Hi! I’m Sarah Levy and I’m an author, writer, and mom.
I quit drinking at 28, which felt like the end of the world at the time. I was living in New York City, single, and going out every weekend, and I genuinely thought my life would be over if I stopped drinking.
I started writing about what it was like to be young and sober in a city that felt designed for drinking, starting with a story for The Cut about how sober dating felt like being an awkward teenager all over again. The more I wrote (on navigating wedding season in early sobriety for The New York Times, why I gave up drinking in the first place for Cup of Jo, alcoholism stereotypes in TV for Elle) the more the shame I felt about getting sober began to lift. (I have also written for publications like Vogue, The Coveteur, Glamour, and Bustle about things like my obsession with skincare, mental health after Covid, and why my “work family” fantasy broke my heart.)
Six years after I got sober, my book Drinking Games was published by St. Martin’s Press. It’s a memoir in essays that explores the role alcohol plays in our formative years and what it means to opt out of a culture completely enmeshed in drinking.
In sobriety, life continued to change. I moved from New York to Los Angeles, got married, and became a mom. After I had my baby, I started craving an unfiltered space where I could write about the mind-altering experience of motherhood. This newsletter is where I get into it, alongside posts on relationships, writing, building a life in a new city, culture, and the ongoing project of figuring out how to be a person in the world. I’m interested in the small decisions we make every day and the bigger patterns they reveal. I write about the books I’m reading, the conversations I’m having, and the things that keep me up at night.
I currently live in LA with my husband and son and am working on my second book.
Thank you for reading!
Sarah
