Diana Albrecht

I love some beautiful still life 🦂 inspired by the beauty & brutality of the desert. Creative // 🫡 Photo // @adamriding Styling // @jmaehinks Lighting & assist // @philip_woolridge

A year ago today, Chairman Meow and I boarded Delta flight 2102. Unbeknownst to him, we were leaving the only home we’d ever known and moving to LA. Moving from the midwest to a creative capital like LA was something I wanted since I was 16 years old. It just took me 15 years to do it. When people here ask if I like LA, it’s always asked with an air of hesitation like they’re bracing for a less than ideal answer bc they “hated LA for the first seven years.” I promptly respond “I love it here.” Somehow the transition has been seamless and I feel more myself than I have in a long time. I feel energized and excited, inspired by the people I’ve met and the places I’ve wandered into. This past year I’ve been camping & hiking more than I have in the past three years combined, somehow managed to still launch my book and get it in retail stores here in LA, become more comfortable and curious about all things Korean, collaborated with some the industry’s most talented, attended numerous creative workshops & made so many silly things, have perfected my weekly matcha runs, worked on production sets larger than ever, expanded my community of creatives and queer folks, and even promoted to associate creative director at work. Thanks to all the homies who have made this year what it was & S/O to my number one girl @lindseykusterman for the photo but more importantly, planting the seed many years ago. She’s wifey and the closest thing to family here. No, we’re not dating, but I hope to never beat those allegations. And in case you were wondering, Chairman has also been settling into the sunshine nicely.

A collection of artifacts found in @playboyranger ‘s home

Noah | the apple of my eye 🤍

Lindsey & Diana’s weekend of beauty 🌀💛🌳

Neighborhood finds 🌳🔴😽

Cutie tiny market in rural Japan with one of everything you might need. The owner was excited for us to try her dried persimmons. What a sweet treat!

Textures from Toi 🌊 [Izu, Japan]

Peace, quiet, & morning light [Kamakura, Takamatsu, Toi, Naoshima, Tokyo, Naoshima]

Back by popular demand, your favorite (?) opinionated bish (me) with in’s/out’s for the new year. ✨May 2026 finally be the year you delete the graveyard of text threads from hinge dates who texted you once before ghosting you (and more importantly, all those two-step verification text messages) and maybe we (you) stop using AI for stupid shit bc we (all of us) need to care about the environment✨

What privilege it was to experience all of this beauty in one year

Now that I’ve had a month to recover from the launch of Back of House, I wanted to extend my endless gratitude to y’all for the overwhelming amount of support and love for the project. 

I slid into Ryan’s DM’s May 2023 with an idea of a cookbook. I love food, we all do, but this became so much more than a typical cookbook. We featured 13 unique immigrant stories; refugees, international students, sponsored folks, unsponsored folks, adoptees, those who came here by choice and those who didn’t. We did our best to honor their stories of perseverance, survival, joy, and resistance. We are so humbled by each person’s invitation into their home. I took so much pride in the creative process by using my skills as an art director to ensure narrative, design, and photography created an elevated and thoughtful experience that these stories deserve. Bold colors and use of distorted, elongated typography paralleled our subject’s taking up of space, loudly and proudly. Negative space in the layout design allowed the photography to breathe; highlighting moments of tenderness and warmth. Our approach to docu-style photography gave an intimate look into these family’s and individuals’ homes and safe spaces, coupled by a modern take on food photography via pop flash and unconventional compositions. 

We sold out of the 500 books in less than a month, had press in MPR, MSP Magazine, TPT (and more!) and even landed in retail shelves in Minneapolis and Los Angeles. 
In times like this Ryan and I are reminded of the importance of projects that uplift everyday voices. Immigrants and marginalized people’s existence have been under attack, this is nothing new. But right now feels particularly dangerous and violent. I urge us all to take care of our neighbors, fight back, and use whatever privilege you have to protect one another. Ryan said it best: “Keep feeding your people, take care of your community, and sharing stories.”

PS: As of December 18th, there are like two books left at Now Serving in Los Angeles. Go get ‘em babes. Credits in comments 🫡💚