100 Dry Days, Cocktails, and Musings on Drinking in Napa

Who else is kind of excited about New Year’s Eve this year? Weird, right? We don’t have any parties to go to, there will be no fireworks, nor celebrations in exotic places, and I am actually ok with that! In 2020 there are no expectations to have “the best night ever”, because it will just be a nice night at home with the nuclear family and our dogs. All those New Year’s Eve celebrations of years past, with all the pressure to have fun…worrying if the party you were paying a lot of money to go to would be the right party, or maybe you should have gone to the other party, wondering what others were doing, etc. New Year’s can be rather stressful for people like me, who suffer from FOMO (Fear of Missing Out)! So, I am actually looking forward to this one, without any of those pressures or expectations. We will make some cocktails (Empress 75’s), drink some fancy champagne, and eat caviar. I have ordered a delicious-sounding menu from the Napa Valley Country Club, and I hope we can play some games - maybe poker, maybe Settlers of Catan, or maybe even charades. The kids want to play a drinking game. I’m a little terrified. I am pretty sure I will be in bed at 12:05.

The excitement I have comes from the idea of a new year and the blank page. 2020 will be behind us. I don’t believe 2021 will be a better year for the world. I have given up on the notion that “next year will be better”, as that has disappointed for the last five years. However, I believe in myself and that I can do better and there are things that are in my control. I can continue to improve myself - kaizen for myself. (Kaizen is the Japanese concept of continuous improvement, in small, consistent increments over a long period of time). I think I want to try to learn Italian, I want to read 21 minutes a day, and I want to try to eat less meat (maybe I will try meatless Mondays?). I will continue to strive to reduce my alcohol intake, and I am going into detail here about my 100 Dry Days goal, as maybe I can entice a few of you to join me!

“I am giving up drinking for a month. Sorry that came out wrong. I am giving up. Drinking for a month.”

In January 2019, I had lunch with my friend Anita and her husband who were back in Napa for a visit. (Note: This couple first retired to Napa around the same time we arrived, but then sold their house after two years and picked up and left for Spain! Her FB posts are full of photos from their deck featuring a glass of Rosé with a blue ocean panoramic background. So jealous!) As we made our way through a boozy lunch, I lamented that living in Napa has not been good for my liver. For some background: when we first moved to Napa over seven years ago, we were in awe of the amount of alcohol people consume here daily. Not just on the weekends but every day. It didn’t take long for us to join their ranks. We live in Napa Valley. We are surrounded by friends who make or sell incredible 95+ point wines for a living, where restaurants have stellar wine lists, and where the entire valley’s livelihood depends on the sale of alcohol. Instead of going on walks or shopping with my girlfriends, we go to lunch and wine tasting. All this to say, it was time to slow down. Anita mentioned that she was in the same position; she has non-stop visitors in Spain and all those gorgeous sunsets that beg for a chilled cocktail. She told me she had set herself a goal of 100 dry days for 2019, not consecutive but total for the year. I absolutely loved this idea, and I told her I would like to join her in this goal. That’s how it started.

Some of you may read this and say, why? Why not just drink, enjoy life, and have fun? Well, for me it is primarily because I want to stay fit - I want to be able to wear my cute outfits, and perform well in Crossfit, Peloton and golf. Now that I have the Whoop (fitness tracker) that tracks my every move, I can see the direct correlation between alcohol consumption and recovery. It’s pretty crazy how alcohol, especially red wine for me, has a direct effect on my resting heart rate, HRV (heart rate variability) and sleep quality. I knew this before, but seeing it in numbers and charts makes it impossible to ignore. Those Red Recovery Days are occurring much too frequently for me to achieve my fitness goals. I also know that when I drink, I indulge more, I eat more calories than I should, and have an extra unnecessary cocktail.

Tracking 100 Days -its much better with friends!

When Anita told me about her goal, I immediately asked her how she was tracking? Did she use an app or was it part of a program she had joined? I know that half the battle is accountability. Since she didn’t have any tracking system in place yet, we started a shared Note on the iPhone, and that has proven to be a fine solution. It isn’t super high tech, but it works! Since those early days, I have had a few friends join in (and a few drop out as well). It isn’t for everyone, but it works for me.

In 2019 I got to 98 days. I was sooo close to my goal of 100. I had bold aspirations for 2020 - I set myself a goal of 120 Dry Days for 2020! I also added a secondary goal of 80 moderate days, defined as only 1 drink per day. I added the moderate days because I found that if I “broke the seal” and had a drink, I tended to overindulge and went on to have multiple drinks, because at that point “it didn’t matter”. I started off strong in January and February…but then in March I went to Tulum, Mexico with Eva for Spring break, where I survived on Margaritas and chips for an entire week, and we all know what happened at the end of March. I am not proud of my track record, but I know I am not the only one who found solace in making cocktails during the pandemic! Some people made bread and pickles, I made Negronis. As 2020 comes to an end, I have tried to make up for lost time, but it looks like I will come in at 89 Dry Days. Ugh.

I am not giving up though, instead I am recommitting. I will aim for 121 Dry Days (21 to match the ‘21 of the year). I am changing the definition of moderate days to allow for two drinks. My goal for Moderate Days will be 50. I think I can do this, especially if I have the support of friends who are also doing it. I am inviting anyone reading this to join me! I will manage the shared iPhone Note. Every time you have a dry day, you simply write the date to track it and then total your monthly tally. It’s pretty straight forward, with no bells or whistles or charts. If you want to make a comment on our shared note, you are welcome to do so, but you don’t have to. Your section of the note is all yours. (if you don’t have an iPhone, I will figure out another way for you). (Note: I am also going to try an app called DrinkControl but the Note seemed to be popular with my friends, and the fact that it is low tech seems to be appealing.)

So, let’s hope that in 2021 I can achieve my goal. By the way, all bets are off if 2021 brings Zombies…Happy New Year’s to Everyone! Let me know your plans for 2021!