After Bean was born, I fell into a habit of treating myself to a soda whenever I was having a rough day. Around 3:30pm, staring down a clock until bedtime, I’d come up with A SUPER TERRIFIC AWESOME IDEA: “Let’s go down to the corner and get Mommy a soda!” Looking back, it was definitely going outside that made our day turn the corner, but at the time, I craved the sweet bubbly caffeinated nectar.

Eventually, I wanted something healthier, but still icy cold, and something that would be just as easily portable for stroller walks or toddler ceramics. Or just a peaceful moment of refreshing quiet on the sofa.

That’s when I found these beautiful bottles on Amazon. They’re $20 for a box of 6. Each one is a literal tall drink of water.

Plain water would be boring, and something I already cart around in a sports bottle all day. Adding lemon and keeping the bottles chilled ensures they qualify as refreshing.

I keep the bottles in the refrigerator at all times. At night, I replenish the bottles I drank during the day with fresh lemon slices.

I tried adding lime and cucumber, but after a few days, they ended up either too bitter (limes) or too funky (cucumber). Lemons stay acidic without any weirdo aftertastes.

I’m not going to tell you it’s just as satisfying as an ice cold can of Diet Coke. Come on. I’m not delusional. But, they’ve turned out to be just as refreshing as I’d hoped. I’ll grab one to eat with a sandwich, and then sip on as I write these posts. If we’re headed out, I grab a fresh one out of the refrigerator to take with me. They’ve taken the place of the soda habit, and that’s exactly what I wanted.