Drinking from the Garden Hose

4 weeks without booze and my belly is as flat as when I was a teen! Every day I think about alcohol less and less, but I think it's still important to be conscious about my choices and how I am feeling. I do miss getting drunk and being silly with my girlfriends, but honestly we are silly without the booze so I just miss my friends. Moving is something I have done many times as an adult - I left college in Georgia and hopped over to Austin for my first job, quickly moved to Seattle and now I've landed myself in San Diego. All the logistics and effort associated with a big move plus the excitement of change and newness keeps my mind occupied for the first few months but now I'm creeping up on a year after my pandemic move and am still building social connections. I am in a book club and we have some great couple friends, most people we are hooked up with down here have small children, or are in different phases of life! Girlfriends are really important to my health and happi

What's the opposite of a hangover? Whatever it might be, that's how I feel! My girlfriends wedding this weekend in Santa Barbara was so lovely and not one single person noticed I wasn’t drinking alcohol the entire time. Two of the cousins were pregnant (sweet sisters I've known for years and years, our family ties goes back 3 generations) so being not drinking at this stage of life, I typically have more company than if I attempted this in my 20s. It's interesting that Alec and I both realized not a single person asked what we did for a living - I swear we were extremely social! In Seattle it's quite noticeable how many people ask the 'What do you do for work?' question right away when getting acquainted with someone. Wedding attendees were from all over, but primarily in from Southern California or New York state. Most conversations started with 'Who do you know, bride or groom?' then landed on discussing what part of the country you lived in and sw

 Alec and I just took a late Friday afternoon swim in the Pacific Ocean and WOW did that feel FANTASTIC! The water is usually colder but today it felt just right - cool enough for you to approach it timidly for a few minutes, until the waves call your name and the thoughts of fun, swimming, nature, excitement take over and cold is the feeling at the bottom of the list. Funny how at first I was so worried about being cold that I almost completely passed up the opportunity to feel joy, elation, play and do something that I love to do. When you are a little kid you wouldn't think TWICE about jumping straight into the ocean! I also got my haircut this afternoon (for the first time since February 2020 lol) and I was using that as a lame excuse to keep my head above water. The sound  you hear when you dive under the ocean is so magical, and then when you blow air bubbles out of your nose and they bubble around your face and make a deep glunk noise - I think I just described the sound of

This morning I woke up in my own bed, which is always a sweet sweet feeling after a trip… but now that I am a homeowner, it's even MORE satisfying! Our flight was at 9pm out of Puerto Vallarta and we didn't make it back to the house until midnight, a late itinerary that would historically make me groan and roll my eyes, cursing my plans that didn't account for my post vacay state of exhaustion/hangover. HOWEVER, after two weeks off the bottle I was calm, relaxed, dare I say peaceful?! Not even crying babies, dead cellphones or an empty gas tank could shake me! Yesterday on the beach I started the book 'Unwasted: My Lush Sobriety' by Sacha Scoblic. Across a few chapters she digs into the concept of getting back to who you were in childhood, what hopes and dreams the tiny version of y-o-u had for yourself and evaluating your present life situation against those youthful anticipations about the future. That's something I've been thinking about quite a bit in 20

 Today is the two week mark of no alcohol, including 7 days on vacation in Mexico. It was a more relaxing trip than I expected - this is the third year we've come on this trip with more or less the same group and this week was much more restorative than years past. Usually we party all day at the pool and keep the Mezcal pouring until midnight but a combination of things contributed to a more low key vacation. Alas, we are getting older so there were 3 couples with children with nap times and bed times to mind. It does feel like we are all still weary and hungover from the pandemic - small talk and new environments take shocking amounts of effort to adapt to. This week I spent a lot of time alone, which I do crave large amounts of time I can spend reading, meditating, doing yoga, but I have been itching for some excitement and adrenaline. Al had a great idea yesterday - I mentioned I want to start long distance swimming for exercise and he said I should start playing beach volleyba

I had an epiphany! Midway through a glorious facial treatment on my back-to-back double spa day doozy, I realized I can't be the healthy girl I strive so hard to be and also be a drunk party girl at the same time - all of the toxins and hangovers are the antithesis of being happy and healthy in the mind body and soul. Time seems to move slower whilst sober, and that's a good thing. I'm breaking the habit of treating myself like a productivity machine counting and allocating every moment towards 'what I should be doing' or feeling guilty if I was being totally lazy (note there is a difference between relaxing and hungover laziness - I fully support relaxing and now I have more time to relax which to me is idle time with energy). The pandemic certainly changed my perception of time and how I want to spend it. One of the women on the trip quoted a common philosophy on motherhood 'the days are long but the years are fast' and to me that resounds with truth. Four

 Viva la Mexico! After a pretty straight forward travel day yesterday (aside from TSA being very confused and upset about a Theragun massage tool our friend tried to carry-on) we made it to Mexico! This is the fourth time we've spent the Fourth of July holiday week at The W Punta de Mita - it's a fantastic hotel, beautiful jungle landscaping located right on a surf break north of Puerto Vallarta. I slept in until almost 10:30 AM (thanks to my lovely sleeping pills my psychiatrist prescribes). Luckily, Latin America supports my late-sleeper lifestyle and breakfast is served until noon - green juice and all! We walked along to beach to breakfast and from a distance the birthday boy and his partner saw me carrying a red object they assumed was a Yeti full of Mezcal - alas, it was my tiny Kindle Oasis aka my newest appendage. It was a rainy morning, partly why I slept in thanks to the lovely sound of tropical rain pattering on the roof pit pat drip drop snooooze. Time to hit the be