Pretty Girl Rock ; SoBeR

Once the weekend rolls around, everyone is ready and anxious to let loose. After spending countless hours primping and priming for a night out, you mix your first drink and your second, and your third. You dance the night away to Ke$ha and take advantage of the bar deals until you've lost count of the drinks you've had and you're soon visiting your cupboards for some Easy Mac. 

You are excited about a night out on the town; your worries wither away and nothing else matters but the party. But the worries will come back and sometimes, so will your dinner. April was Alcohol Awareness Month, and even though a few months have passed, I thought it would still be a good time to point out some of the things you may not be thinking about between taking endless shots and joining in the next round of drinking games. You have one mission: to have fun. It is hard sometimes to remember the cost of throwing a few back. We've all heard the line "the alcohol made me do it". People can still control their behavior when under the influence. That can't be your excuse for being an embarrassment to yourself and the people around you. In short, bad behavior isn't the fault of the alcohol; but of the person.

We drink a lot of Cheeseburgers

Did you know you have to walk the entire length of a football field to burn off the calories for one M&M? ONE! Now consider this even further: what if you could compare how many cheeseburgers you drank last night? Well you can, on an e-chug survey. Through this survey, you can document your drinking habits and find out how many cheeseburgers you "drink" in a given month. For example, 8 standard drinks in one month is equivalent to 4 cheeseburgers. To burn that off? You would have to run 10 minute miles for 2 hours and 27 minutes.

We drink a lot of money

If you spend even $20.00 a week on drinks, how much is that in an entire year? That is $1,040.00. Um whoa. You could have nearly 1,000 iTunes downloads, a brand new Louis Vuitton Purse, or you could go on a vacation! Can you imagine how many bills you could have paid with that cash money?

We drink a lot of sleep

When you take part in a night of drinking, you sometimes wake up and can't fall back asleep. It is pretty safe to say that alcohol and sleeping do not go well together. While alcohol decreases the time it takes to fall asleep, it disrupts the second half of the sleep period. This makes sense since after a night of drinking, most people feel like terrible drivers, (meaning the next day...drinking and driving is not even an option) unproductive, crabby, and exhausted. I'm confident in the fact that I don't know anyone who likes being hung- over.

We drink a lot of time

Quite literally, think of all the time you have spent drunk. Think of all the sober time you can spend with your friends shopping (always productive), or trying out new restaurants. Let's say the average person is drunk (and awake) at least 5 hours a week. That is about 180 hours a year; DRUNK. That is a lot of valuable time you could have been visiting new places, applying for jobs, etc. It's pretty simple; getting wasted wastes a lot of time. 

Many people who know me know that I do not drink ever and assume I do because I always have SO much fun when I go out on the weekends and I am always the first one on the dance floor. Dancing all night and having fun does not equal being a mess in a dress. Being sober is not a bad thing and it's ok to not be drinking even if everyone is. I'm pretty sure we all learned how to say "no" way back in the day. There are so many things I do with my time instead of drinking. These are activities that are fun and require you to be sober. They also make for better stories than those drunken nights filled with useless drama. I value my amazing life and will continue living my life with the idea that you never know what tomorrow brings so why keep having those crazy drunk nights when you won't even remember them the next day? Sober people are sexy. Be above the influence.

Love & Pink,

Lisa

The best accessory a girl can own is confidence

One of the worst dynamics that can kill a friendship is jealousy. If one friend is jealous of the other, it inevitably can ruin the friendship, or at least negatively impact it. Sometimes, however, when a friend is jealous, and they don’t want it to show, it can come out in very strange ways that may not seem obvious to the casual observer.  In order to help you identify jealousy in your friendship, here are some examples to look for:

1. The Fluff-Off: You tell your friend some good news and instead of reacting joyfully for you, your friend fluffs it off and makes it seem as though it is not a big deal. When people don’t feel good about where they are in their own lives, they make themselves feel better by acting as though other people’s good fortune isn’t so great or exciting.
2. The Friendly Ghost: When individuals are jealous, they may feel less inclined to spend time with those individuals who are happy or doing well, and as a result, disappear or become extremely busy. Why? Your happiness is a constant reminder that they are unhappy and as a result, they rather stay away.
3. Positive Negative: When some individuals are jealous, they may find a way to counteract your positive with a negative way.  This is similar to the fluff-off, but instead of ignoring your positive news or accomplishment, your friend counters it with a negative. For instance, if you show a friend a beautiful picture you took of yourself, your friend may say, “Well, of course the picture is good: you had good lighting and a good camera.” Her reaction implies, in a sense, that the picture was good, not because of you, but for other reasons.
4. Insincere Happiness: If someone knows that they are jealous, they may try to over compensate by putting on a huge grin and acting overly happy. Unfortunately, what your friend doesn’t realize is that this type of behavior seems very unnatural and insecure.
5. Tears You Down: You decide that you are ready for a night out and feel beautiful. Instead of being happy for you, your friend tells you that you should change and you don’t look as good as you think. If your friend constantly makes you feel bad about your physical appearance, they may be doing so to feel better about their own physical appearance and about themselves.
6. Lack of Support: This is demonstrated when you rely on friends to help you achieve something that is important to you and they fall extremely short in delivering. They can either come up with every excuse in the book as to why they can’t help you, or worse, they promise to help but don’t.
7. Constant Discouragement: This happens when your friend tells you all of the reasons why you shouldn’t or CAN’T do something, instead of encouraging you to “go for it.” It also happens when you have something that they want whether its a relationship, an amazing family, or overall a great life.

In general, if every time you succeed at something or have good news and your friend acts distant, strangely or dismissive, it might mean that they are jealous. Or, if you find it awkward or difficult to talk to your friend about things that make you happy or that you’re involved with, it might mean that you don’t think they can accept your happiness.  It is important, however, to remember that if you are experiencing any of these behaviors or traits in your friendship, it doesn't mean the friendship is over but you may need to re-evaluate things.

Does jealousy exist in your friendships? How have you handled it? What was the outcome?

 Love & Pink,

Lisa