wow…where to begin? the last few weeks of my life have been unreal. seriously, i feel like i’m in the twilight zone (tower of terror anyone? had to throw a disney reference out there)! after not having a schedule for the past, hmmm, 6 months, i have been delighted to add some hard core structure to my life. yes. it is true. i thrive on having “things to do”…both the blessing and curse of being pammy parker’s daughter :)

about two weeks ago, i knew that my pace of life would begin to pick up. the only problem: i stopped sleeping. seriously, i would try to rest in my air conditioned, quiet Apartment and my heart raced, butterflies filled my stomach, the whole shebang! i was simply over excited and becoming exhausted. my original title for this post was going to be “the city where i never sleep”, but i had a feeling that an entire entry about my lack of sleep would get a little dull for my lovely readers. don’t mention it!

i have had many visitors, who have been delightful, allowing me to drag them all over the city to experience the “best” of ny (mostly food, of course). as i played both host and frequent bieber bus traveler (returning to wescosville regularly), i fought fast approaching nerves regarding my job interviews. “job interviews?” you’re thinking. yes. i have had a little change of plans (surprise, surprise!) fortunately, during my first week here, i met my amazing neighbors and their family and friends. after spending a charming evening at their apartment and staying in touch with my new friends, i was lucky enough to land a job interview at a fabulous Restaurant and work with an aspiring chocolatier in my neighborhood. at the time, i thought that my plan to begin culinary school in june was good to go. fast forward a few weeks to my mom’s visit. we had been looking at the fci’s website for some amateur classes that chef pam might find interesting. as we browsed through the website, salivating over course titles and descriptions, we came across a pastry techniques course, covering all of the topics of my current course, but in a more abbreviated fashion. why was i not enrolling in this course? good question. after some careful deliberation, we concluded that this was a much better fit. upon hearing that i had been hired at the restaurant and by the chocolatier, the stars seemed to be aligned just for me. (a big thank you goes out to the fci for their continuing support and patience as i constantly change from one program to the next!)

so, last week, my schedule was packed (like sardines, but not the cheap kind you buy in just any grocery store. the cans you find in classic little italy stores to which my dear friend, vini, can guide you. thought this would provide a nice visual…food related, of course). i worked on chocolates from 11 AM – 2 PM each day and trained as a host from 4:30 PM – 10:30 PM most nights and (gasp) 1 AM on my final night. can you believe it? allyson blair parker working until the next morning?!?! yikes! i will admit that i was a little down when i first found out that i would be staying. i had not anticipated this, although i probably should have. however, the rest of the staff certainly lifted my spirits.

allow me to explain just how Incredible these people are. as i was paging through Dessert menus, cleaning out any that had a smudge or mark, i announced that one of the desserts sounded just to die for! well, when i entered the kitchen to drop off some dirty towels (oh, the glamorous life of a new yorker!), one of my new friends announced that they had a surprise for me. there, on a plate, just for me, was the beautiful dessert to which i had alluded earlier that evening! these things just don’t happen any more (unless your neighbors are named vini, liz, allison, billy, bessie, or gus…a lot of people, i know, but i love our little neighborhood group…one lovely family in each “millbrook” development) needless to say, i was more awake at midnight than i had ever been. the crisp, chilled chocolate peanut butter dessert with a spoonful of almond ice cream to follow was simply delicious. however, the kindness and generosity of these guys, whom i had only met a few days before, was what really made my night!

in conclusion, i survived my first week as an employee in new york city. my luck has truly been incredible. i keep pinching myself, but here i am…still just my little emmaus self in a big city. guess it was a good move :)