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I was originally going to post this towards the beginning of February and mention that “dry January is now over”, buuuut it’s basically March now. That being said, I do know people giving up alcohol for Lent… but I didn’t want to wait until April to post this. Hah! Additionally, I had alt titled this post “getting buzzy with your boss” LOL but no, really this is trying to prevent that from happening, or at least advise against it.

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Drinking is an interesting topic in itself. I didn’t grow up with alcohol in the household because my parents don’t drink. That being said, it has never been weird to me when someone doesn’t order alcohol. I myself don’t * always * have a margarita when going to a Mexican restaurant or a glass of wine with Italian food, whereas my husband usually does ;) It depends on what I actually feel like. The point is that I’m not predictable when I will or won’t drink, so I don’t project that onto others. I know not everyone thinks this way, so my only thought for bringing this up is to say that you can in fact go to a work happy hour and not drink.

Another fact about me… my longest tenured company Christmas parties never had alcohol that I actually enjoyed. Which was FINE. I didn’t need it. Not complaining! Just a fact that I didn’t want to waste my calories on it. After the second year, I learned to just ask for a sparkling water with lime, so it looked like a vodka soda or something like that. It made it look like I was drinking and stopped people from asking me if I was pregnant…because apparently that is what it means if a young 20 something doesn’t drink. I digress. I’ve also gone to a bar crawl with that same group of co-workers and barely drank. I wanted to go to hang out with them, but just took sips here and there to participate. Everyone was pretty much wasted at the end of the night (no judgement, just being real) and were worried about me driving home, but I was like GUYS. I’ve literally been taking sips and giving my drinks to y’all tonight. I’m fine. I can hang, but most of the time I don’t want to. The same company also had a bar cart come by once a week around 4:00 pm and I never partook, because I had no desire too. I was so sleepy and had to drive at least 45 minutes home, it just wasn’t smart for me. I’ve also worked at places with a start-up culture that had beer, etc on access at all times of day. I didn’t usually join, as I was on the phone most of the day and couldn’t take those calls seriously otherwise.

On the flip side, last weekend, I had a glass of rosé on Sunday morning before 10:00 am, pre-brunch, while getting ready. I have had one-on-one drink outings with friends from work, drank with my boss while on trips, and even invited friends from work to my in-home Christmas parties. I share all these things to say I’m pretty non-judgemental and non-biased on the topic. Plus, I can surprise people! I’m usually a one cocktail orderer and on Saturday night I ordered two. One of my friends was like wow! That’s usually my move. Hah!

Besides the fact that I thought that this needed to be addressed because it’s a real issue, I also wanted to discuss it as a woman. I think I’m way more careful about mixing drinks with work, just because I have mainly worked with men. Sometimes it has felt like I’ve had to work harder to be taken seriously and such, so to watch all my hard work fall on a stupid decision when drinking would be heartbreaking, not to mention possibly get me into trouble. Not to say that men aren’t subject to these things, I just think that it affects women a little differently. Regardless of your gender, keep scrolling for some tips that anyone can benefit from!

In this day and age, you are probably going to get invited to a work happy hour or party, so here’s some tips with rsvping YES to those events and drinking with people you work with.

Read the situation. If there’s a party with alcohol, obviously people are imbibing. When I went on work trips with my boss, I only ever ordered it if 1) he ordered it first and 2) if I actually wanted it. If the senior person at the table isn’t ordering, I probably wouldn’t, especially if work is paying for it.
Make sure you eat. I feel like I’m writing tips for drinking in general with this tip, but yeah. Make sure you are eating food, so it won’t hit you on an empty stomach, as that is no bueno. If HH is standing and you don’t want to mess with passed apps or paying for so-so food, maybe pack a protein bar in your work bag and eat it before attending.
Set a time limit. You have your personal goals and such and staying out drinking with your co-workers is ill-advised, especially on a work night. If you set a time limit ahead of time, you know what you can usually drink during those times, and know when to stage your exit.
Know ride sharing options. The company I worked for the longest had a Uber/Lyft policy. You could take one no questions asked and be reimbursed for it. I thought this was awesome, because it ensured the employees got home safely. Whether it was for a work event, or a weekend gone wrong, they wanted their employees to be able to make good decisions.
Drink less than normal. It’s good to err on the side of less, because after all, it is a work environment. These aren’t your college buddies.
Know your Drinking Style. Again there’s no judgement here, but there are people I’ve worked with that get wild when they drink. Cursing has been fairly normal at my workplaces, but getting to the point where you say F*** YOU or give the middle finger to a superior is never okay in my opinion. You should assume everyone is watching and listening. HR has a way of finding things out. You’d also be surprised how many people experience work blackmail!
Discuss other topics. You might just find a new friend with something in common besides who pays most of your bills! Also this encourages you to talk about things out of the office and not office gossip people you work with. Don’t worry, I’m going to touch on office gossip in coming weeks!

Something I didn’t say in the tips above is it very well depends on what your job is! While I still think you should remain respectful and such, the events for my blog work pretty much always involve drinking and it is seen as normal. Sales is another area where it is different. Often times you are wine-ing and dining clients on the regular. These don’t represent most corporate environments, but are still worth mentioning. One good rule of thumb for everything is just be smart.

Alcohol can not only cause poor judgement and decisions you regret, but it can also contribute to anxiety and panic attacks, which aren’t good in general, but especially bad in a corporate setting. Not as in its worse, but that it could affect your career and stream of income.

Don’t get me wrong - office happy hours and drinking with your co-workers can be really good! It gets you outside the office and more often than not, you can find common ground with others, making your work life easier; however, it can also make it harder if you make poor decisions. Be prepared and put yourself in good situations. Go in knowing yourself and it should go swimmingly! People respect those who can have fun outside of work but still get stuff done during the hours of 9 and 5.

What’s your opinion? Any tips or thoughts I didn’t mention?

P.S. The drink I’m posing with here isn’t even mine. It’s Nick’s. Hah! I only drank hot lemon water at this brunch spot and don’t even enjoy Bloody Mary’s;) We took these pics last weekend at Malibu Farm.