Happy 10th Birthday, Girl's Guide! — A Girl's Guide to Drinking Alone

A Girl’s Guide to Drinking Alone® is turning 10 years old this week! (Just in time to get her ears pierced!) My first post was on April 4, 2016, with dual reviews of two Manhattan hot spots that no longer exist. But before I get into my birthday reminiscenes on this sweet lil blog o’ mine, I just want to give a little personal update.

Right after my last post about my European road trip, my dog’s cancer returned, this time more aggressive. Sherry required near constant care and treatment, and I’m devastated to say that after a few hard-fought months, she passed away in February. We had eight incredible years together, and while I’m so grateful for all the time we had, I wish we had more. I am still heartbroken and trying to figure out what my life looks like without her, both daily and long-term. I can tell you one thing—I’ve been drinking a lot of sherry in her honor. And I hope you too will raise a glass to my sweet silly girl.

So many things are different now than they were ten years ago, both for me and the entire fuckin’ world. I’m no longer a 24-year-old actor who just moved in with roommates in East Williamsburg. We no longer live in Obama’s America. The only other time before Sherry’s cancer diagnosis that I took a long hiatus from regularly writing reviews was during a global pandemic (remember that?). I’ve changed careers and written two books. A cocktail in New York now regularly costs $20, a far cry from the $14-16 libations that seemed so outrageous back in 2016 (and to my post-grad budget). Even the concept of a blog is different! You’re reading WORDS, not watching a video, and because of that, I have WAY fewer followers! (Yet I’m still on Squarespace and using MailChimp, very 2016 of me.) But I trademarked the name “A Girl’s Guide to Drinking Alone” so I can officially use the little ® symbol, and that’s pretty cool.

In this blog’s tenure, I’ve personally reviewed 128 bars, which boils down to a little more than a bar a month. (I think I can confidently say I’m more of a barfly than those numbers would suggest.) Ten different guest writers have penned reviews, from locations as far away as Hong Kong and as close by as Bushwick. And sadly, more than one third of featured places have closed since they were reviewed here, which I think speaks volumes about how tenuous and transient the restaurant industry can be.

So what does A Girl’s Guide to Drinking Alone look like now, in the year 2026, written by a thirty-something in a long-term committed relationship with both a partner and a Cobble Hill apartment? I still love cocktails, but now I’m more inclined to go out at a reasonable hour to an establishment that also serves food. And I recognize that I am perhaps no longer the target of some pick-up lines as I maybe once was, and I accept this reality. (Though I think I still look fly AF, I’m not of the TikTok generation, if you catch my drift.) One thing hasn’t changed–no one is paying me to do this. It’s been strictly a hobby, a fun excuse to go out to bars and call it “work.” Bars and restaurants are my favorite places in the world, and if I’ve learned anything over the past ten years, it’s to not take a single drink or meal for granted.

Thank you to everyone who reads this, whether you’ve been here since day one or stumbled on it recently. Now that Girl’s Guide is entering her second decade (!), let me know what you’d like to see me cover. Feel free to write in the comments or shoot me an email. I hope you’ll continue to follow this journey to find safe spaces for women to drink alone. Because even though a lot of things have changed, the ethos of A Girl’s Guide to Drinking Alone has not. Cheers!