Spirits, Squirrels & Self-Care

Happy Sober October!

Welcome new members who are doing The Last 90 Day Challenge! 

You can join us until the end of the week and then the offer will expire. 

To kick off  a successful Sober October, I have a 15% off discount code for you to use in person or online at Kindred Spirits Bottle Shop. Use code: ditchedthedrink on your order and stock an alcohol-free bar for the holidays.

I met the female bottle shop owner, Marlys, while in Sober in the City, Seattle. We instantly connected and wanted to support each other. 

Immoxicated, an alcohol-free bar and bottle shop in Wisconsin, the place I wrote about for Wine Enthusiast Magazine, just closed. Alcohol-free bar and bottle shop owners are pioneers. I want to support their efforts and see them succeed.

Join me if you can. Kindred Spirits has a great curated selection, including Luminara wine, which is a hard-to-find favorite of mine and sells out fast so you know they have great taste!

My big news this week is that a squirrel was INSIDE my house THREE times. He chewed through my screen door, my screen window AND another screen window on the OTHER side of the house. 

Can you say aggressive???

My dog Rocky has one job: to protect me from squirrels and he is failing miserably at it. 🙄

Someone told me I had to name the squirrel because everyone has a squirrel they name, so I named him Bullwinkle, which I know is a moose, but Rocky was already taken so it seemed obvious to me.

Then I looked up the spiritual meaning of squirrel.

If you have the squirrel in your life, it means that you are about to come into a time of personal growth and change. It could be a good time to try out some new things, meet new people and get rid of old habits. The squirrel also encourages you to trust your instincts and stay true to what really makes you happy.

This is a really beautiful sign for a really pesky problem. Someone said my house must smell so good. LOL.

To get revenge, I went to the arboretum to take a walk through Bullwinkle's house to see how he liked it and well, we've decided to switch places. I found the most perfect tree for my dream tree hole home, where I will sit in a rocker and sip tea for the rest of the season.

I am teasing, but I do love the idea. If I can't really live in the woods, I am going to do the next closest thing I can think of, and that is to take an extended social media break and spend more time outside off my phone.

I LOVE social media and I also LOVE to take breaks. I wrote about it here. This blog will lead you to other blogs about social media, addiction, and more. I am using the spiritual symbol of the squirrel to get rid of an old habit and sharing with you because when I've done this before people have worried about me and I want you to know, I am okay, just taking a break as I periodically do.

I need more time off my phone and into the woods during my favorite season. Speaking of, while I was there the other day, I also spotted a bench in memory of someone named Marlys Smith. Since this name was new to me and I had probably walked past this bench before without noticing, I sent my new friend Marlys of Kindred Spirits a picture of it. She replied that the person she was named after was her mom's best friend, Maryls Smith. 

How beautiful is that?

I'll be sending my weekly newsletter, publishing my weekly podcast, and hosting and connecting on the Insider community app during my social media break so join me over there or feel free to set up a call with me.

Speaking of...the latest podcast episode just dropped with Guest Celeste Yvonne, author of It's Not About The Wine. We have a candid and raw discussion about the mental load of motherhood, raising kids with special needs, fierce advocacy, and self-care. Listen here. 

I love to hear from you! Tell me if you've done Sober October before and if you are giving it a try this year so I can cheer you on! 

Last 90 days, let's finish strong 💪