In “It’s Always Cock­tail Hour in a Cri­sis,” the author reflects on per­son­al and pro­fes­sion­al moments, from a serendip­i­tous col­lab­o­ra­tion with Tay­lor Swift to nav­i­gat­ing chal­lenges dur­ing the COVID-19 pan­dem­ic. Ini­tial­ly reveal­ing the joy of being select­ed by Swift for a Food Net­work Mag­a­zine shoot, the author shares her excite­ment as a fan and cook­ing inspi­ra­tion for Swift, who found con­fi­dence in the kitchen through her work.

Dur­ing the 1989 World Tour con­cert, the author took her team to cel­e­brate while expe­ri­enc­ing Swift’s deep­er con­nec­tion with her audi­ence. Swift’s poignant remarks on self-per­cep­tion res­onat­ed, as did the exhil­a­rat­ing moments shared dur­ing the con­cert, includ­ing cel­e­brat­ing the US Women’s Nation­al Soc­cer Team’s vic­to­ry. Post-con­cert, a play­ful chal­lenge to the soc­cer stars led to a chaot­ic game of beer pong, illus­trat­ing the fun and cama­raderie sur­round­ing Swift’s events.

Tran­si­tion­ing through the pain of los­ing her long­time friend and assis­tant Bar­bara, the author reflects on sig­nif­i­cant staff changes with­in her team and the per­son­al impact of these tran­si­tions. When a dead­ly virus emerged, pan­ic spread, prompt­ing the author to stock up on sup­plies for an impend­ing lock­down. Amid the fear of the pan­dem­ic, she shared her thoughts on social media, offer­ing recipes and advice to fol­low­ers nav­i­gat­ing their kitchen chal­lenges.

As the months unfold­ed under pan­dem­ic stress, the author found a cre­ative out­let by uti­liz­ing over­sized cock­tail glass­es in a humor­ous Insta­gram post. This moment invoked a sense of joy and con­nec­tion, cul­mi­nat­ing in a surge of inter­est for pink cos­mos, high­light­ing how light­ness can shine through dark­ness.

Through­out the chap­ter, the author can­did­ly nav­i­gates emo­tions from her child­hood, illus­trat­ing a jour­ney of self-dis­cov­ery and heal­ing along­side part­ner Jef­frey. She embraces the lessons learned from dif­fi­cult expe­ri­ences, empha­siz­ing resilience and the pow­er of believ­ing in one­self, under­scor­ing the impor­tance of con­nec­tion and com­mu­ni­ty dur­ing try­ing times. The mem­oir not only serves as a reflec­tion but also as a tes­ta­ment to hope, growth, and find­ing light amid chal­lenges.