About Lena and Ian

Lena and Ian have become an integral part of this blog over the last few years, but if you're new here, you might have some questions about why they keep appearing in reviews.  I put this page together so that everybody can get to know them a bit better.

Ian and Lena relaxing after a horseback ride together in the woods.

I first met Lena when she was a late addition to my Barbie Signature Looks review from 2021:

I thought she was a standout right from the start, and asked her if she'd like to stick around and do some modeling work for me.  I didn't want to keep a huge inventory of dolls on hand for size comparisons, so I figured Lena, as a regular-sized Barbie, could be a common point of reference for most other dolls.

Lena happily agreed, and has spent that last three years helping me out in all kinds of ways.

First and foremost, Lena has offered size perspective on a wide range of dolls.  She has posed next to super-popular girls, like Georgia:

Rainbow High Georgia Bloom (left) and Lena.

And slightly more obscure dolls like Failfix Alyssa:

Failfix SlayItDJ (left) and Lena.

She has posed with small dolls:

Nendoroid Little Red Riding Hood Rose (redressed), and Lena.

And really small dolls!

Lena with World's Smallest Barbie.

She's also worked with tall dolls:

Mermaze Mermaidz Orra (left) and Lena.

And really tall dolls!

Smart Doll Monday (left) and Lena.

She's met at least one really skinny doll, too:

Style Bae Harper (left) and Lena.

She's held some big babies:

Lena with Baby Born Surprise Apollo.

And some really big babies:

Cabbage Patch Kid Tiny Newborn (left) and Lena.

And some really big and really creepy babies!

Lena with Creepy Baby Doll.

Sometimes I ask Lena to pose nude so that I can make body and articulation comparisons:

Diva Starz Nikki (left) and Lena.

And she's always done this part of the job with good humor.

Ella Enchanted (left) and Lena.

No matter how strange the visiting doll might be.

Unique Eyes Amy (left) and Lena.

Lena has also been a size comparison for several different kinds of animal:

Horse Foal Surprise (left) and Lena.

Including a fuzzy Li'l Woodzeez turtle baby:

And a family of Honey Bee Acres dogs:

Lena with members of the Barkster family.

She's even ridden on an oversized Gotta Go Turdle:

Occasionally our guests are somewhere in between a human and another kind of animal:

Meow Planet (left) and Lena.

But I think Lena was most surprised by the mix of features on little Larvie:

Lena meets Larvie.

She freaks me out every time.

Lena is usually very professional and welcoming to other dolls on the blog:

"Walk in the Park" Lottie (left) and Lena.

But occasionally I've felt like her heart wasn't quite in the job:

Cave Club Lumina (left) and Lena.

Barbie Extra Mini doll #2 (left) and Lena.

Lena has helped me with clothes-sharing assessments a lot, too.  Sometimes she doesn't get the good end of a wardrobe switch...

Catwalk Kitty Sienna (left) and Lena.

And sometimes the swap suits her well:

Lena wearing a Mermaid High tail.

I think Lena's favorite part of the job, at least early on, was modeling accessories:

Lena with her favorite Mini Fashion purse.

She missed her calling as a spokesmodel.

Lena modeling with a L.O.L. Surprise Remix album.

She's even willing to showcase the most awkward of accessories with grace and style:

Lena testing out a Pooparoos toilet.

In January of 2023, Lena started talking to me about wanting to play a more active role in some of the reviews.  I thought this sounded fun, so we started the Tea With Lena series.

In the first Tea With Lena post, Lena showed us around her new home:

Lena in the Rainbow High Doll House.

And over time she hosted some classy guests:

Lena chatting with 35th Anniversary Barbie.

And some less classy guests!

Lena with Penny's Box Street Series Adou.

Her most frequent guest is her younger sister, Sela:

Lena likes to host kitchen-themed reviews because they often result in an excess of food--which is her favorite thing to share with Sela:

Kitchen reviews have also helped to upgrade Lena's home, like the time when she got a new refrigerator and stove all in one day: 

Lena with the Kitchen Littles refrigerator and stove.

And a bunch of new food, too, of course:

Lena with Kitchen Littles food.

Which, that time, she shared with her beloved cat, Bruno:

When Lena was first launching her new series, we took her on vacation with us to the Caribbean, where she tried on a lot of bathing suits:

She also introduced an eclectic group of guests for a spring break review series.

Lena with a Barbie Cutie Reveal Toucan.

Lena with AliExpress knockoff dolls.

Lena with Be-Kind mini Anne (and Chellie).

We had so much fun with Lena that we decided to bring her with us again the following year when we visited Culebra.

And that's where she met Ian:

World Peacekeepers Sport & Adventure Diver.

Ian is a data scientist who was born in Scotland and moved to the United States about twelve years ago.  He loves being active and having adventures...and he has piercing green eyes.

Ian was in Culebra to try and see as much coral as he could:

And he just happened to be diving off the same exact stretch of beach where Lena was sunbathing.

Lena was startled--in the best way--to see him walk by:

They had a few awkward moments early in the week, when Lena couldn't quite relax and be herself:

If she's not in a bikini, she's not being herself.

But by the end of the trip, it was pretty clear that Lena was smitten.  

And when Ian got out his guitar and played a song that he'd written especially for Lena...

It was clear that he was smitten, too.

The relationship might have ended that night, but since Lena and Ian live fairly close to one another (he in New York and she in New Jersey) they decided to meet up "in the real world" to see if the attraction was still there.

On Ian's first visit, Lena got to meet his rescue pit bull, Riker:

The first big test of the relationship was whether or not Riker and Bruno would get along...which they did:

Swimmingly.

So Lena and Ian were able to enjoy their horseback riding date without worrying about the pets:

And they discovered that the feelings from Culebra were definitely still there.

After that, Lena and Ian took turns going back and forth to visit one another.  I had to employ other models to do Lena's work while she was away:

Petra in the Rolife Super Creator Happy Meals Kitchen.

When Lena did her first big solo review:

Lena reviewing some Barbieland miniatures.

Ian came to New Jersey so he could take her out for a fancy celebratory dinner:

During their conversation, Ian encouraged Lena to put aside her modeling (especially the nude modeling...) and focus more on hosting.  So now I'm back to searching for a replacement.

I don't want to make Ian mad.

After that dinner, Ian started to stay at Lena's house more and more, to the point where he basically lives there now.

That meant that when Ian's brother, Calum, came to visit, they hosted him at Lena's house:

Lena meets Calum for the first time.

The visit with Calum was rocky at first, but Lena managed to win him over with her keen intellect.

Ian might have been waiting for his older brother's approval, because that very night he took Lena to a special beach:

And surprised her with a marriage proposal!

And of course she said yes.

Lena was very pleased with the ring, and had to show it off to me immediately after the proposal:

Ian did a good job, don't you think?

*bling!*

So, now we've entered the wedding planning stage.  I'm most excited about dress shopping, and I think Lena is, too.

Thank you very much to Becky'sTwinn for the excellent suggestion of starting this page.  I'll keep it up-to-date as Lena and Ian's story continues. ❤️