Sober Holiday Gift Guide
{This blog post is sponsored by the incredible folks at Soberlink}
Looking for a gift guide that celebrates sober entrepreneurs? Look no further! The holidays are a tough time for many folks in recovery. Alcohol is seemingly everywhere. Family drama is often heightened. And there’s an incessant pressure to buy buy buy. Depressive episodes spike around the holidays during a normal year, especially for folks with Seasonal Affective Disorder in cold climates. That’s why I made this Sober Gift Guide. Every little bit can help.
Whether you’re a sober person looking for ways to treat yourself, someone you love is in recovery, or you just want to give back by supporting sober-friendly businesses, check out the following list for unique gift options!
If you’re struggling with sobriety during these unprecedented times, check out this recent episode of Recovery Rocks, the podcast I co-host with Lisa Smith. The episode is Sober During the Holidays…During a Pandemic.
Sour Humanoid Vinegar
I’m starting the list off with my partner’s artisanal vinegar business, Sour Humanoid. He’s a sommelier who quit drinking but didn’t quit his affinity for nuance flavors! So he turned all that wine he no longer drank into…you guessed it…vinegar. Just a splash of these yummy vinegars in your roasted veggies or meat marinades will brighten up your meal. Gift a bottle of Sour Humanoid for the foodie in your life!
Soberlink
Rebuilding trust is essential for many folks in early recovery. Soberlink can help. Soberlink can be used to provide peace of mind to loved ones—especially pre and post-holidays. And couldn’t we all do with a little peace of mind right now? This device syncs with your Recovery Circle (anyone you want to include!) to prove that you’re not drinking. This inclusivity holds space for your community to offer immediate support in the event of a slip/relapse
Send Nudes (and Love!) as Gift
Sober journalist Irina Gonzalez and her husband launched a 3D printing business after this iconic piece went viral earlier this year. Check it out in action! Snag this gift for that sexy person in your life.
Gift Some Flames
Everyone loves a candle, right? Check out Virgins On Fire‘s sober-owned and queer-owner candles with fun sayings like “Fuck it, I’m buying a cabin” or “Stop bringing your bachelorette party to gay bars.” These candles are sure to ~spark~ olfactory joy for the loves in your life!
Gift Your NA Bar Cart
Minus Moonshine is a queer-owner and sober-owned booze-free bottle shop in Brooklyn (say that three times fast!). I’ve hosted several events there, and I high-key wish it was closer to where I lived so I could hang out there every day. If you’re looking to stock your NA bar cart with some tasty drinks, order from Minus Moonshine!
Send Some Snail Mail
Instagram connects me to lots of cool people I would never have met. And two of them (Amanda and Chris) recently joined forces to launch this line of sober postcards! Make someone’s day by sending them something beautiful, sentimental, and handwritten.
Gift Some Sobriety Merch
No one knows how to turn their mess into a message like Brooklyn-based Rehab Studios! She has everything you might need from funky bracelets to college-style sweatshirts that read REHAB and “Maybe she’s born with it, maybe it’s mania.” Literally wearing your recovery on your sleeve breaks the stigma by normalizing that you’re taking life one day at a time.
Get Lit-erary
Lisa Smith (my Recovery Rocks co-host!) wrote this #QuitLit memoir before #QuitLit was even a thing. Girl Walks Out of a Bar follows Lisa’s high-powered Manhattan lawyer life as she navigates depression, anxiety, and getting sober in a corporate setting. Grab this book for the sober or sober curious reader on your list.
More Non-Alcoholic Drinks
Y’all know I’m obsessed with NA drinks. Here are a few of my favorites with some discount codes:
Crisp & Crude
Code: 20% Off Discount Code: TAWNYMLARA
Wellbeing Brewing
Code: 10% Off Discount Code: TAWNYMLARA
Surely Wine
Code: 15% Off Discount Code: TAWNYMLARA
about the blogger:
Tawny Lara is an NYC-based millennial also known as The Sober Sexpert. Her book, Dry Humping: A Guide to Dating, Relating, and Hooking Up Without Booze, comes out fall 2023. Her work is featured in Playboy, Men’s Health, Huffington Post, and two essay collections: Sex and the Single Woman and The Addiction Diaries. She is the co-host of Recovery Rocks podcast and mom to a one-eyed cat named Meg White.
