In this episode of The Happiest Hour with Paula Devine, Paula sits down with Dana Bowman for an honest conversation about motherhood, nightly wine habits, menopause, sugar addiction, perfectionism, and the complicated relationship so many women have with alcohol.

They also talk openly about relapse — not as failure, but as part of Dana’s story and a turning point that became intentional, honest, and deeply eye-opening. Together they explore what happens when alcohol stops feeling like relief and starts creating more exhaustion, anxiety, and disconnection instead.

This conversation touches on:

Normalizing the nightly glasses, drinking habits & culture

• Midlife stress and sober menopause
• Sugar addiction and coping mechanisms
• Perfectionism and people-pleasing
• Relapse, self-awareness, and starting again
• What real freedom and recovery can look like

This episode is for the woman quietly wondering if there’s more to life than constantly trying to “manage” alcohol while pretending everything is fine.