“It’s Always Cock­tail Hour in a Cri­sis” offers read­ers an inti­mate look into the author’s life, chron­i­cling both per­son­al and pro­fes­sion­al tri­umphs as well as the chal­lenges faced dur­ing tumul­tuous times. The chap­ter opens with the author recount­ing the sur­re­al moment of being cho­sen by Tay­lor Swift for a Food Net­work Mag­a­zine shoot. As a fan of Swift and a sea­soned cook, the author felt a mix of excite­ment and dis­be­lief, but also an immense sense of pride in shar­ing the kitchen with some­one who found such joy in cook­ing. Swift’s gen­uine enthu­si­asm for learn­ing new recipes cre­at­ed a mean­ing­ful bond between the two, mak­ing the expe­ri­ence even more ful­fill­ing. This col­lab­o­ra­tion was not just about shar­ing recipes, but also about embrac­ing the deep con­nec­tion that can be fos­tered through a shared love of food, demon­strat­ing how cook­ing can inspire con­fi­dence in unex­pect­ed ways.

The nar­ra­tive then shifts to an unfor­get­table expe­ri­ence dur­ing Swift’s 1989 World Tour, where the author and her team cel­e­brat­ed a night filled with music, excite­ment, and emo­tion­al con­nec­tion. The con­cert allowed the author to wit­ness first­hand how deeply Swift was able to con­nect with her audi­ence, tran­scend­ing the tra­di­tion­al artist-fan dynam­ic. Swift’s heart­felt remarks about self-image and body pos­i­tiv­i­ty res­onat­ed with the author, prompt­ing reflec­tions on how per­son­al strug­gles and tri­umphs often define one’s pub­lic per­sona. As the evening con­tin­ued, a light­heart­ed game of beer pong with the US Women’s Nation­al Soc­cer Team demon­strat­ed the cama­raderie that char­ac­ter­ized Swift’s events. These shared moments of joy and laugh­ter pro­vid­ed a much-need­ed escape from the pres­sures of every­day life, and high­light­ed the impor­tance of cel­e­brat­ing achieve­ments, both big and small.

In the midst of the per­son­al and glob­al upheaval caused by the COVID-19 pan­dem­ic, the author found her­self fac­ing new emo­tion­al chal­lenges. The loss of her long­time friend and assis­tant, Bar­bara, brought about a wave of grief that was com­pound­ed by the uncer­tain­ty and fear sur­round­ing the pan­dem­ic. As the world was thrust into lock­down, the author, like many, found her­self forced to adapt to a rapid­ly chang­ing envi­ron­ment. The sense of fear and iso­la­tion was pal­pa­ble, but the author used her plat­form to offer a sense of sta­bil­i­ty and com­fort to her fol­low­ers. By shar­ing recipes, tips, and advice, she helped oth­ers nav­i­gate the uncer­tain­ty of pan­dem­ic life, while also pro­vid­ing her own sense of solace through the act of shar­ing food and knowl­edge.

Amidst the chaos, the author found a cre­ative out­let by post­ing a humor­ous image on Insta­gram fea­tur­ing over­sized cock­tail glass­es. This play­ful post res­onat­ed with many of her fol­low­ers, who appre­ci­at­ed the light­heart­ed­ness it brought dur­ing such a dif­fi­cult time. The suc­cess of the pink cos­mos drink became a sym­bol of how small moments of joy and cre­ativ­i­ty can offer a sense of con­nec­tion in times of iso­la­tion. This moment of lev­i­ty was not just a fleet­ing dis­trac­tion, but a reminder of the heal­ing pow­er of humor and the impor­tance of stay­ing con­nect­ed with oth­ers. By embrac­ing the lighter side of life, the author found a way to cope with the weight of the world, demon­strat­ing the ther­a­peu­tic val­ue of shared expe­ri­ences and laugh­ter.

Reflect­ing on her child­hood and the per­son­al growth that fol­lowed, the author shares insights into how her past expe­ri­ences shaped the per­son she is today. Along­side her part­ner, Jef­frey, she grap­ples with the com­plex­i­ties of their shared life, learn­ing from their chal­lenges and cel­e­brat­ing their vic­to­ries. This chap­ter under­scores the pow­er of resilience, self-belief, and the strength that comes from lean­ing on oth­ers dur­ing tough times. Through her can­did explo­ration of per­son­al strug­gles and tri­umphs, the author imparts a mes­sage of hope and growth, empha­siz­ing that even in the dark­est of times, there is always the poten­tial for trans­for­ma­tion and joy. The chap­ter con­cludes by reit­er­at­ing the impor­tance of stay­ing ground­ed in the face of adver­si­ty and find­ing strength in both the small and large moments that shape life’s jour­ney.