Meet the Best Alcohol Replacement of the Season
As the nights get colder and holiday gatherings fill the calendar, I’ve been craving a new kind of ritual—something warm, social, and feel-good, without the fogginess that often follows a drink. And this season, I found it.
Meet Vesper, Pique’s brand-new, non-alcoholic adaptogenic aperitif—and truly one of the most exciting launches they’ve ever released. Crafted with rare botanicals and science-backed ingredients, it delivers everything I love about a drink: the unwind, the mood lift, the sense of connection… just without the alcohol.
Each sip brings a soft drop in the shoulders, a gentle lift in spirit, and a clear, grounded presence. Sparkling, tart, and herbaceous, Vesper feels luxurious and intentionally crafted—perfect for holiday parties, cozy nights in, and an elevated start to Dry January.
Because it’s new (and already going viral), it will sell out fast.
I watched an interview with an 80-year-old man recently.
When asked what he regretted most about his younger years, he didn't say he wished he'd worked harder or achieved more. What he said was:
“I wished I’d been easier on myself”.
He talked about the race he ran. How exhausting it was. How he blamed himself for everything that went wrong.
And then, somewhere in his 60s, he realized: so much of it was just luck. And timing. And circumstances he couldn't control.
"I wish I'd understood that earlier. I wish I'd been kinder to myself."
That hit me hard.
Because I've spent so much of my life doing the exact same thing.
Blaming myself for things that were never fully in my control. Carrying weight that wasn't mine to carry. Running a race that exhausted me.
And most of us are doing this right now.
We've been taught that everything is under our control.
Work hard enough, and you'll succeed. Make the right choices, and life will work out.
But that's not how life works.
You can do everything right and still not get the outcome you wanted. You can work harder than anyone else and still lose the opportunity to someone with better timing.
That's not failure. That's life.
And yet, we blame ourselves.
When the job doesn't come through, we think we weren't good enough.
When the relationship ends, we think we should have done something differently.
When things don't work out the way we planned, we think it's our fault.
But what if it's not?
What if so much of what happens is just timing, luck, and circumstances beyond your control?
Be kind to yourself
Here's a quote that's stuck with me:
"Nothing is ever as good or as bad as it seems."
Your worst moment wasn't the end of everything. Your best moment wasn't as fragile as you thought.
Life evens out in ways you can't see when you're in the middle of it.
So what does it mean to be "easier on yourself"?
It doesn't mean lowering your standards or giving up.
It means softening the voice in your head that tells you everything is your fault.
It means acknowledging what you can't control. The timing. The luck. The circumstances.
It means giving yourself the same compassion you'd give a friend who's struggling.
Here's what being easier on yourself looks like:
Stop blaming yourself for things you couldn't control. The job that went to someone else. The relationship that didn't work. Not everything is your fault.
Acknowledge the role of luck. Some people get opportunities because they were in the right place at the right time. That doesn't mean you're not good enough.
Give yourself credit for trying. Even if it didn't work out. You showed up. That counts.
Let go of the race. You don't have to keep running. The exhaustion you feel is real. And it's okay to slow down.
Be kinder to the voice in your head. It doesn't have to be so harsh.
The 80-year-old said something else:
"I spent so much time worrying about what I didn't have, what I didn't accomplish. And now I look back and realize I had so much. I just couldn't see it because I was too busy being hard on myself."
Don't wait until you're 80 to learn this.
What if you were kinder to yourself today?
What if you stopped blaming yourself for things outside your control?
What if you let go of the race and just… breathed?
You don't have to wait until you're older to be easier on yourself.
You can start now.
The regret isn't in what you didn't achieve. It's in how hard you were on yourself along the way.
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