THE BLOG

I often get asked, “What is it like to go to a sober retreat?”

I have had many sober retreat experiences, and I’m happy to share my feedback. 

In this blog, I will be reviewing 3 specific retreats: ​​Brave Recovery Coaching, Sober in the City - Zero Proof Experiences, and the SheRecovers Annual Co...

Alcohol-free drinks can be a helpful option for people that are sober or sober curious. However, the appropriateness of alcohol-free drinks depends on several factors:

• What Stage of Sobriety?  In the early stages of sobriety, some individuals may find it best to avoid any beverages that mimic the...

I am in a season of extreme emotions right now. 

My oldest daughter is graduating high school in just a few weeks. She will be moving 6 hours away to go to school (MIZ-ZOU!) in early August. I feel like we are still connected via umbilical cord, so as much as I want her to spread her wings and f...

Last week, I had dinner with some of the sober babes that I met on a sober hiking retreat in Sedona, a month ago.  Most of us live in Chicagoland. From the larger group, four of us were available to get together. We picked the most central spot for dinner. Lucky for me, that landed close to home. 

Yesterday I met Mt. Evans of Colorado up close and personal and accomplished a big goal of mine = to climb a 14K mountain. 

Climbing a mountain is a big feat. 

Climbing a mountain of this elevation is a big feat. 

Climbing a mountain at this elevation, as a 46 year old woman from Chicago, wa...

In an alcohol obsessed society it is so hard to be sober.

As a child growing up in small town Wisconsin I had no alcohol free role models. 

Every adult I knew, minus two family members, drank beer. 

It was my understanding that the two people in my family who no longer drank beer “were a...

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. 

Believe me, sober was the last resort for me....

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 town for my Aunt’s Funeral services at the ...

What do you do on the weekends when you are sober? 

Isn’t it boring?

No.

It’s not. 

It’s relaxing, productive, and fulfilling.

I had no idea how to spend my time when I first quit drinking.

I was antsy, irritated, and annoyed.

Alcohol had removed my ability to find pleasure in anything but a...

When asked what I do, I tell people I help others take a break from alcohol.

Then I launch into a definition of gray area drinking, coaching, and ending the stigma.

People usually respond with, yeah you don’t have to quit forever though, right?

You don’t work with like really bad alcoholics?

The...

Shame on you Big Alcohol.

How dare you market your poison to Mothers.

You are selling us a carefree afternoon with a crisp chardonnay in the sun.

You are selling us a sip to take the edge off a long day.

You are selling us relief from the high stress of parenting.

You are selling us deeper con...

Will I lose weight if I quit drinking?

This is one of my most asked questions.

I can’t guarantee anything about the scale, but I can share my experience.

When I quit drinking, I let myself eat whatever I wanted, with abandon.

I didn’t have a sweet tooth until I gave up alcohol.

Without wine,...

Growing up in Wisconsin, alcohol was omnipresent. 

My parents met in a beer tent. 

I met my husband in a bar. 

I had a lot of fun drinking days with just a few embarrassing moments and a couple of painstaking hangovers sprinkled in between. 

Just like everyone else.

When I became a Mom, I was a...

For a long while, I've struggled with drinking to have fun and drinking to relieve and escape some of the monotony and fatigue of the day-in, day-out routine of working full time as a database developer while also trying to be "everything" for my three young children.

Sometimes a glass of wine see...

A year ago I was between jobs. 

I was interviewing at a few companies. 

I was rising as the top candidate for a few positions. 

The openings were for jobs that I was qualified for and that I had done before.

I was good enough at these jobs.

I visualized myself making a decision about these posi...

One of the greatest gifts of sobriety, for me, has been the ability to feel joy.

This may sound silly, as alcohol is sold as a rip roaring good time.

I had some good times in my drinking days.

The good times, however, were often clouded by my own shame and fear. 

Now that I am sober,  I have re-...

You can live a big, juicy life without alcohol. 

I am 900 days sober and living a brave, and adventurous life. 

Day 1 and Day 900 look completely different. 

On Day 900, I still drink.

I still like to over indulge. 

I love going out and having a good time. 

I don’t need alcohol to do it. 

In...

Sobriety is a lifestyle and it’s the one I’ve always wanted. 

Rosé all day is a lifestyle too and it made me miserable. 

As a drinker, I loved any occasion to make my drinking feel normal.

I loved when other people drank with me.

I loved when other people started the drinking, so it didn’t hav...

“Building Resilience” is a popular term in the self help world. 

I didn’t have a full understanding of what resiliency meant until COVID-19 happened, and social distancing was put in place. 

You see, I’ve spent the past 2+ years building my resilience, by getting sober. 

I basically trained for t...

International Women's Day, March 8th, 2020, is a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women.

The IWD 2020 campaign theme is drawn from the notion of 'Collective Individualism.'

We are all parts of a whole.

Our individual actions, conversations, beh...

If drinking is good for my health then why do I feel like shit after I drink? 

If drinking relaxes me, then why do I feel crippling anxiety after a night of drinking?  

Well friends, I hate to tell you, but your beloved bottle of wine is doing more harm than good.

You know this from your own expe...

I am 2 years away from my last drink.

Looking back, I’d love to tell myself then, what I know now. 

The biggest lesson would be, that I wouldn't always feel the way I felt.

Getting sober was a process.

I had to go through each phase, before I reached the next.

Just because it didn't always fe...

On February 20, 2020 I am celebrating 2 years of sobriety.

Two years ago, I was just existing, robotically going through the motions of life.

Today I really living out my dreams and I look forward to nearly everything. 

My first year getting sober was absolutely epic.

I relearned how to do ever...