I came, I saw, I conquered and I partied sober bitches.

Ever been out clubbing sober?

I have been out in the last month or so twice and I did not drink or take drugs.

 

The first night out was in a dingy “club” in Gosport where dreams come to die. It’s called ‘Emma’s’. Don’t go.

Anyway, I went out with my aunty who loves a good night out when she’s not being a full time mum to her two young children. Despite not being too bothered whether my aunty drank alcohol, we decided to both be sober. Firstly, we headed to a pub and we bought an energy drink. In fact, we had two energy drinks and sang our hearts out to Christina Aguilera’s Dirrrrrty! After a while, we headed to the local club. This is where it gets interesting.

So to set the scene:

Sticky floors, bad disco lights, a wall to wall packed sweaty room with the ratio of men being way higher than women. Everyone was absolutely wasted. In all honesty, you have to be to go there. I looked around the room and saw the usual faces. Nevertheless, make the best out of a bad situation. We danced, we sang, we were given blackcurrant squash for free and then we left. We got a subway, got a taxi, went to bed and woke up happy and hangover-less. Fabulous.

The second time I went out sober was Saturday night. However, this was with my best friend of over 10 years and we grew up together discovering alcohol, trying alcohol, abusing alcohol and basically partying for a really long time. So to go out with my best friend sober was absolutely terrifying. It made me miss the old times and for a minute, it made me question my choices. But I knew that my best friend supported my decision. I would be mad if I had a drink and it wasn’t worth ruining 5 weeks of sobriety for a couple of hours losing my mind.

We got dressed up whilst dancing to Beyonce and we headed out for town. We went to a pub which played the most awesome throwback tunes and we sang our hearts out whilst awkwardly dancing sat down. I had a tropical redbull and my friend had a double vodka and lemonade. Buzzing.

We had three rounds and then left for Revenge; possibly my favourite club in Brighton. Full of straight, gay, lesbian, bisexual, transexual, you name it. There is no judgement in revenge and the music is as fabulous as the drag queen walking around in 6 inch heels.

The music was just what we wanted and what we needed. Cheesy throwback pop tunes to fill you with empowering thoughts and happy memories. We danced for a long time and had another 2 rounds in the club. Then around 2am, which is early for drunk people but late for sober people, we headed out to get food. We got a subway, jumped on the bus and headed home. We woke up the next day, got up and spent the day looking around Brighton and enjoying the day. It was such a good weekend!

I have to say that these are the only two nights that I can honestly say I have enjoyed. There is a 90% chance of waking up in the morning after an alcohol infused night out and regretting it. I can’t remember the last time I went out drinking and truly enjoyed myself and these two times, I had a blast.

So here are a few things I have learnt from partying sober:

• Clubs are hunting grounds. Guys tend to stand around the edges watching the girls dancing and getting more drunk. Taking off your beer goggles and watch! It’s fascinating.
• Alcohol really does make people more attractive. Self explanatory really.
• Drinks are either free or pennies if it is not alcoholic. This is my favourite.
• It doesn’t really matter what you look like, it matters how drunk you are. The girls who were more wasted looked more vulnerable and there were approached by the most guys.
• You can still ‘break the seal’. I don’t know if it was the amount of water and red bull I was drinking but damn, I still needed the toilet a lot.
•  No one notices if you are sober which is great if you are worried about being judged.
• Your make-up and hair still looks great at the end of the night. Always great for selfies!
• You are less likely to fall over, cry, break something. Normally, I lose things and come home with multiple bruises. The last two nights that I had went out, I came back in one piece with all of my belongings.
• The whole night is cheap. One night cost me £11. This included three drinks, club entry and money towards the taxi back.
• YOU CAN STILL HAVE FUN.

Basically, I loved it. I can enjoy life without alcohol and to finally be able to do that feels fantastic! A weight has been lifted. So, if you were cautious of drunk kelly, get ready for sober kelly ’cause I don’t think you’re ready for this jelly!

 

 

Welcome to Round 2: Sobriety – The After Life

So, on 19/07/2015 I decided to have my first drink in just over 7 months and to be honest, it wasn’t very exciting.

I had been battling with myself during those seven months, wondering when I was to have an alcoholic drink again and I think I had built up this ‘first drink’ into something it most certainly wasn’t!

Don’t get me wrong, I do not regret having a drink. Yes, it would of been nice to complete a years sobriety but I didn’t feel like I needed too.

Having alcohol again feels like I’m in a competition and I’ve made it to the next round. I did what I set out to do. I stopped drinking. I battled with the fact my friends were going out getting drunk. I changed my social life. I made new friends. Most importantly, I got to the point where I realised I didn’t want a drink. I didn’t really miss it. It would reach 5pm on a friday and the last thing I thought of was ‘I need a drink’ and that was when I knew I had won.

NEXT ROUND.

Now, I’ve broken my sobriety and I could have a drink whenever I wanted. Luckily, I still don’t really fancy one. I went camping with my boyfriend and it was amazing. We had a great time but I had this sudden urge to drink. In the past, when I had gone on holiday or it was a big event, I would just think of alcohol. I associated alcohol with fun for such a long time and I guess going away on holiday was just a trigger to my old ways of thinking. I did have a drink on holiday. I had a few. It was nice and it was controlled and I didn’t need to down anything or have an urgency to feel really drunk.

However, having that alcoholic drink didn’t make my night worse and it didn’t make my night better. I felt I could of easily had a mocktail version or something else to drink and I still would of had a great night.

And I did have a good night. Although, there’s always going to be a downside to it:

• the urge to pee through out the night,

• the dehydration which is just irritating

• and the headache I endured for a few hours the next morning. I had a slight headache and I hate headaches. I had a headache after one fruit flavoured cider. I used to drink ten times that amount and some how I didn’t die?

So, my next challenge really is to know when to drink. I’ve decided it comes down to this:

The Situation

Am I celebrating something? Is it a birthday? Or am I drinking because I’ve had a bad day at work?

The Company

Am I in good company? Do these people care about me? Do I feel comfortable drinking around these people? Do I feel peer pressured?

The Mood

What sort of day have I had? If I’m not feeling great, physically and/or mentally, will drinking help?

The Cons

Do I have to get up tomorrow? Can I afford to drink?

By answering these questions, I should be fine. I think I answer them subconsciously anyway. I’m going to be okay and I don’t feel worried at all. Having that drink has actually lifted a massive weight off my shoulders and I feel, from now on, that when I have a drink I am going to enjoy it and appreciate it because it is going to be at the right time for the right reason.