A Christmas to Remember. Rebecca Moesta

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      Christmas was a magical time of year in New York. Wollman Rink was open in Central Park, and a gigantic Christmas tree graced Rockefeller Plaza. Holiday music was ubiquitous, and strains of songs like “All I Want for Christmas,” “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year,” and “Sleigh Ride” seemed to follow Jennifer Wade everywhere she went.

      Lights twinkled on buildings, trees, and food carts. A faint dusting of snow still clung to the grass in the parks that Jennifer passed as she walked at a brisk pace from the subway to the Kitchen Network building where she worked. Wreaths hung from lampposts. The smells of hot cocoa with cinnamon and roasting nuts made her mouth water. There was no time to enjoy the Christmassy sights and sounds, though.

      She had a TV show to record, and she didn’t want to be late. After all, the popular weekly show Homestyle with Jennifer Wade on the Kitchen Network was named for her. Posters for Homestyle were plastered all over New York City—even on the sides of busses.

      Being on billboards and busses came with a certain level of pressure. She didn’t take the responsibility lightly and made sure that each show was polished down to the last detail. That’s what her viewers had come to expect of her, and she demanded no less of herself.

      This morning they were taping Jennifer’s Christmas special, and she wanted everything to be perfect. But nothing ever was, was it? There was always some aspect that could be improved. Had she forgotten anything? She couldn’t shake a faint feeling of worry that hovered at the edge of her thoughts, spurring her to walk faster.

      Once inside the network building, she rushed through hair and makeup, then changed into the outfit she had chosen after spending almost two days trying on various possibilities. Elegant, yet simple, it complemented her dyed-blonde hair and pale skin.

      “Oh, my gosh, I hope we got this wardrobe looking right,” Jennifer said to the wardrobe assistant, Aimee, as they headed through the soundstage toward the set. Dressed in a sweatshirt and jeans, with her hair up in a ponytail, the girl seemed young, and Jennifer tried to impress on her how important clothing choices were. Of course, the crew of the show didn’t always appreciate her penchant for perfectionism. Around the set, they joked that there were two ways of doing anything: Jennifer’s way and the wrong way.

      Jennifer walked fast and talked faster, as she usually did when she was wound up. “Because,” she continued, “last week Angela from Duluth posted that she thought that my look was too New York. What am I supposed to do? I’m trying СКАЧАТЬ