THE BLOG

I’ve been to Vegas seven times. 

For five of them, I went as a drinking party girl. 

For one, I was doing a sober, curious experiment.

On my most recent trip, I arrived in Vegas as a happy, healthy, comfortable, non drinker.

There is such a thing, and I am proof of it.

I have...

Talking about substance use is the missing link in Corporate Wellness conversations.

We have this idea that people are addicts or they are not addicts.

We think you have a drinking problem or you don’t.

We think an addict is living under a bridge somewhere drinking from a brown paper bag....

Happy National Sober Day! 

I celebrate today because I am 3 ½ years sober. 

I am a Certified Professional Life and Recovery Coach, and a Certified Facilitator of Addiction Awareness.

I wasn’t always so enthusiastic about ditching the drink. 

...

I was talking with a client last week and she mentioned the weekend might be hard. 

Why? 

Because it’s Labor Day, a three day holiday weekend, and the end of summer.

It hit me that I hadn’t even thought about that. 

I did have a trip out of...

I always preach #sobertnoboring but the more I think about it...

...maybe I am boring.

Maybe my sober life is boring?

Maybe I don’t have to defend this anymore.

Maybe this will not inspire you to quit drinking.

Maybe this is your biggest fear come true.

It was mine. 

I didn't want to...

On my vacation we did so much lazing around.

Just napping, sitting, lying, being. 

So much nothing. 

It was the perfect place to do it.

We were always poolside, with a view of the ocean waves.

Some days we were under the shade of a cabana. 

I would read and sleep and...

Why cant I stop drinking?

It is a question that has pained millions, including me. 

These words are typed into a Google search, daily by people feeling broken, confused, and desperate for answers. 

I am here to tell you, there is nothing wrong with you. 

It's not you, it's...

A comment, I found to be incredibly condescending and offensive, was made on my Ditched the Drink Facebook page, by an acquaintance of mine.  

The post was about me wearing my sobriety out loud.

The picture was me (literally) wearing the words SOBER AF on my shirt.

If you follow...

I used alcohol to turn off the noise in my head. 

I had a very loud inner critic and anxiety about nearly everything.

I love the boozy, woozy, relaxed,

“everything will be ok”

feeling my first sips of wine gave me. 

What a relief! From myself.

It honestly felt like...

We arrive in Cabo.

We walk off the plane, down the steps, into the Mexican earth.

The kids and I feel like we are getting off of Air Force One and wave to the mountains, as if it they are our adoring audience. 

The process of getting into another country is stressful, even as a visitor.

...

My #1 question this week is, "How was your vacation?”

Thank you for your interest and curiosity!

Normally, I share all my comings and goings in real time on Instagram so my followers can literally follow right along with me. I haven't done that for this vacation, so it's no wonder people...

I am annoyed when people over explain their relationship with social media and here I am doing the same. 

I think it’s arrogant to think anyone really cares, but it turns out they do.

And I do too.

I am a solopreneur building my coaching business and Instagram has been a wonderful...

I was driving home this morning from dropping my daughter off at her summer job, and I was thinking about our upcoming all inclusive family vacation.

It hit me that I hadn't thought about alcohol on this vacation yet and it is quickly approaching.

Alcohol was not a thought in planning it, booking...

I’m in my 4th year of sobriety.

It was painful to get out from under the grip of alcohol dependence.

Time and space from alcohol has changed me, my values, and my priorities. 

I am a different person today, than I was on my last Day 1. 

I continue to choose to live alcohol...

There was a moment this weekend where I picked up a glass of whiskey,

so I could wash the table underneath so we could play cards after dinner. 

I put my nose in and smelled it.

It smelled so good!!! 

It gave me a warm, boozy, fuzzy feeling just to sniff it.

I knew I would love the burn...

This weekend we will be on a lake. 

Woo Hoo!

Welcome Summer!

I heard an interview by the band Old Dominion about their new song titled, 

“I Was On A Boat That Day”.

It’s a super fun song and I love Old Dominion’s music. 

They said they were drinking...

I had my first drink at 12 years old.

This was my toe dipped into the ocean of alcohol back in 1988.

I slammed a Busch Beer in my room alone.

Then I acted “crazy" with myself.

I journaled with sloppy handwriting, so I could prove to myself (and later my best friend), 

how drunk...

A rarely advertised fact is that alcohol is the third preventable cause of death in the US. 

That is not how it is marketed to women. 

Alcohol is sold as “Mommy’s Helper”, or “Mommy’s Juice”.

It is advertised as a break for Mom. 

It is sold as...

My first sober Cinco de Mayo was something to anticipate and get through.

Something to white knuckle and endure or tolerate.

Cince de Mayo was another milestone drinking holiday that I was about to do sober for the first time.

Similar to St. Patrick’s Day.

I always drank on...

It’s ok to start over.

I just have to share that. 

Especially with drinking.

If you’ve tried to quit before and it didn’t work…

...it’s ok to start again.

If you changed your mind or had some success or had no success…

...

I started the week with a cycle class at my new gym.

It’s been a while since I took a spin class.

I was intimidated.

When I scheduled the class at the end of last week...

I wanted to start the week off with a bang.

I wanted to put myself first, 

get a hard thing out of the way, 

...

Sitting here on a Sunday morning, giving myself time and space to be.

To just sit, to rest, to check in, to create.

This weekend has been a lot of nothing, in the best way.

Reading, resting, carpooling my kids, and cheering them on at their games.

After being gone nearly a month, it...

When I look back on pictures, I can see clearly how alcohol is poison. 

The bloat in my face is painful to see. 

The bloat was my body's way of trying to protect me from my drinking habits.

As a drinker, it was just another reason for me to hate my ugly self.

I was ignoring myself, in...

I have written about my sober vacations before. 

You can read my other vacation blogs here: 

Spring Break Sober, 

All Inclusive Beach Vacation Sober, 

Beach Vacay from Blackouts to Making Memories.

Today, I want to share my most recent experience, Spring Break 2021 in Florida....