5 Years of Freedom

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5 Years of Freedom

It was just like any other weekend of my crazy 20-something life. Sun, sand, and a plethora of drinks in my hand. Only this time instead of staying up for days at a time and snorting cocaine off my house key in the bathroom, I was with my childhood best friends in the Dominican Republic. I had an incredible amount of anxiety before going on this trip and in a way, I feel like my body and soul already knew, and were preparing me for it. I was worried about doing the right thing and playing the part for everybody.

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Is Sobriety For Me?

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Is Sobriety For Me?

Sobriety is only for drunks, junkies, and AA-goers. Sobriety is only for people who can’t control their alcohol intake and have no other choice but to quit. Those are the ideas I subscribed to my whole life. I think they are ideas that much of society still subscribes to. Other ideas society perpetuates? If you can’t drink alcohol something is wrong with you. Being called an alcoholic is worse than being called a criminal (or equal to?). Sobriety is lame. Sobriety is dumb. Sobriety is unobtainable. Sobriety is not for me.

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My Number One Lesson From 2017

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My Number One Lesson From 2017

2017 was a year of high highs and low lows for me. As with all of my years in life, it didn’t go as planned. I had to readjust my sails. I had to adapt. I had to take in all of the feelings and do my best to navigate through them, even in the roughest of seas. I’ve learned many lessons this year, some hard, some wonderful, and some confusing, and others eye-opening. But there’s one lesson in particular that stood out to me. It’s one that is so important for those of us in recovery and also for the general public to understand.

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A Spiritual Experience Is Messy

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A Spiritual Experience Is Messy

I have always been a girl with an imagination. It’s a blessing and a curse really. I hate scary movies because if I believe it’s possible that it could happen in real life, it becomes too real for my consciousness. Until I was old enough to truly separate imaginary from reality, life was full of fear, but also overwhelming possibility. I remember being crushed when I found out Santa Claus wasn’t real. I remember using the Ouija board to communicate with my dead relatives at the age of 12. Call me crazy, but deep down inside even as a child, I felt intuitively special. I felt in touch with my inner voice. My sister and I still joke around about how I said I had psychic abilities because there were times when I would predict the phone would ring before it did.

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When Gratitude Feels Overwhelming

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When Gratitude Feels Overwhelming

Grateful. Gratitude. Thankful. These are words we hear often in the English language, especially in November. But also in recovery. And there are good reasons for both of these phenomena. Gratitude is empowering and wonderful and it can change your outlook on life. Many argue it should be a daily practice, whether you’re in recovery or not.

Growing up I was the opposite of grateful. I felt entitled. I felt like I deserved certain things and I think this was because of the hand I’d been dealt throughout the years. Bad luck, surgeries, trauma, hardships. The least the world could do was give me what I deserved right?

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40 Ups & Downs in 4 Years of Sobriety

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40 Ups & Downs in 4 Years of Sobriety

I hope this day in the history of my life is just as important to me 20 years from now, as it is today. It can be a painful memory to recall. No one likes to admit that their life is a mess, that they lost control, or that they cannot moderate their drinking no matter how hard they try. Before May 7, 2013 I worked incredibly hard at making it seem like I had it all together. I had a job, I could pay my rent, I had a boyfriend, I was living in one of the most fabulous cities in the world. Everyone thought I was living the dream, when deep down inside I had a hole in my soul.

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Why I Don't Hate 2016 And You Shouldn't Either

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Why I Don't Hate 2016 And You Shouldn't Either

Ok, I've already heard all I need to about the year 2016. Everyone is coming out with their yearly reflections, New Year's resolutions, and hate-filled posts about how shitty this past year was. I won't lie to you, 2016 was the pits. Personally, I don't think it was a horrible year in comparison to other years I've lived through in my life. But for the world, for the U.S. government, and for ideas and morals like love and tolerance, we've been knocked down once again. I could sit here and list all the shitty things that happened in 2016.

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Every Day is Christmas When You're in Recovery

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Every Day is Christmas When You're in Recovery

Wow, this year was a whirlwind, but I won't go into all that right now. I'll save that talk for next week when I'm reflecting on a new year coming up. This week I wanted to talk about the holidays. I've already offered practical advice for staying sober during the holidays, how Christmas is much different for me now that I'm sober, and why you should be grateful in recovery. I have to stop and think about how when I drank I always wanted it to be some other day of the year. I was always waiting, for the next party, the next happy hour, the next bag of cocaine, the next birthday, the next celebration, or the next holiday. It was a waiting game.

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10 Non-Alcoholic Holiday Drinks To Enjoy That Aren't Mocktails

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10 Non-Alcoholic Holiday Drinks To Enjoy That Aren't Mocktails

The holiday season is in full swing and you're probably being bombarded by holiday party invitations, ads that include Christmas cocktails and wine bingeing, and if you're really lucky, a secret Santa gift that includes some sort of drinking paraphernalia. Ah, it ain't easy being sober folks. But that's why I'm here to give you some seasonal drink ideas to cure your "Am I the only one who doesn't drink?" feeling.

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My Experience As A Sober Bachelorette

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My Experience As A Sober Bachelorette

I just realized I've been so behind on posting this month. This month has been a doozie. The last post I published was in the aftermath of the election and let me tell you, that wound is still open. It's been hard to function, to go about everyday life, and find hope to carry on. This was especially hard for my bachelorette party which had been planned for months to occur on the weekend after the election. In my ideal mind, we would be celebrating my upcoming nuptials as well as the election of the first woman present. It was like I had been holding my breath for three months and I was hoping I'd finally be able to feel some relief and de-stress with my best friends.

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Are Curious Elixirs The Future Of Partying Sober?

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Are Curious Elixirs The Future Of Partying Sober?

When I got sober I wanted to blend in. I wanted to still be at all the parties and nightclubs and still socialize like I was so used to doing. But when you're used to having alcohol in your hand at all times, how do you make that switch? At first, I had water, sparkling water, or soda in hand at all times. Over the last 3.5 years, I've evolved and I don't go out as much, but the feeling of being included at a bar, restaurant, event, or any other place where alcohol is being served is still a desire. I think this is one of the main fears and hurdles of getting sober.

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How To Ask For Help When You Don't Want To

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How To Ask For Help When You Don't Want To

Asking for help is something no one ever wants to do. Especially when it comes to addiction. For me, it has always been hard to ask for help. My ego has always been in the way. Growing up I was scared I would look stupid in school if I asked questions everyone already knew the answer to. It was one of my biggest fears and it led to me getting behind in some subjects because I wouldn't speak up when I didn't understand. I was terrified of looking and feeling stupid because then I would believe that I really was stupid.

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Being Open About Sobriety Got Me An Award

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Being Open About Sobriety Got Me An Award

This week I had the pleasure of attending the Moments of Change conference that comes to Palm Beach, Florida each year via the Foundations Recovery Network. I arrived at the beautiful Breakers Resort on Sunday and stayed until Tuesday. I've attended in past years and always look forward to listening, learning, and networking with people in in the treatment and recovery industry.

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Join Me For She Recovers NYC Event in 2017

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Join Me For She Recovers NYC Event in 2017

I have exciting news! You may already be aware of this news if you follow my Facebook page, but I wanted to write a more informative post about what's going to be happening in May 2017. She Recovers is hosting a 3-day conference in New York City and I will be in attendance! Not only will I be in attendance, but I will be part of the official sober blogger team and panel along with 11 other inspiring recovery bloggers. I hope many of you will be able to join me! Here are the details.

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When You Become An Inspiration By Accident

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When You Become An Inspiration By Accident

Did you know that during the first four months of this blog's existence I was too scared to write a post about sobriety? You can go back to the beginning and see for yourself. Even though the name of this blog was always Sober Señorita, I wasn't sure how to go about addressing the "sober" part. For the first few months, I concentrated on the señorita part, talking about my life in Cancun, my experiences living as an American girl in Mexico, and how very different it all was. If I'm honest I didn't talk about my sobriety because, 1. I wasn't 100 percent positive I was going to stay sober and 2. I didn't know what to say about it.

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Generation Found: The Youth Recovery Revolution

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Generation Found: The Youth Recovery Revolution

At the end of this week I was in Orlando for work and had planned my trip around an event hosted by Advanced Recovery Systems. The event was the screening of a new film by Greg Williams called Generation Found. Just a little background, Greg Williams is the man behind the amazing film The Anonymous People, a film about the addiction epidemic that is currently plaguing the U.S. That film also encouraged everyone in recovery to openly tell their story.

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5 Unusual Things That Keep Me Sober

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5 Unusual Things That Keep Me Sober

After a few conversations last week with fellow sober women including my sponsee, I got to thinking, there are some absurd things that keep me sober. There are a lot of things that keep me sober: my recovery program, exercise, my health, my relationship, and being an aunt to my nephews, just to name a few. But the following reasons are somewhat untraditional and it’s possible not everyone can relate. In sobriety everyone has their own story, that’s what makes it so important that everyone shares their experience, strength, and hope. On some days here are the absurd things that keep me sober.

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Making Amends in Vermont and a Visit To Bill W’s House

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Making Amends in Vermont and a Visit To Bill W’s House

This past week I traveled to Vermont with my family. Vermont is a place I’ve been going to since I was a baby. I have family there and we have a very special house there called Irish Hill Farm – my grandma’s farm to be exact and before her, it belonged to her mother and so on. The house is a symbol of my childhood and reminds me so much of my grandma. Her spirit will live on there forever and her ashes were scattered in the backyard up on the mountain.

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Book Review: Sober Stick Figure by Amber Tozer

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Book Review: Sober Stick Figure by Amber Tozer

Reading literally saved my life. What do I mean by that? I mean when I got sober in 2013 I had a lot of time to myself and the internet was my friend. I read addiction and recovery information, blogs, memoirs, and any other kind of book I could get on my kindle while living in Cancun. I still read as much as I can, but I hardly give reading the attention it deserves on this blog. But that’s going to change. I want to share with all of you books that have made an impact on my life, ones that I couldn’t put down, and ones that I simply enjoyed.

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