Sober-ish

I’ve been playing around with not drinking. Flirting with it. Sticking the tip in just to see how it feels.

It started because I spent waaaaay to many days this spring getting my drink on.

First I met this handsome Australian and we painted the town red for a week before he headed out of town again. I haven’t drank that much beer in a consecutive 7 days probably since college.

Damn I felt like shit after. It was a good reminder of why I don’t drink on the regular.

But then, my girls and I went to Stage Coach a few weeks later. Since I already had been getting my party on it was easier to jump in with both feet. This involved vodka gummy bears at breakfast and beers all day in the hot desert sun for 4 days straight.

Followed by a week with my family for Memorial Day. It should be noted we call tequila shots “family meetings” in my family. So when someone says, “is it too early for a family meeting?” at 2pm, they don’t mean to talk about their feelings.

And after alll of that, the Australian was back in town again for a repeat week of getting our drank on college style.

I’m not really sure how it all happened. It was just a perfect storm of social events. But I can tell you that at the end of it, I was over it.

Alcohol (and sugar) is a surefire way for me to wake up with raging anxiety the day after. Every damn time. And after a few months of crazy weeks and big weekends, it was time for me to call a time out and rethink my life decisions.

A few things I realized:

1. Is violated my 2 in a row rule which has kept me on the straight and narrow for quite some time. The rule is you can do it (whatever it means-drinks, cupcakes, etc) you just can’t do it two days in a row. When a few drinks one night turned into meeting up with that sexy accent and tan biceps 4 days in a row, all bets were off.

2. I still sometimes feel like I have to drink when other people drink. Mind you I’ve gotten a lot better at this one and I’ve taught my girls in KCIT the fundamentals of how to deal with booze in social situations. But for some reason, I was just in party mode. Especially when handsome Australians are involved 🤷🏻‍♀️.

For a month I cut the booze completely. Like ok, maybe I’m really done with this. But like anything in life, cutting out things you really enjoy just isn’t sustainable.

Ordering water while my friends drink bomb cocktails was not going to fly.

And the reason I’m sharing all of this….

The lengthy backstory to get you to my most recent discovery.

The “mock-tail.”

When you read that, I am sure visions of virgin strawberry daiquiris and no-tequila margaritas probably come to mind. Sugar bombs minus the booze. That’s what I always thought.

But, stay with me on this one friends. In the land of craft cocktails, there is now an epic opportunity to have a bougie drink and treat yo self, while avoiding the hangover the next day and the insulin spike and crash of sugary drinks.

Since this discovery I have been an avid ordered of the mocktail.

Two ways to order a mocktail:

1. Scour the drink menu for a craft concoction that sounds bomb and order it minus the booze. If it’s got simple syrup in it, I usually ask them to go easy on the sweetness and add a splash of soda water.

2. Ask the bartender to mix you up something fresh and alcohol free. They usually love getting creative.

Pro-tip: I always order a soda water on the side and I can mix n match to make it more or less sweet.

My current fave is muddled strawberries and mint, sweetened lime juice, and soda water.

Extra bonus, they don’t usually charge you out the ass for a virgin drink which makes them easier on your wallet too.

So here we are.

I have arrived at “sober-ish.”

A magical place where I can still order fun drinks when out with friends. I still have a glass of wine or a beer here and there. I do say yes (sometimes) to family meetings with the fam. And I wake up without a hangover to hit the gym.

We all fall back into old habits, myself included.

Our past selves will test us.

It’s just part of the game.

We are not broken.

We are human.

We simply get to ask ourselves these questions “does this serve me highest good? And, do I powerfully choose this for myself?”

Sometimes the answer is “no.”

And sometimes the answer is “bottoms up.”

And that’s perfect.