Sober Girl Summer
Here’s a hot take: I love going out…sober. That’s right - I said it. Stone cold, sober AF. I don’t have to worry about a hangover, bloating, or my feet swelling because I am not repeatedly dumping poison in my body to be more of a social creature. Now, don’t get me wrong: I love a nice, ice-cold drink. Tequila and I were twin flames in a past life, and about 3 months ago we had to go our separate ways. Since being a Sober Sally is still taboo, I want to shed some light on what it’s like to be in your mid-twenties, living in NYC, and not partaking in an activity that almost everyone seems to enjoy: drinking.
In 2017, I had the privilege of studying abroad in one of the most beautiful places on Earth that is very near and dear to me. My mothers birthplace: La República de Cuba. My family fled Cuba when my mother was a baby and had most of their possessions seized by the Castro regime. For me, this trip was a once-in-a-lifetime experience as I was the first person from my family to go to Cuba since they left. At this point, you’re probably thinking to yourself, “WTF does this have to do with you not drinking?” If you are of Cuban descent or know anyone that is, then you know that we love to drink. The liquid gold Cuban rum runs through our veins and if you’re not living under a rock, in my unbiased opinion, then you know that Cuba has the best rum…PERIOD.
While I was in Cuba, I inevitably indulged in my fair share of Havana Club rum and was even able to bring a few bottles back for my close friends and family. Unfortunately, I was not exactly able to properly enjoy my rum stash as I contracted E. coli towards the end of my trip, and my life and stomach have been flipped upside down ever since. Once I returned back to the U.S., I spent that summer in and out of the hospital, yet I was still trying to keep up with my friends who were all enjoying their first summer as legal drinkers. Eventually, I was diagnosed with “Indeterminate Colitis” or IBD, in addition to already having PCOS, and have spent the past five years trying to rehabilitate my body to a state of normalcy ever since.
Hence, the decision to cut back on alcohol. It’s been a process and I have done a bit of trial and error for extended periods of time. A few months without drinking, a few months drinking socially here and there. The problem for me is that when I drink, my recovery is a week or more long. I’m not talking about your typical hangovers. I’m talking like, I can’t fit into my pants, my cheeks look like a chipmunk at a Thanksgiving feast and my feet look like a 9-month-old pregnant lady’s. Basically, I look like the Veruca Salt blueberry version of myself, which is the version that I have normalized up until now. It wasn’t until I stopped drinking and stopped eating like sh*t that I finally understood that all of these inflamed features weren’t how I naturally look (minus my big cheeks); they were actually my body reacting poorly to what I was consuming.
As a mid-twenty-something living in Brooklyn, it’s hard to feel like most of the social activities here don’t revolve around drinking - because let’s be honest, they do. When you tell people you don’t drink, they assume that you’re an alcoholic or that you have a drinking problem. Whether that is the case or not, it shouldn’t f*cking matter. Someone's decision to not drink should be normalized and I am making it my personal mission to make Sober Girl (or Human) Summer sexy no matter the season. It’s giving hot, healthy, and healing - what’s not to love?! I’ve never felt so good in my own skin knowing that I no longer need to consume alcohol to be my authentic self or for the comfort of others.
So the next time you’re thinking about not drinking for a while, give it a go and remember that there’s nothing sexier than taking care of yourself, being high off life, and actually remembering what the hell happened the morning after a crazy night.
Cheers!
