I don't know who needs to hear this, but just because it's another heavily marketed drinking holiday doesn't mean you have to drink. Let's be honest we can use any day to justify our drinking. But I bet many of us used holidays to cover up how much we were really drinking. On holidays it's acceptable to get drunk, act like a hot mess, and stroll into work on Tuesday, barely able to function. Or is it? When did it become acceptable to get so intoxicated that it's funny? IT IS NOT FUNNY. ❌ When college students are dying from hazing incidents involving alcohol, it is not funny. ❌ When more young ..read more

? You wake up feeling guilty. ? You only intend to have "one" glass of wine but finish the bottle. ? You tell yourself you're going to take a break from drinking for 30 days, but then 5 days in, you go back to drinking. ? You don't remember putting the kids to bed. ? Your day revolves around when you'll be able to have your next drink. ? You are self-medicating. The bottom line is if you're on this page or you are questioning your relationship with alcohol, then you know something is off.  Trust that gentle nudge inside of yourself.  ✨ You know, deep down, something needs to ..read more

Let's be honest, that first year wasn't pleasant, but either was another trip to detox—hard pass on going back to that hell. I always say this to my clients to truly give it a chance. You're not going to feel amazing right off the bat. Kudos if you do, but that's pretty unrealistic. Or maybe you're feeling pretty amazing the first 30 days, and then you start to question. "do I really have to do this for the rest of my life?" which sends you into a spiral of sadness, anxiety, and thoughts of self-destruction. Don't let that inner gremlin sabotage your progress. It takes TIME for everything to c ..read more

I hear this ALL THE TIME. You know what I'm talking about, right? Those thoughts of moderation, and what if I can just have a glass of wine here or there. I'm going to give it to you straight. If you were the type who could moderate or only have one drink here and there, then you wouldn't have questioned your drinking in the first place. Putting restrictions like, "I'm only going to drink on the weekends, or I'm only going to have one glass of wine one night a week," is just messing with your mind. YOU'RE LETTING ALCOHOL CONTROL YOUR LIFE. Wouldn't it be much easier to draw that line in the sa ..read more

Things I DO NOT miss from my drinking days around the holidays. -stocking up on alcohol to make sure I didn't run out. -sneaking and hiding how much I was really drinking. -half-a**ing holiday traditions With today being Good Friday and Sunday being Easter, I was passing the liquor store yesterday, and I was like "man, how great does it feel to not have to worry about buying all the alcohol to make sure I don't run out, and then looking at the cashier like this isn't just for me - it's the holiday!" HOW EXHAUSTING!!!! Seriously how exhausting to keep up this front that there was nothing wrong ..read more

This mindset shift didn't happen overnight, and I, too, couldn't imagine living my life without alcohol. The forever word was too daunting. How am I going to make it through the holidays without alcohol? How am I going to relax after a stressful day? How am I going to feel all my emotions and live to tell about it? But here I am, over 5 years sober, and I have no desire whatsoever to have a drink. I've worked way too hard to give in to a substance that destroyed me. It took me years to build myself back up, and I'll be damned if I'll let a poison take away my happiness, time, and money again ..read more

If you can't take a break from alcohol for 30 days, then you're more reliant on alcohol than you think. So many of us (myself included back in the day) didn't think we had a problem with alcohol. Thoughts of... "I enjoy a glass of wine here or there, but I can go without it." "Yes, I may drink a little more on the weekends, but I'm winding down from a stressful week. No big deal." "Having a whole bottle of wine in one night is totally fine and normal." "I got too drunk because I "forgot" to eat." The list could go on and on with the excuses we give ourselves that we don't have a problem, but I ..read more

The 20 question "Am I An Alcoholic?" survey is a waste of time. If you're questioning your drinking to where you want to take a survey, then it's already enough of a problem to stop. How many of you have googled, "am I an alcoholic" after another drinking disaster? I hear it all the time. And what I want you to know is that if you're questioning your relationship to alcohol to where you have to take a survey, then that's the only validation you need to know that alcohol is negatively impacting your life. Also, you don't have to label yourself as an alcoholic to stop drinking. People who don't ..read more

You don't need a rock bottom to quit drinking, but you do need a wake-up call. You don't have to hit rock bottom to change your relationship with alcohol. That's an old belief that people need to lose everything before they finally quit for good and realize that they have a problem. That notion will have you stuck in this cycle longer than need be and, in the long run, worse off. We all have different journeys and wake-up calls. My wake-up call was the day I walked into detox, but for 3 years, I let myself get to that point. Going back and forth with a few weeks or a month of sobriety and then ..read more

Your kids are lucky to have a mom who is working on herself because she knows she can do better when it comes to her relationship with alcohol. ? Do you know how brave you are to be breaking generational patterns? ? Do you know how brave you are to be going against the grain? ? Do you know how brave you are to be digging into the underlying reasons of why you drink in the first place? ? Do you know how brave you are to be breaking a habit you've relied on for years and some even decades? Mama, you are SO brave. It takes a lot of courage, strength, and putting aside your ego to look at your mis ..read more