridiculous for Ed to pull off. We think we were a hit atleast.

A sight you never see – Carrie & Ed are both sans glasses and wearing contacts!

The fake pregnancy and the tape Charlie always wore on this fingers in the show.

Danna and Jarod were Danielle & Desmond. Danielle is a mysterious French woman who has been on the island for 16 years. Desmond crashed on the island and got stuck in the hatch pushing the button every 108 minutes.


Even Mike came as Sayid, the very resourceful ex-Iraqi military brain.


Hopefully all of you out there don’t think we’re completely insane. But if you haven’t seen the show – you can catch up. All 3 seasons are now available on DVD! Even our parents watch this show – it’s brilliant!

Happy 1st Birthday, Ella!


Today we celebrated Ella’s 1st Birthday. She had a “CinderELLA” themed party at the house. We can’t believe its been a year already.

Of course, Dad made the cake, and he did an outstanding job as usual. The cupcakes are always the biggest hit for all the kids, and they ran around with blue mouths afterward!

Family tradition is that on the baby’s 1st birthday, they always get the top tier of their cake – and they can go at it with no utensils!



Ella was a good sport, but she was pretty tired once it finally came time for cake time. We have to admit, it was pretty cute just watching her, even if she did get upset.

A few faves from the day:


Auntie Carrie & Grandma kiss the Birthday Girl.


Auntie Carrie shows Kendall how to be cool with the “over the glasses” pose.


Jordan & Ethan pose with Uncle Ed.


Papaw & the Birthday Girl.


Mommy & Ella hit the pinata.


Mikaya & Uncle Ed play outside.

Ella’s 1st Birthday

(Click on the thumbnail to view the whole album.)

It’s a nice day for a drive to Topanga Canyon

Today, we decided to take a nice leisurely drive to Topanga Canyon. Since Ed loves to drive and Carrie loves to be a passenger, it was a pretty good arrangement! Topanga Canyon is a quaint little place chock full of wonderful restaurants and fun stores to shop in. It’s almost like a little mountain town – very scenic, not too crowded, it’s really something to think that it’s a part of L.A.!

We ended up having lunch at a quaint little Mexican restaurant called Abuelita’s.

Yum, chips and salsa – two of our favorite things.

We even got to sit outside on the beautiful patio and enjoy the crisp air. It didn’t even feel like we were in California out there!

We’ll being going back to Topanga someday soon!

Christmas Eve with The Kims!

This year was the 2nd annual Kim Family Christmas Eve Dinner here at our house, and we had a blast. We really enjoy putting on dinner for our family and we like seeing how excited they get over our preparations. :) It was nice and cozy – a party of 6. Ed’s Dad, Mom, Aunt and Uncle all were in attendance and it was a really nice time.

First, we got the table ready. We like to make make it look Christmas-y, but still in our signature modern aesthetic. Here’s this years table setting:

Then, off to the kitchen. Both of us enjoy the cooking!

Carrie works on her signature antipasto salad …

The final product!

Ed prepares the scalloped potatoes … (thanks to Carrie’s mom for the recipe!)

About to go in the oven!

Tonights menu consisted of:
Ham (we’ve never made a ham before, it turned out pretty well!)
Scalloped Potatoes
Garlic Green Beans
Antipasto Salad

and …

Peppermint Chocolate Sundaes for dessert!

Afterwards, we enjoyed lots of coffee, a great political discussion, and of course – the gift exchange…

Dad is happy about his digital photo frame/clock/calendar/radio combo!

Aunt Grace got a pretty hip shirt …

We had a lovely time and are so happy to have our family enjoy the holiday with us in our home.

Merry Christmas!

Christmas Goodies

I was so lucky to spend the day on Saturday baking with my mom. My mom is a master in the kitchen, and I was very excited to make some treats along with her. We decided on baking Pumpkin Bread loaves, chocolate chip cookies, Grandma’s old Swiss Sugar Cookie recipe, and I was very excited to try out Martha Stewart’s Chocolate Peppermint Cookies. They are delicious, and I am amazed at all we got done!

I always enjoy the packaging part, and this is how mine turned out:

I think I might have done ol’ Martha proud?

Thanks for all the help, Mom!
xoCarrie