Present Joys Featured Guest: Ilana Kruger
This week we welcome Ilana Kruger to share her present joys with us.
Ilana Kruger is a renaissance woman: artist, creative, founder, ideator, home cook, gardener, writer, collector, consultant, traveler, dreamer… the list goes on. We have yet to find something she hasn’t tried, heard of, or isn’t good at herself. We’re lucky to call Ilana our friend and so thrilled to share her present joys with you today!
My Wedding!
My husband and I just got married and I’m still on a high from the outpouring of love that our community surrounded us in. The weekend was pure magic. We hosted a pizza pool party at my parents house on Friday followed by a ceremony in a park and the best party of our lives at our favorite restaurant on Saturday. And, of course, no big and important event would be complete without some stress thrown in the mix. When the planning was done and we were ready to settle into enjoying the weekend, the threat of rain tried to thwart all our plans! We made so many back up plans, and up until 30 minutes before the ceremony were planning to do it in a different location, but eventually we just said screw it and did our original plan and it worked out. No rain until 30 minutes after we got inside when it downpoured! If you ever find yourself in Frenchtown, NJ go to Finnbar! They’re the absolute best and the food is 10/10. We love you, Finnbar!
My neighbor’s mango tree
One of the perks of living in LA is the abundance of street fruit! I love taking long walks through my neighborhood and hunting for fruits, and dreaming of the orchard I will one day get to cultivate. Our block has passionfruit, grapes, figs, citrus and the creme de la creme of tree fruits, mango! My neighbor’s tree is prolific and the mangoes look like they should be ready in the next month or so. Fingers crossed they taste as good as they look. How lucky are we to live in this Eden of Los Angeles?
Rocco car surfing
I recently discovered that my pup, Rocco, is an excellent car surfer. He loves to put his front paws on the center console and cruise along with us as we drive. I’m impressed by his balance and super strong core and I wonder if he would like actual surfing as much…
An East Coast Summer
We just got back from a month in Bucks County, PA and I’m still savoring the deliciousness of a hot and humid East Coast summer. The verdant green, the sweet smell of honeysuckle that envelops you, fireflies!!, picking hakurei turnips from the garden, family meals outside, long drives on country roads… It’s just the best. I can’t think of many things better than spending a day by the creek, swimming and skipping rocks, and getting ice cream at Dilly’s afterwards - the family run burger stand I grew up enjoying and worked at when I was 14.
My tomatoes that didn’t die
The downside of spending a month away is your garden suffers. A lot of my outdoor plants did not survive the heat of LA in June, however… my tomato plants did! They’ve kind of taken over and it’s a bit of a tomato jungle out in the garden with so many fruits ripening on the vine. I’m excited to spend some time pruning over the next few days and enjoying our harvest soon enough!
A few more joys from Michelle and Joyce…
Farmer’s Market Friends Went to the Hollywood Farmer’s Market for the first time in ages. The market was expectedly great (love the early summer selection!) but happenstance run-ins with friends made the visit all the more fun.
Egg Salad Hot Dog This is a joy that’s yet to be experienced, but I think I’d be into it. Saw that Elbow Bread had a hot dog on their menu that was topped with egg salad, pickled celery, and grainy mustard. Something to recreate this summer!
Looking I liked this line from Louise Glück’s poem, Nostos: We look at the world once, in childhood. / The rest is memory.
Tea Tree Oil Shampoo Makes showers feel all the more refreshing, especially in these rising temps.
Bestie Visits My bestie Nina came to visit this past weekend and I had so much fun sharing a “slice of life” weekend with her. We did some of my normal weekend activities (yoga at practice, farmer’s market) and tried some new things (Spencers, froyo at 626, and mochi at Joy)! It was such a pleasure to share time with Nina, and it also reminded me that LA is at my fingertips and exploration can happen anytime!
Corpse Flowers Blooming The Corpse Flowers at the Huntington started blooming on Sunday afternoon while we were there and are in the process of closing back up. Corpse Flowers only bloom every 7-10 years—only after they have gathered up enough energy to do so! Relatable.
Hydration Encouraged by Glass Straws I bought some colorful glass straws to put in my water cup at my desk and, I have to say, they are helping me stay hydrated!
“‘…normal mysticism’—the habit of infusing daily life with a sense of the sacred, and transforming it from a succession of unremarkable acts we mindlessly perform to a series of wonders in which we delight.”— from Here All Along
Spiderweb Outside My Office Window I caught some movement right above my laptop screen yesterday morning and it was a spider crawling down its web, perfectly positioned outside my window, like a framed work of art courtesy of nature.
Also still coming down from the high of Fete du Finn and Bucks County summer
Thanks for having me! I love Present Joys and this was so fun to write!