Sober virtual BINGO ladies’ night? Count me IN! Since launching The Sober Curator, I have been actively following sober accounts on Instagram. In fact, one of the first blog posts I wrote was about the top sober Instagram accounts to follow. You can read that one here if you want. I’ve started following so many more since then, I probably need to do another post of more accounts I’ve been following.
One of those is called New Fashioned Sobriety. They describe themselves as an Alcohol-free community for sober + sober-curious women based in Wisconsin. You can join them for meetups that give you a buzz without the booze! Cute, right? I’ve never even been to Wisconsin, but I love sobriety, girl power, and I love cheese, so it seemed like a natural fit to follow them. Not only that, they have some pretty cute merch and I do love to #addtocart.
#ADDTOCART w/ New Fashioned Sobriety
Because it’s ladies night and the feelings right!
When I saw their post that they were hosting a Ladies Night, the 90s themed, Pajama party with 90s music BINGO, I couldn’t sign up fast enough. My silver lining for 2020 is meeting new people actively pursuing and living a sober lifestyle from all over the country and around the world. So Friday night, on October 23rd, this was my chosen Friday night “event”.
The gals behind New Fashioned Sobriety did a great job in communicating how to prep for the event. I received an email in my inbox Friday morning outlining all of the dets. Fun outfits were optional. Come in your PJs, dress in a 90s theme, or just show up however you wanted to show up. I normally love any reason for a costume or outfit, but in this case, and with the time difference, I was still in my work clothes when I logged in. In reflection, I kinda wish I had at least gone and thrown on my favorite Nirvana t-shirt or Friends (the TV show) hoodie.
The pre-party prep instructions
Download your customized BINGO card. You had the option to print it out or, for those of us without a printer, it was an easy download with the option to highlight on the card. The BINGO card was filled with a specific song and the artist(s) from the 90s in each square, with the normal free space in the middle.
Make yourself a mocktail!
Sobriety does not equate to being boring. New Fashioned Society encouraged us to get creative with our beverage of choice. I was pretty excited because my most recent purchase off eBay of vintage Star Wars Burger King glasses had just arrived. Plus, earlier in the week thanks to Amazon Prime, my new Death Star, and R2D2 ice cube ball and tray had arrived. I still like to have fun drinking, it’s just a different kind of fun these days.
My drink of choice was from Curious Elixirs. Their tagline “Shaken not slurred” is hilarious. I am a sucker for clever marketing. My selection was the Curious No. 2 Cocktail. Bright. Spicy. Ginger. Pineapple. Curious Elixir No. 2 is the spicy lovechild of the pineapple margarita and the Dark & Stormy. It’s made with organic citrus, peppers, ginger, and the ancient Mayan herb damiana, to mellow you out while your taste buds tap dance. Enjoy over ice with a lime wedge.
Sadly, I had to skip the wedge of lime because the lime I found in my fridge was a little too ripe. Fortunately, I did have some lime juice on hand and squeezed a little of that in. 2020 is teaching me daily to just learn to adapt.
Let’s get the party started!
I logged in right on time at 6 pm PST/8 pm CST and was warmly welcomed by the group of gals. Once everyone arrived, we each took a turn introducing ourselves and where we were from. They also encouraged us to explain what our beverage of choice was for the night and name our favorite artist or band from the 90s.
I really enjoyed hearing all of the variety of different beverage choices from this group of sober gals. All kinds of mocktails and alcohol-free beers were represented, along with some tea and coffee choices as well. If this inspires you to explore more alcohol-free options, make sure to check out our section on the site Happy Every Hour.
Many of the ladies were dressed in PJs, but several also had some solid 90s choices as well. It was also fun because some ladies shared items that they had from the 90s, which included the biggest Bart Simpson Pez dispenser I’ve ever seen, Simpsons sneakers, a Nirvana t-shirt, and what appeared to be a Saved By the Bell inspired multi-colored sweater.
Quickly, I grabbed my Dylan McKay Barbie, my 90s BF (may he rest in peace) and his motorcycle that sits on the shelves behind my dining room table turned “home office”. I’ve always been a sucker for a bad boy and I like to collect random memorabilia of my childhood and teen years.
BINGO!
The rules: The DJ played a song for whatever length of time she determined. We all listened and had to recognize the song and then, if we had it on our BINGO card, mark it down. The first one to BINGO won a pair of handmade earrings (that were super cute btw).
A few songs in and I realized this was going to be harder than I thought. I had to write in the chatbox: “This is hard. I was drunk for most of the 90s!!” Once the first BINGO was won, we moved into the blackout round. Naturally, with a bunch of sober gals, the blackout jokes went on and on. Sober humor is the best.
That’s all folks
That’s a wrap on my recap of the New Fashioned Sobriety virtual meet-up and I am so glad that I went. Make sure to follow them on Instagram. I hope my New Fashioned Sobriety “Club Sober” t-shirt shows up before their next virtual event because I’m all about a sober party! Why? Because drunk never looks good.
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