it only ends once

Here's the deal: if you've never watched LOST, this post will mean next to nothing to you. You'll just have to bear with me for a moment and appreciate the most creative, thoughtful, well-put-together theme party I've ever attended: LostSLC.

Here's the backstory: you can read more about my LOST addiction here and here. Unlike most fans, I just started watching the series in September, prior to the airing of the final season. For a solid five months, most of my leisure time was spent with LOST on Netflix, episode after episode after episode. So while I have not been a super geek for the past six years, spinning internet theories, hanging out on Lostpedia, I did feel that my commitment to the plotline and characters of LOST represented a significant chapter in my life and it deserved a proper closing.

So. Here's what went down: the night before the finale, I was clicking around on the internet (as is my wont), and decided to google "Lost finale party Salt Lake City." I found this Tribune article, and nearly died of excitement (Dharma Initiative binders! Plane crash decor! A library of Sawyer's books!) and also jealousy that I could not be a part of this. Then I became rash and bold and did what any self-respecting internet-savvy LOST fanatic would do: I googled the party planner. Found her Twitter. Followed the #LostSLC hashtag. Found the invite (amazing). Abandoned all inhibitions and social anxieties and invited myself via tweet. The gracious hosts accepted! The next day, Cami and I put together costumes - we were Zach and Emma, the kids from the tail section of Oceanic Flight 815, post-kidnapping by the Others - printed out Dharma Initiative labels for our food items, and attended the party of perfect strangers, united by a love of LOST.




















(First 3 photos by me; remainder by party host brandelion from her amazing flickr set.)

A few of the LOST-tastic party details:
-Greeted with "namaste" and leis, a la Dharma Initiative circa 1974
-Fence marked "Quarantine" a la The Hatch/The Swan Station
-Tiki torches
-Luggage strewn about like the plane crash
-Oceanic luggage tags & water bottles
-Costume contest with the following characters represented: pregnant Claire, Kate, Libby, Charlotte, Widmore, Lapidus, Locke, Zach & Emma (the kidnapped children), "Henry Gale", Daniel Faraday, a Dharma Initiative motor pool worker, "Not Penny's Boat" Charlie, the Smoke Monster, Vincent, and several Others
-Candidates name wall
-Soulmate photo of Desmond and Penny
-The entire collection of books Sawyer was seen reading on the Island (!!!)
-Misc. Dharma food labels
-Fish biscuits, as seen in Sawyer's polar bear cage
-A stuffed polar bear and a child dressed in a polar bear costume
-Hurley's winning lotto card with "the numbers" (4, 8, 15, 16, 23, 42)
(There's also a Dharma Airstream trailer in there, which has nothing to do with the show but is nonetheless awesome.)

While I am saying farewell and getting this out of my system, allow me to link to these pitch-perfect, incredibly clever Target commercials that aired during the finale: smoke alarm, keyboard, bbq sauce. And the only thing that got me through the final season: the Vulture recaps. And finally, seasons 1-5 in 8 minutes 15 seconds.

Namaste, live together die alone, etc.