The Weekend Sober

Kezia welcomes back Katherine Rhadans again to chat all about the Super Bowl and what it's like in Kansas City this weekend.

Jen Eastwood's story continues. She decides to send herself to rehab, but she isn't fully committed to going the distance once she returns home. Then things completely unravel even more.

Jen Eastwood's story is one of strength, resilience and inner knowing. It is unique yet you will find yourself nodding along in understanding. A recovered people pleaser, she continues to work on being a master of imperfection and no longer a perfectionist. Listen to her honest account from childhood to adulthood of how she realized she was struggling and learned to ask for help.

Sober in the Suburbs member Karen Dionne vulnerably shares her remarkable story of sobriety.

It takes courage to let others in. As Brene Brown says, “You don’t measure vulnerability by the amount of disclosure. You measure it by the amount of courage to show up and be seen when you can’t control the outcome.” 

Kim and Kezia are joined by Katherine Rhadans, from @nowineinthecarpoolline on Instagram. The ladies break it down and have a real chat about all things motherhood. Tune in for a hilarious conversation with a seriously fun lady!

Katherine Rhadans is a writer and mother of 5 from Kansas City Missouri. Having been alcohol free for almost a decade, Katherine’s goal is to spread a message of hope to those still suffering, as well as awareness and understanding to the issues associated with alcohol use disorder. She’s been there. 

Meghan Jones attempted Dry January last year in 2023. She felt compelled to learn all about the changes in her body and mind during the month, digging in and listening to podcasts and reading all the quitlit. She felt so good she continued for another 60 days after the month ended, only to try to moderate after the 90 days were up. You know how the story goes, she fell back into her old ways, but then eventually gave up drinking for good later in May. Hear all about her journey, as she celebrates 7 months of sobriety! You will absolutely relate to this mother's story.

Kim interviews former Days of our Lives star, Steve Blackwood. Steve had 30 years of sobriety under his belt after living in LA for most of his life, until one day her relapsed. Hear his remarkable story of finding his new path towards sobriety by how Steve earning to embrace Annie Grace's philosophy of This Naked Mind and how things finally clicked for him once and for all. Steve Blackwood currently lives in Newburyport, MA. He is a Producer/Director/Writer/Actor. Steve Blackwood’s (MACHINE GUN PREACHER DAYS OF OUR LIVES) work include comedies ( including the couples therapy mock-umentaryI FEEL/ MEET THE AUTHOR/ STUCK) that have been adapted into screenplays co-written with award winning Maine writer David Susman). Professor Blackwood  (adjunct  HILLSDALE and OAKLAND UNIVERSITY) is also the author of the acting book THE STEVE BLACKWOOD SESSIONS (AMAZON) that chronicles what he learned as an acting student with mentor Uta Hagen at HB STUDIOS in NY.

Kezia and Kim chat with Hadley Sorensen about her sober journey. All three women found themselves caught on the hamster wheel of drinking by the end, the epitome of being trapped in alcohol addiction. They also were each drowning in the mommy wine culture, duped by the Instagram memes, false advertising and lies of Big Alcohol. Hadley tells the ladies how she faced her truth and came out on the other side.

Hadley Sorensen is a mom of 3 boys, a lifelong runner, and a writer working on publishing her first book. Her relationship with alcohol was always toxic. It wasn't about how much or how often she drank, but how she felt when she did.  Just over two years ago, she woke up with her last hangover, her heart screaming that sobriety was the right choice. She had no idea that a whole new, beautiful life was about to unfold. Now, she loves to tell her story with the hopes it will reach someone struggling as she was. 

Instagram: @hadley_sorensen

The ladies talk with Kristen McAvoy about how to prepare for the holidays when you have social anxiety. What can you do when you have a holiday work party that you need to attend but you are newly sober? How do you deal with the family this year when you are used to getting blackout drunk in the past?

Kristen shares her incredible sober story and how she was able to work through her addictions and come to terms with her social anxiety. She is a breath of fresh air and exudes a kindness that you can't help but want to emulate.

"My name is Kristen and I battled with a dual addiction to alcohol and Xanax for years. I suffered in silence while trying to make everything look perfect on the outside. I drank a bottle or more of wine multiple nights a week, and started abusing my Xanax prescription to try to numb out my anxiety and reality. This took me down a dark path and I became an entirely different person. My family had an intervention with me and I agreed to go to rehab. 

Unfortunately, I didn't take it seriously and hit an even bigger rock bottom once I got out. In March 2021, I finally got the help I needed and lived in a women's recovery house & attended narcotics anonymous meetings. I have been sober now for 2 years and 8 months. Sobriety has allowed me to become the woman I always knew I could be."

Instagram: @sobergirltribe

Kim and Kezia chat with former gray area drinker, Todd Kinney this week, all about his journey and transformation.

Todd is an attorney who lives in Omaha, NE with his wife, four kids and two wiener dogs. In his free time, he enjoys traveling, golf, hanging out with his family (when they let him) and spending an unhealthy amount of time and money supporting the Iowa Hawkeyes. He quit drinking in 2019 and considers it the best thing he’s ever done for himself and his family. His memoir, I Didn’t Believe It Either, is due out in December.

Todd was a classic gray area drinker who looked like he had it all together on the outside. But on the inside, he was tormented by his relationship with alcohol. He loved drinking and being the life of the party, yet there was so much about drinking he didn’t like: the control it had on him, how it consumed his every thought and how he felt after drinking too much.

He spent six years evaluating his relationship with alcohol and employing every moderation hack in the book. Some of them worked, but it was exhausting and the victories were always short

lived.

By 2019, Todd was growing tired of fighting his internal battle. He was worn down by the constant negotiating and obsessing, and he was sick of the torment, shame and regret. Then in the fall of that year, his wife whispered something into his ear that would end up changing his life forever. He decided to quit drinking.

Giving up alcohol was scary and overwhelming. Even though Todd knew it was the right decision, he also thought life without alcohol would be a little dull and boring, a bit like a prison sentence for not being able to “drink like a normal person.”

What he discovered, however, was that giving it up was the farthest thing from a prison sentence.

I Didn’t Believe it Either is the raw, honest, vulnerable and sometimes funny story of Todd’s journey to quitting the one thing he thought he couldn’t live without and his discovery that sobriety is better than he ever imagined.

Kim and Kezia chat about one of their favorite buzzwords: the "Glimmer." Most people understand what a "trigger" is, but not many people look for the opposite - a glimmer. A glimmer is a tiny moment in your day to day life that takes you by surprise and it can bring about feelings of joy or peace.

Do you experience glimmers? How do impact your sobriety? Let us know!

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Welcome to season 3! We are back after our summer break. We are ready for a whole new round of interviews, random chatter and lots of hysterical moments.

This week, we hear from Kezia all about Tristan's wonderful birth story. Kim also shares about her summer with her three kids, which was not quite as eventful as Kezia's.

The ladies both commiserate over how they feel as if they are stuck in a childhood mentality at times. As moms, they struggle alongside their own children to just get through the day.

How is sobriety like being a child for you? Do you find yourself relearning some basic concepts and fundamental people skills you should have mastered years ago?

Kezia and Kim sometimes just feel like little kids.

Send us DMs on instagram and shares your own personal stories! @asoberandstrongmom @thesoberelephantchronicles

Kim and Kezia talk about the final weeks of Kecia's pregnancy and reminisce about the early days of motherhood when they were drinking. They discuss the triggers of summer and why they are grateful once again for their sobriety. Thank you for following along with them for season 2. Thank you also to our guests who have shared their stories and wisdom! See you back here in September. We can't wait!

Betsey Weintraub stopped drinking on March 31, 2023. She and Kim met at the first gathering of Sober in the Suburbs, at the end of May. They live in neighboring towns outside of Boston, and they recently discovered that their stories are quite similar. Betsey courageously and vulnerably opens up about the road that brought her to the end of her drinking days. Tune into a raw, hilarious and heartwarming account about the early days of sobriety, as Betsey shares her story for the very first time publicly.

Instagram: @betsyweintraub

Kim and Kezia discuss the most significant changes they have noticed in themselves both physically, mentally and emotionally over the last 2.5 years. This is one of the biggest questions they both still continue to receive from people on a regular basis, and it is something that continues to evolve for them both personally.

Kim and Kezia checkin with one another.

Kim shares her experiences with a recent dinner party she hosted in her home and Kezia talks about her upcoming baby shower. They discuss how they once allowed alcohol to impact their self-confidence to the point of self-sabotage when it came to social events such as these. Social anxiety was so crippling for them both and they each believed the only solution to survive these things for many years was alcohol.

Today, they both have the confidence and strength to understand that the alcohol was only causing more hurt and damage to them all along.

In this week’s episode, Kim and Kezia have a vulnerable conversation about Kezia’s pregnancy journey. From a heartbreaking miscarriage in 2021, to myriad of medical setbacks, and wondering whether they would ever be able to conceive, Kezia shares her view of the similarities between her current path, and the one she’s travelled in sobriety. She stands firm in her belief that the tools she’s learned in sobriety continue to carry her through one of the most demanding periods of her adult life. This episode will bring hope to anyone who believes they need alcohol to cope with life’s challenges. Baby boy Calvert is set to arrive this July!

When you were drinking, did you ever feel like you needed a vacation from your vacation when you got home?

Kim and Kezia talk about what it is like to experience a sober vacation. They also reflect back on some trips they took with their families before they got sober, and how they felt as if they were missing out on so much joy back then.

The ladies discuss the necessary mindfulness required to get the most out of getting away and how to find the fun in each day. Kim also shares about her recent trip to Disney with her husband and three children.

Tune in for some stories and tips from the Weekend Sober ladies!

Kim and Kezia welcome guest Ben Tuff to share his unique story of recovery. He eloquently shares his belief of quality over quantity, friendships and his perspective on overcoming adversity.

Instagram:@ben.tuff

Ben Tuff grew up splitting his time between Atlanta, GA and Jamestown, RI. He attended

Colby College where he met his now wife, Gretchen and treasured his times working at a sailing

instructor and boat captain in the British Virgin Islands. Between Jamestown and the BVI, Ben

developed a lifelong appreciation for the ocean. Ben is a lifelong educator and has had the

privilege of working with hundreds of boarding students from across the world. In 2012, Ben

made the life-altering decision to break free of the hold that the addiction to alcohol had on

him. Despite not knowing how to swim, the sport of triathlon arrived quickly in his life. After

seven years of competitive triathlon, Ben made the switch to marathon swimming. After many

crossings from Newport, RI to Jamestown, RI on Save the Bay Swims, Ben throttled it up with

the 12.5 Mile FKCC Swim Around Key West. After that, he couldn’t stop and completed a 21-

mile swim around Jamestown, a 19-mile swim from Block Island to Jamestown, and most

recently swimming the length of Narragansett Bay by swimming 24 miles from Providence, RI to

Jamestown, RI. Esteemed producer, Matt Corliss, chronicled Ben’s journey to sobriety and the

parallels of his recent swim. The film, “Swim Tuff: How I Swam my Way Out of the Bottle” is

projected to be released Spring 2023.

Julia Dzafic from the blog www.lemonstripes.com and Instagram @lemonstripes joins Kim for an intimate chat about early sobriety. Julia never had a rock bottom nor did she struggle with any serious addiction, but she recently decided that alcohol no longer served her. The ladies discuss their personal experiences with anxiety, the drinking culture they find themselves in on a regular basis and the evolution of friendships and alcohol. Julia shares her story with drinking and talks about how her relationship with alcohol began to get complicated during the early pandemic. She started to realize, like most, that her drinking was escalating as she was spending more time at home. If you are sober curious and looking to make an adjustment to your drinking routine, then this episode is for you! Check out Julia's blog, where she writes all about her experiences.  

Kim and Catherine welcome Dina Hannigan, Needham Youth Field Hockey Coach, from Needham, MA. Dina shares her personal connection to recovery and her family's story of addiction. Tune in for a truly moving interview.