Celebrating a year
Celebrating one year of sobriety
This week I hit the one-year mark of my sobriety and, ladies and gentlemen, it feels wonderful. It feels so good to have removed such a big obstacle from the path of the life I really want to live. A life that’s much richer and clearer than the one I had been living while I was still drinking alcohol.
There’s been a lot of introspection, but also a lot more humility. And hope. So much more hope about where my life is headed than before.
The week has been a non-stop celebration of my soberversary, with dinners and meetings and so many well wishes from friends and family. I probably said about 20 times that the outpouring made this wholly unlovable soul feel so, so loved. Who knew I just had to give up just one thing to gain so much more?
To continue the celebration, my two youngest kids and I are spending the weekend at my daughter’s place in Philadelphia and I’m taking a break from writing.
Instead, I thought I’d share a post from my blog that I wrote in September 2018 about taking a (very short-lived) break from drinking and all the reasons I had for pressing pause, including trying to do Future Amy a solid. It’s nice having the luxury of being able to go back in time and read all about how dumb Past Amy was.
I’ll see you here next Sunday morning.
xoAmy
Pressing 'pause' on drinking: https://amybyrnes.com/pressing-pause-on-drinking/
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Join me LIVE for
an evening of movement + word
LET'S MEET UP IN PERSON!!
Guys, this is so exciting: I've been invited to be a part of the launch celebration for a new dance company for an evening of dance, storytelling, and inspiration. Please join me on Thursday, Oct. 28 at 7 p.m. at a very cool event space in Long Branch to hear me read one of my stories and see how it's then interpreted through movement.
Tickets are $25 and proceeds benefit 180 Turning Lives Around and is joined by Project Write Now. You can find all the details and get tickets here and I look forward to seeing you IRL to celebrate creativity and the awesomeness of women who don't let age stop them from doing what they love to do. Here's the link: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/in-good-company-launch-performance-event-dance-storytelling-inspiration-tickets-176744346097?aff=ebdsoporgprofile
SUNDAY SHARES: Read, watch, cook, buy
After a long search, I have found my new work bag. I thought it was going to be an animal print Clare V tote (similar to this but sold out now) I got on super sale, based on pics on the internet. But when I got it the bag was so heavy when it was empty. When I go into the office once a week, I have to bring my laptop, keyboard, lunch, and purse and the one time I used the bag it felt like I was hauling luggage around. So I returned it to Nordstrom and bought this instead and I couldn't be happier. I brought it to Philly and my daughter teased me and asked how old my baby was since she thinks it looks like a diaper bag. I don't care. I'm in love.
Speaking of Nordstrom, after Christmas last year I manically bought a bunch of things on super sale for a life I was not actually living at the time. Between Covid and early sobriety, I was not going out on the town. But now that things are opening up a little more (including my social life), I've been able to start actually wearing some of those purchases. I wore a faux leather jacket out to dinner the other night and could not figure out while driving there why I kept smelling dead fish. Reader: it was me. Apparently, some fake leather stuff from China has been treated with some type of fish oil, and damn, it stinks. So, thanks to Nordstrom's generous return policy, I'm sending the smelly thing back.
When my coworker shared this TikTok video in our Teams chat several of my (much younger) teammates chimed in about how much they loved the account and I was like, damn, I miss having my kids living at home to keep me in the loop. I shared with the kids and now they're obsessed with this dog and how he starts his day and my daughter told me this weekend she couldn't believe she'd never heard of it before and that she felt out of the loop. And now you're in the loop, too.