Shamrockfest Sober?

Hey friends,

So thus far I have endured you basic social scenes that may involve drinking: happy hours, bars at night, dinner parties, and a bachelorette party. But I have yet to attend an event that is essentially primarily based on hardcore drinking...an event that I would (before) only consider attending hammered. So I bought a ticket for Shamrockfest. Shamrockfest is a mecca for drinking...and I feel that this will be an ultimate test for Erica vs. Alcohol....in the gauntlet. If I can survive 9 hours of everyone boozing hard and me trying to maintain sanity and have a good time, then I guess the next true test will be my bachelorette party or wedding, which are far far down the road. I have a good feeling about this though!

Recently I haven't really been jealous of people drinking or felt left out that I wasn't drinking. For instance, the other night I was at a friends house and they were drinking beers but we were basically all just hanging out. Now, Old Me would have been pressed to take shots and up the level of drinking with the purpose of most certainly going to the bars. And if we didn't end up going out, Old Me would have been upset that I wasted the calories of beer on a beat night. BUT, New Me found a good time in hanging out with friends...something that I think I had lost the appreciation for before. So at the end of the night, I was glad we didn't go out, I had a good time just chillin and not spending money, and I woke up the next day not hungover.

Unfortunately I have basically been sick ever since I quit drinking (coincidence??) so I haven't really been able to notice the "health" benefits or anything from staying sober. But friends did comment that my improved 5k time was probably because I was healthier (and maybe because I weigh less). But once I am not sick anymore, I am really looking forward to just feeling better in general.

I am still struggling to figure out what I like to do though...? I like music but I can't afford to go to concerts all the time, I like hiking and walking along the water but it's too cold, and I used to like just drinking and being silly...now I need to find that silly part of me and bring it out in sober Erica. Hmm...

XOXO
Blue