Ok, so after a night of binge drinking (and mimosas at brunch) I decide to stop drinking. The very next day, my husband leaves for a business trip and I am left alone with the children. Now, I know I mentioned how supportive he is so I feel compelled to mention here that he offered to cancel his business trip, even though it is an important one. I just didn’t see the utility in him staying. After all, I never drink when he travels so there will be nothing to worry about (obviously I had not yet had the revelation that I need help/support from people when I made this decision). Anyway, he had removed all the wine and beer from the house so that nothing would tempt me. The liquor cabinet stayed intact because I never drink hard alcohol. I actually think it is a laziness factor. The thought of having to figure out a mixer for anything just seems so labor intensive. I can’t be bothered. I digress.
Back to my point… So I am now left with the, “what do I drink now?” question. I am obsessed with finding a replacement beverage. Which is super weird because it’s not like I was a regular day drinker and I usually drink about a gallon of water a day but, for some reason, I had to have every beverage accounted for. Do I try new funky teas? Flavored sparkling? What? Well, I can’t drink caffeine (at least not a lot) and I don’t like soda so that eliminates a few options. I usually have one cup of decaf coffee in the morning, so that is ok. Then my gallon of water across the day but what happens when it’s time to get dinner ready and I would normally pour a glass of wine?
I decided to go with regular fizzy water. But that didn’t seem to cut it. So I poured it into a wine glass. That was slightly better but wasn’t quite hitting the spot. Trying to think of what I could do to make it more appealing (short of making it actual wine), I remembered a drink I had every day during my one and only ever cleanse experience: tart cherry juice concentrate in Pellegrino. I actually had the ingredients so I made it in my wine glass. Much better – and, aside from all the health benefits, it even looked like red wine! Winner!
Now, mind you, the experience here is a slightly tart and odd flavored water with bubbles. So how on earth is this satisfying? Well, I realized that eliminating alcohol is not the only thing I need to do. I need to replace the habit. Much the way no form of nicotine gum, patch, or blowdart was going to help me quit smoking. If it not for vapers, I would have never quit. When the urge came over me, I needed the act of smoking a cigarette. So, with minimal or no nicotine, my vapor got me to quit smoking. I still break it out every now and again and it does the trick. So, having a beverage in my wine glass that looked like wine seemed to do the same.
But, wait! It’s not over yet.
The next night, while walking around my kitchen, high-fiving myself for finding the complete key to my sobriety (you would be surprised how often I have this thought), I noticed an extra bottle in the wine rack.
I know that earlier I mentioned that all the wine & beer was removed so I should clarify… We keep 3 bottles of wine in our wine rack that can not be drunk – because they are not drinkable. One is a bottle of blueberry wine given to my husband by his best friend who since passed away. One is from a friend’s wedding and I think made in LI. Never drinking that but it was a great wedding so we keep it as a reminder. And one a friend gave me for my 40th with a custom label. That one is empty because, despite her warning to never drink it, I did try. She was right. Not drinkable. But I keep the bottle as a fun memory.
So, what was this extra bottle? It was a bottle of non-alcoholic cabernet. My first thought was that it was a passive aggressive F-U from my husband. Once I got over being pissed about that, I thought I would give it a try. A little fruity. Not the caliber of cab I usually enjoy, but I think it could work. This could open a whole new world to me. Not only will I be able to satisfy my habit while eliminating alcohol but I can also probably keep the fact that I am not drinking quieter for much longer. What could possibly go wrong?