So I’m 3 weeks into my bright college years, and in between realizing that I have Spanish homework to do at 1 in the morning and figuring out how trash piles up so quickly when clearly I took out the garbage like, a day ago, there are plenty of Solo cups and pregaming parties to keep my thoughts occupied.

In the past year, I passed through the rookie stage of drinking. You know, getting over the fact that drinking isn’t such a big deal after all (I know some may beg to differ, which I totally respect, but step off for a sec, darlings) and then advancing into classic teen movie, drink up mode. It was like I was Cady Heron (a la Mean Girls) being de-innocentized, except minus The Plastics. There were chill house parties, high-ish quality alcohol bought by nice older siblings, and then classic senior year, I-don’t-give-a-f**k debauchery. Getting to a stage of happy drunk was part of the whirlwind of senior year and really, part of the fun. But I was good about it – no blacking out and never even vomiting.

So coming to college, I was under the impression that it would be the same, but something about drinking here just doesn’t feel settling to me. The glowy halo of happiness that surrounded drinking just totally disappeared.

I know, totally weird, right? Because, like, obviously drinking is much simpler here. There aren’t quite as many repercussions when you get caught, alcohol is pretty much readily available, and the number of boys who you would willingly drunkenly hook-up with has gone through the freakin’ roof.

But for some reason, after 3 weekends worth of pregaming and taking LMFAO seriously (shots! shots! shots!), I just don’t know if drinking is as worth it in college.

I mean, I don’t want to stumble around being known forever as That Girl. Also, both my roommate and I are mistaken for drunk when we aren’t drunk at all just due to our normal personalities, so I figured that adding drinking on top of that was unnecessary. And who needs the extra calories of a few cans of beer? Not I – the dining hall fries are good enough for me.

So I tested out this whole not drinking business last weekend, and surprise, life was perfectly grand. I had a Hollywood caliber night minus a Lindsay Lohan caliber hangover the next morning and I honestly don’t feel like I missed out on much. Debauchery? Check. Dancing? Check. Dudes? Check. I’ve got everything I need.
I’m not saying that I don’t condone drinking – I do, but I’m just not feelin it right now. And I’m not sue I ever will.

Alcohol free for the rest of freshman year? Maybe.

Mama needs a cocktail.

In this new series we will be following a different CollegeCandy writer for a month as she takes on a personal challenge. This month we’re following Lauren from University of Michigan. She’s going sober for the month of February and will be sharing her ups and downs with us each Saturday. Last week she almost dropped the ball (and downed a bottle of wine). Let’s see how she handled her final week.

It’s here. My final sober weekend. Even though this month has flown by and been not only easy, but totally productive, I am at the point where I am truly glad it’s over. For the most part, going stone cold sober hasn’t really been as challenging as I expected it to be. But that all changed on Wednesday. I don’t know if it was the playlist was I listening to or the stress mounting, but I hit a wall and for the first time in 25 days, all I wanted was a giant cocktail.

From that point on, being sober was no longer the cakewalk it had once been. I found it increasingly difficult to go out to the bar with friends and be the sober one. I watched them knocking back vodka sodas and Jager bombs and my mouth literally watered. When they reasoned that I’d been “sober long enough” and I should “just have a f**king drink” already, I actually considered it. I mean, I went long enough, right? But then I chugged my Diet Coke and realized that giving up now would just be pathetic. What would I think when I looked back on this personal goal and remembered that I threw in the towel with 2 days to go…. for some crappy vodka drink. This moment – when things finally got challenging – this was the part that would really prove something. This was the most important time of the entire month.

So I didn’t have a drink. Instead, I left. My friends were hitting the annoying-drunk stage and I couldn’t handle it so I went home early and caught up on some Chelsea Lately. Was it a bad night? No. But am I ready to be back in the social scene again, Miller Lite in hand? You betcha.

And my body is ready, too. I spent 8 of the past 10 days sick in bed with what I think is a foreign strain of Ebola. I was coughing. I was dripping. I was miserable. I don’t think I’ve been that sick in years and I believe deep in my core that it was my body begging me for a drink. It sorta put a damper on my plans for February (I couldn’t work out, I couldn’t cook, I couldn’t do anything on my to-do list but watch a lot of really bad movies on DVD), but I guess it did make sobriety a lot easier. I mean, the only thing I wanted to drink was chicken soup.

Now I’m better. I even woke up at 8am this morning to hit the gym, pick up some groceries and clean my room. I feel great. I lost 5 pounds this month (a combination of the lack of empty beer calories, the lack of late night eating and the fact that I have been able to work out on the weekends), I’ve accomplished things that were on my t0-do list for months (like sell old stuff on Ebay!), and I’ve had the energy to go out and do fun things (like see the museums and meet friends for movies) that I was always too hungover to accomplish.

I’m really proud of what I did this month and while I will not be going 100% sober any time soon, I will be making some changes to my lifestyle. I now know that I don’t need to be drunk to have a good time, I don’t always need to go out when everyone else is, I can have a drink without having ten, and I tend to spend a sh*t ton of money when I’m drinking. Seriously, I saved so. much. money this month.

I am glad I took this challenge. I am glad I succeeded. I am really glad I can fit back into my favorite skinny jeans again. And I’m really, really, really glad it’s over.

Who wants to join me on Monday for a beer and The Bachelor?!

In this new series we will be following a different CollegeCandy writer for a month as she takes on a personal challenge. This month we’re following Lauren from University of Michigan. She’s going sober for the month of February and will be sharing her ups and downs with us each Saturday. Last week she tackled the bar scene sober. Let’s see how she handled week numero 3.

Another week.
Another drinkless week.

And it almost wasn’t that way. On Monday my friend’s parents were in town and took us out to a nice dinner. I was looking at the menu deciding between steak and fish (these decisions are incredibly difficult when all you’ve eaten for the past 3 weeks is Easy Mac and Chili) when the waiter began pouring wine around the table.

I was so excited at the prospect of free alcohol that I completely forgot about Sober February. It wasn’t until the cup of wine was at my lips that I woke up and realized what I was doing. Quickly, I put it down, apologized to my friend’s parents for wasting wine and explained my situation.

They, like everyone else I’ve encountered in the past three weeks, applauded my decision. Even bartenders and waitresses don’t give me crap for going sober. In fact, I’ve inspired four of my friends and the hot bartender I met last weekend to follow suit next month!

And it really hasn’t been that hard. Besides that near miss on Monday, I haven’t even really craved a drink, let alone a sloppy, drunken night. And trust me, that shocks me. Whereas I normally spend my Thursdays counting down the minutes until I can let loose and drink away all that stress (because college is stressful…right?), I’ve actually enjoyed spending this week entirely in.

While my friends went out and partied their faces off last night, I stayed home, cooked myself a deeeelicious stir fry dinner, did some laundry, cheered on my fellow Wolverine Ice Dancers (go blue!) then watched a movie (17 Again…I got it for free On Demand – don’t judge!). I caught up on the stack of magazines sitting on my floor and, obviously, spent a little time perusing Facebook photo albums of the weirdos I knew in high school. It was just the de-stresser I needed, only without the copious amounts of alcohol I usually depend on.

And unlike that first weekend where I felt like I was missing out on whatever was happening in my favorite sweaty basement bar, I didn’t even want to be out. Let’s be honest – all of those drunken nights are the same anyway, so I don’t really need to take part in all of them. That is a revelation I never would have come to had I not completely removed myself from the situation, but one I am so, so, so glad I had. It’s not that my friends pressure me in to doing anything – it’s that I always pressure myself and I end up running my body into the ground. Now that I know I can skip out on a few of the “epic party nights” and be OK with it, well, maybe I’ll spend some more time doing “me” things in the future.

Today I’m gonna take my well-rested self on a much needed Target run. It’s been awhile since I’ve been able to drag myself out of bed on a Saturday and engage in some serious retail therapy. (Normally I get there, feel hungover and leave with a Propel.) And with all this money I’ve saved (at least $30 per week!) by not drinking, I am most definitely going to let loose.

Wooo sobriety! It feels so good I almost don’t want it to end.

In this new series we will be following a different CollegeCandy writer for a month as she takes on a personal challenge. This month we’re following Lauren from University of Michigan. She’s going sober for the month of February and will be sharing her ups (like feeling great last weekend!) and downs with us each Saturday.

It’s official: I’ve been 100% sober for a full two weeks! (I’ve even opted out of using mouthwash!) While that may not be such a big deal to some people out there (ahem, mean commenters, ahem), I am really, really proud of myself. Especially after the week I’ve had.

My first week of this challenge was pretty easy, breeezy Cover Girl. The weekdays flew by and then I was back at my parents’ house, where the temptation to drink was pretty minimal. But since then, I’ve survived a steakhouse dinner without wine, a Super Bowl party without beer, and two very serious nights at the bar without shots, shots, shots, shots shots.

On Thursday night I hit a low key bar with a few friends. They sipped on some beers and I sipped on some Diet Cokes. We were all having a great time – talking, catching up, giving guys the eyes across the bar. I really didn’t miss drinking at all, especially when I only spent $3 the entire night (unlike beer and vodka, Diet Coke has free refills at the bar!). But it wasn’t totally smooth sailing; LMFAO came on the jukebox towards the end of the evening, which, as we all know, makes you want to drink. Or chug. I was starting to cave. I was having a hard time remembering why I was doing all this. Seriously, Had Ke$ha or Miley come on next, I probably would have had to run out of the bar screaming. Instead, I took a little sniff of my friends’ SoCo Lime shots, grimaced, and instantly felt better about my decision.

I woke up on Friday and felt great. Not only did I hang out with friends and have a great time, but I didn’t feel like total hell. And I was really proud and happy to know that I can indeed stay in the social scene, even if I’m sober. That knowledge made me feel good and took away my nerves for last night’s adventures.

Because while Thursday was a test, Friday night out with my crew is akin to a Bob and Jillian Last Chance Workout. Minus the sweat and the puking. OK, maybe just minus the sweat. These kids take their partying really seriously and know they can always count on me to do the same. They are the reason that I hadn’t made it home before 5am ONCE during the month of January. They are the reason I often do nothing of substance from Friday to Monday. They’ve perfected the art of peer pressure (by throwing a little Jewish guilt into the mix) and I didn’t know how they’d handle Sober February. Plus, how much fun could I have if they were wasted/dancing on tables/punching me (which the guys like to do when they’ve had a few…)?

But I wanted to hang out with them and I really wanted to see if I could handle it sober. So I went. We met up for dinner at 6:30… and I didn’t come home until 3 a.m. And I did it all without a lick of alcohol (even though my girl friend did offer to let me “suck her ice” out of her vodka soda… every time she had one). I drank water, I danced, I joked… I even took a shot. Of Diet Coke. Which my friend got for me so I didn’t feel left out when everyone else was throwing them back.

It was a seriously great time! I was shocked. I mean, I thought I would have fun hanging out with everyone, but I never thought I would have had as great a time as I did. I never even got annoyed by the drunk people around me; instead, I kinda enjoyed looking at the drunk world through sober colored lenses. And, seriously, Erotic Photo Hunt is SO MUCH easier when you’re not seeing double.

The best part of my night, though, was coming home, stripping off my skinny jeans (which are definitely feeling looser already!), and being able to close my eyes and go to sleep without the room spinning. Well, that and the late night pizza slice I picked up that I was able to actually taste, savor and enjoy. Mmmm mmm gooooood.

At first, it was easy. After chugging rum out of a flask last Friday night and inhaling two giant slices of pizza after a few too many margaritas on Saturday night, I was more than excited to stay away from the hooch for a little while. I walked around my apartment in a hungover haze on Sunday, unable to do much besides watch a Millionaire Matchmaker marathon on my couch all day.

“Remember this feeling when you wanna go out and party,” I told myself as I made yet another cup of instant coffee.

Since I normally don’t drink much on weeknights (after that time I had to give a presentation in class and I was still drunk from the night before), it was smooth sailing for most of the week. Even the daily IMs from my guy friends asking me if I was still sober (OK, betting me that I wasn’t still sober) didn’t bother me. After all, being sober on a Monday wasn’t anything new to me.

But then Thursday hit and I felt like a Pavlovian dog, salivating for booze. It didn’t help that I was listening to my iTunes and every single song that came up reminded me of a bar. First Ke$ha, then Journey and then, to dig the knife in a little deeper, Madonna’s Like a Prayer (only my favorite drinking song of all time). I cursed Steve Jobs.

Lucky for me, I had to be up super early on Friday to head back home for the weekend. That meant I couldn’t go out to the bar with my friends and risk tempting myself with the delicious smells of stale beer and Jager. And by that I mean “try to stay sober while my annoying friends take shots and be annoying drunks.”

I got quite a few drunk dials both Thursday night and last night (“Come drink with us! Don’t do this dumb challenge!”) and, I admit, they did make me sad that I was missing out on all the fun, but waking up on a Saturday without a hangover has made it all worth it. It is 10:30 am as I type this. I’m fully dressed, sitting in a coffee shop sipping a delicious mocha. I have a million things to do today and, unlike most weekends, I have the energy to do them, My head doesn’t hurt, I didn’t make any dumb decisions last night (except maybe eating that 4th chocolate chip cookie fresh out of the oven), I didn’t spend a ton of money, and I will not be wasting my day in a t-shirt and underwear scrolling through my phone trying to find someone to run to the corner and pick me up a Powerade.

It feels great! I’m on a total high, but I didn’t need any illegal substances to get here – just some sleep (a full 8 hours, baby) and some hydration.

I’m not gonna lie, though: I am a bit nervous about this weekend. I have a fancy family dinner for my dad’s birthday (the type of meal that would go swimmingly with a few glasses of wine) and, gasp, the Super Bowl tomorrow. Which I will be watching with my guy friends. Who usually prefer me drunk (I guess I’m more fun that way?). Eating chips and my mom’s famous guac without a nice, refreshing beer (or, more appropriately, a cheap, disgusting Milwaukee’s Best) will be my first real test of this whole sober thing.

But I guess that will be just be the test I need to prepare for my Single Girl Valentine’s Day next weekend, what is normally a three-day chocolate and vodka bender.

Wish me luck!

A: Awesome.

Yes, yes, I realize alcohol will be involved at most of your New Year’s Eve celebrations, and that’s cool with me, but it’s just not my scene. That doesn’t mean I don’t like to party, though! How do I enjoy myself without the booze, you might ask? With these tips, of course.

1. Be with other alcohol-free people.

Let’s face it—if your friends are a bunch of boozers, they’re probably going to want to hit the drink on New Year’s Eve, and you’re probably not going to have much fun without them. You could always stay sober while they knock them away, but I think it’s far easier and more fun to spend the night with a group of people who are more interested in enjoying each other’s company than getting totally smashed. If the people you’re with aren’t drinking, you probably won’t wish you were.

2. Do something really, really fun.

When was the last time you went bowling at a 24-hour lane or played billiards at a pool hall? Have you been to a theme park recently? What about indoor mini-golf? Plan an amazing night with your friends that is packed with so many fun activities that you won’t have the time (or the desire) to hit up the bars. Honestly, you’ll be having such a great time that you won’t even miss the alcohol.

3. Have a theme.

A theme can tie any party together and ensure that it won’t be boring. You could throw a Halloween-style bash and encourage everyone to come in costume, make a monster cake to celebrate the new year, and serve black currant Kristian Regále sparkling beverage as “blood.” Make up your own fun theme – maybe you want to put together a cupcake party or a British-type of gathering where everyone scarfs crumpets and drinks tea while holding pinky fingers out. Whatever it is, themes are awesome. And funny. And don’t require alcohol.

4. Go a little crazy.

Try doing something you’d never normally do, like taking a road trip to NYC to see My Morning Jacket at Madison Square Garden or busting into your old high school with friends to spend some time roaming the halls and reminiscing.

If you have any other sweet ideas for tossing the booze and doing something else great instead, speak up!

[Image courtesy of designofsignage.com.]

At this point, as I’m sitting here on my couch, nearing the end of day 4 without drinking, I am starting to really believe that I may not be an alcoholic. Granted, I am sitting here eyeing the beer that is in my roomie’s hand. My other roomie, who is on this mission with me, is undoubtedly eyeing it, too.

I spend most Sundays, and yes, even EASTER, entirely preoccupied with a predictable hang over. I lay around in my bed with multiple glasses of water. I check Myspace religiously and later feel accomplished when I gather the strength to order in food.

Today, clearly, was different. I woke up and started to get sh*t done! The trouble, however, even amidst my productivity, was the fact that today was Easter. Something about religious holidays, particularly those on which I typically participate in a family gathering of some sort, tend to make me want to drink. You see, I come from an Irish family. I hope that that says enough.

Anyhoo, I opted to NOT voyage home for the holiday this year and somehow the thought of my brother downing beers at Easter dinner without me made me sad. It made me so sad that I wanted to drink. All of my beer is still sitting, lonely, in my refrigerator. I know this must all sound exaggerated and pathetic, but please do consider the gravity of the situation, readers.

I have probably had at least SOME alcohol four days out of the week for the last five years. This test, however, is proving to me that I CAN go without it. I’m not sure though if it’s the fact that I’m not drinking that is causing me to think about alcohol so much or if it’s the fact that I have SWORN off alcohol that’s causing me to think about it so much.

My stance, at this point, is that I may not be an alcoholic. MAY is the word I am using. However, I am going out again tomorrow night and with each night out without alcohol, I jog up and down staircases of self evaluation and discipline. I’m out of breath…but I’m still jogging. Lets see if I hurl over with side cramps tomorrow.