Alcohol is as integral to Thanksgiving as the turkey and the pie. It’s no wonder that I, and all of my clients approached this holiday with trepidation or outright anxiety. But rest assured I’ve got you covered with a comprehensive plan that covers mindset shifts, how to prepare, what to bring, how to answer questions about not drinking, and the essential step not to skip after it’s over. Read this ahead of the holiday and pick and choose the parts that speak to you.

I crack up about articles like this one in the NY Times, Is Non-Alcoholic Beer and Wine Healthier For You? What most of us read into that headline is, oh ok, there’s obviously a big question mark so they’re probably going to tell me that there are some additives or sugar or crazy things that make NA beverages just as unhealthy as alcohol, right?! The big question that is hanging in the silence though is… “healthier than what?!”

So what are we to think when we see articles defending wine (like this one written by a renowned wine writer)?? Some of her argument — and that of others I've seen — centers on the World Health Organization report that stated that their is no safe level of alcohol.. I've said before that these critics generally miss the point.

Lasting habit change requires more than just the typical sober october approach. Humans do things for a benefit, so my new program, Luscious 30, is focused on making this adventure about finding MORE in your life AF, not less. Together we’ll 1) identify and poke holes in our long-held beliefs about alcohol, 2) learn the science of habits and how new ones are formed 3) get pumped up about what we’re saying yes to when we say no to a drink!

I’ve yet to see an article that focuses mainly on alcohol’s impact on motivation, mood, confidence, stronger boundaries, contentedness, cognitive function, strength of human connection, emotional resiliency, reaching goals, vibrancy, energy, and just feeling better in one’s skin!

I’m happily AF……NOT because a newspaper article or a statistic scared me straight.

I’m AF because I feel prouder, calmer, clearer, happier, healthier, and more joyful this way. I’ll let you know as soon as I see an article that captures all that!!

Attitudes about alcohol are shifting in France too; check out my guide to being AF in Paris (and you can hire me to be your guide or plan your trip); wine country tourism around the world is catching on to courting no and low drinkers; AND from NPR, perhaps we weren’t the moderate drinkers we thought.

In the wine business, I grew to dislike the phrase, Rosé All Day as a marketing slogan. I mean it was just promoting over-drinking, right. Here though, is a great NA rosé that would be a delight at any time of day. I’d love this for a picnic or on summer evenings. Plus the Ted Lasso of beers, a new NA from Dax Sheppard and friends. And news about the retailer Boisson, shuttering its retail stores.

We’re seeing a shift in this perception, but for the longest time, our world view has been that the “normal drinker” is the person that keeps drinking, even perhaps quite a lot, while the sober curious person or the person who is trying to cut back is deemed the one with the problem. Crazy, right?! We will only ever see part of the drinking of others. If you “pre-gamed”, topped up when no one was looking, drank when you got home from events or ever drank more than you intended, perhaps others do too.

Our brains might be quick to protest, “I’ll think about delight when I have time.” But far from a frivolous “extra,” delight is an antidote to loneliness and the ultimate way to practice being fully present. So this has enormous implications on the journey of questioning alcohol.

And you know what really numbs you from listening to your own information? Alcohol. I was drowning my wisdom. Our wisdom is there. We just have to create moments of stillness to pay attention, to tune in, to listen.
Your way in is your way out. The message in the painting led me into the wine business and when I was ready and still enough, it led me out.

🙌 My top game-changer of the month is this new public service announcement from Oregon Health Authority, Rethink the Drink, - a spot called Why in which a little girl asks if drinking is good for her father since he has just told her it's not good for her. I'm all about it because it is based on curiosity and asking questions, not scaring, preaching or guilting.

A typical Dry January feels good…for a very short while.
Lasting habit change requires more than just the typical dry january approach. There’s lots more, in my new course Luscious AF.

In this program, I’m offering the essential 3C’s (content, coaching and community) from January through end of March so that you feel very solid for an empowered 2024.

When we’re drinking less or not at all, how do we get over that old saw…that long-baked belief that alcohol = holiday indulgence, celebration and largesse?
One of my secrets to freedom was to double-down on the pursuit of sensory pleasures in the realm of wining and dining, not to retreat from them. Food can be fun, playful, joyful, indulgent, decadent, sensuous, exciting, daring, loving!! It involves our senses of touch, vision, smell, taste and hearing (I did a recording of the crackling of my morning baguette!! ). It can involve a challenge, a new culture or tradition, and even a friendly competition....fun to consider for the holidays!

Can you find a good, not too sweet sparkler for $4/bottle? Yes, and it’s been around for a while. Target announced it will carry Ghia and other popular and trending NA brands. Mel Robbins is advertising for Athletic Brewing. Lewis Hamilton, Formula One race car driver, is loving sobriety and has a new tequila. Ghia, founded by the French-born but LA dwelling Melanie Masarin, has introduced its first non-bitter aperitif. And a fave recent podcast with good news about our brains and dementia, for a change!! Plus so much more!!

You deserve a juicy life, not a dry one! For my brand-new 13-module video course, I’m leaning into my background as a winemaker/importer and right-hand to Food Network chefs to serve up new ingredients to help you shift mindsets, slay old beliefs about alcohol and take a bigger bite out of life! I’m talking about how doubling-down on sensory experiences allows us to calm anxious brains, increase connection, keep deprivation at bay, and cultivate a sense of delight, play, and joy.

The more we train our brain to notice small delights, the more it will. But where and how do we start? We can look up, look down, or turn over a new leaf so to speak. Turning over a new leaf....who says that you can't have a romantic dinner without wine? At Pétrelle in Paris, our sommelier/server enthusiastically informed us of an elegant, very dry kombucha made not of fermented tea but of fermented fig leaves. Very sexy. And delicious!

Join my free Masterclass to discover and share ideas about how this could be the season of big bold flavor, both literally and figuratively?
What if instead of feeling anxious about how to have an AF holiday, we could actually double-down on making sure to serve ourselves from a buffet of colorful, joyful, luscious flavors, activities and rituals that would leave us feeling playful, replenished and alive?

My review of the Zero Proof Experiences event in Maine last week is probably just what the organizers dreamed of. I made new connections and I got out of my comfort zone. I laughed harder than I’ve laughed in a long time (including about some things that went wrong and that’s ok!) and I cried, having vulnerable conversations with some old and new friends. I tried ecstatic dance which actually felt trippy and both relaxing and energizing at the same time which was kind of cool.

Does it sound like an oxymoron, or too hard to imagine, that you can have a blast in Wine Country without drinking alcohol?!? I hear you! I was born and raised on the good eats and party culture of New Orleans. I worked for Food Network chefs. Chef Emeril Lagasse cooked my wedding rehearsal dinner. And I spent twenty-five years making, serving and drinking wine. Now I teach my clients how to reclaim spaces that they have loved and to use all five senses to create rich new associations with those places…new associations that are lush and full-bodied, but that are entirely zero-proof! Wine Country is a lush landscape, a back road, a way of life, a mood, an experience. It’s always been more than what’s in one’s glass.

For readers in the Portland area, I’ve organized a meet-up at Wilderton, the nation’s first-ever AF distillery and tasting room. It’s located in the recreational paradise known as Hood River, OR, just across the Columbia River from where I spend the summer in White Salmon, WA. On Sunday, August 27th, we’ll get a free, private tour (and fun science lesson) of the distillery plus a tasting of three spirits, both neat and with mixers.