First Fall Festival

“This time, like all times, is a good one, if we but know what to do with it.”

                                                                                Ralph Waldo Emerson

Wew…The Autumn was a whirlwind and busier than I had even anticipated.  (Hence the two months between blog posts!)  One special night I forgot to mention at the end of September was having my Ladies with me.  Katie had come down for a job interview at Columbia Presbyterian Hospital.  Coming home from Go Orange a NYC Food Bank sponsored Scavenger Hunt in Midtown (a wonderful way to spend a gorgeous Sunday afternoon with strangers), my heart sang as I walked into my Hx3 to find my “Girls” cuddled on my bed eating frosting from a can (found at the back on my cupboard) and watching stupid tv!  We enjoyed a wonderful restorative yoga class at Yogaworks in my neighborhood and a lovely dinner salad, if I say so myself, while watching more silly tv together.  A few days after that 6 hour interview, Katie was offered an amazing job with the HIV clinic.  For 24 hours I thought I would have both Ladies in NYC with me.  Then, Katie called her grad school mentor who is the nursing director for Paul Farmer’s Partners in Health.  Two days after that, Katie officially accepted a job with Partners in Health to go to Sierra Leone to help with the Ebola crisis.  OMG, what a roller coaster of emotions..

Sunset on the Pier

So, with that nut to chew and swallow, “my” Festival season began in earnest.  I spent four wonderful, interesting, and fun nights on the Rooftop of a Pier on the Hudson River working with the Sponsor Activation Team for the Food Network’s NYC Wine & Food Festival.  It’s funny, the celebs that I got to “see” (Jon Bon Jovi, Rachel Ray, and many other “famous” chefs) didn’t thrill me as much as the great people I got to work with and for.  As with all the events I have been blessed to work at, I learned a lot.  I love what I am learning.  In this case in particular, I learned a tremendous amount from the Women who were my “Bosses” about working with true grace under pressure.

Not shirking other duties, responsibilities and friends, in between all that fun on the Pier’s Rooftop were CPR classes, all-you can eat amazing sushi dinners at a new place in my ‘hood (Sushi Para on 3^rd Avenue between 81^st & 82^nd Streets), and doing my production assignments for the Food Film Festival.

And, of course, spending time in my Central Park; enjoying a wonderful Sunday afternoon up at the Dana Center with a new friend from Greeter Guide training helping out at the Halloween
Parade and Pumpkin Float was truly special.