What are your guilty pleasures/indulgences?

[Zemma]

Through childhood, I loved to be alone in the house to have my favourite indulgence - a concotion I would make myself in a mug - 1/2 dried milk powder, 1/4 sugar (caster sugar if possible) and 1/4 cocoa powder. I would mix the dry ingredients and then add small amounts of water till it was a paste and then eat the lot with a spoon. I loved it better than just about anything and it was my secret indulgence.

Now my absolute indulgence is again my own invention. I don't think it is unique, but I did feel very inventive when I discovered it . Take a medium size glass and if available a long thin spoon like a parfait spoon. Fill the glass with frozen berries (blueberries or raspberries are the best!) and push them down a little bit. Then fill the glass with milk (or, like me, soymilk) and start to eat the berries. The further down the glass you go, the more the milk has been frozen by the berries and it is the most delicious taste and icey and creamy texture. And I love alchemy of the mix and can eat 2 or even 3 glasses of this indulgence!

[iris lily]

Mrs. M those are wonderful rich fabrics!
oh the projects that flash before my eyes. inspired by that first one!

[Wildflower]

Good coffee. The perfect cup of tea. An expensive and melt-in-the-mouth cut of beef. These are my politically correct guilty indulgences.

But people, AM I THE ONLY SMOKER ON HERE?! Come on, there's cigarettes and beer too. (For me, it's DH's homemade wine instead of beer, but the concept is the same.) Talk about a guilty indulgence: my gosh, I could have retired 5 years ago (or at least have afforded a newer/decent-er everyday vehicle, or gone to Europe for a month or three) if I wasn't a hard-core cigarette addict. I love my cigarettes, even in the face of knowing they will kill me eventually. The ultimate in guilty indulgences.....

I'm just not seeing any "non-politically-correct" answers here. Great answers, interesting answers, but truthful answers?.....

I used to smoke, but quit years ago. Missed it alot the first year or so, but now it's hard to remember why I ever enjoyed it. I might drink a glass of wine or two a couple times a month, but it is not a guilty pleasure of mine. My parents were alcoholics and my childhood was hell as a result...I never craved to have that kind of dysfunction in mine or my childrens' lives. As a teenager in the 70's I did smoke alot of pot, but it made me paranoid so don't miss that either...

So I will stick with my previous PC and "truthful" answers - chocolate, spoiling my grandkids and my little dogs are my current guilty pleasures. YMMV

[Float On]

Mrs M, check out my photo album of what I did with some of my favorite fabric scraps back in June. Really added some nice color to my sofas.

[iris lily]

IL.......could you elaborate on the funeral photographs?

These are called "post mortem" photographs. It was common in Victorian times to photograph the dead. My collection focuses on flower arrangements at funerals since those were usually cheaper. A really good post mortem photo would be $200+. My price range was around $20. As a result, I never got any terrifically interesting ones.

One of the more interesting photos I ever saw was the formal portrait of a dead dog. Someone loved this dog so much that they took him to a studio--which happened to be in downtown St. Louis!--and arranged his little body, and had him photographed. This was at the turn of the century. You can imagine how expensive it was at that time.

I've seen other interesting photos. One that haunts me is the portrait of a mother and child. The mother is dead, is propped up in a chair, and they covered her face with a veil. The child is alive and is cuddled up next to mom. Very moving.

If you type in "post mortem photograph" on Ebay you'll see this kind of thing.

[Mighty Frugal]

Re: Brazilian Waxes, ouch! Shame on me for mentioning, but what's wrong with au naturel?

Cleaner...don't knock it until you try it. I love it. It doesn't hurt if you apply EMLA cream before the wax.

[Mighty Frugal]

Iris Lily, oohh those photos. Now I'll have to check it out. How sad to read about the dead mom with child. Heartbreaking. I have heard that photography was rare and expensive 100 years ago so often the only photo they had was of dead family members. And often when you see a photo of a child, that child is actually dead and it is a keepsake for the parents.

[Gregg]

I spend unwisely and too well, all the time. If I'd hoarded my money, I'd certainly be rich. Otherwise, any indulgences I might justifiably feel guilty about are only dim and distant memories.

I spent all my money on women and wine. The rest I just wasted.

[Mrs-M]

JaneV2.0. Me too! I have a pillow-fetish. Good neighbours of ours (Italian), have several ornate pillows they brought to Canada with them (from the old country) when they immigrated in the late 40's- early 50's. They're tapestry styled pillows, with silk backs. Anyhow, whenever we're over visiting them, I never pass on going into their living room to catch a quick stare.

I'm with you on pulling out remnants and fabrics, and organizing them by colour/pattern/style. Makes me feel like an interior designer. LOL!

RosieTR. You and Jennipurrr, really do know how to spoil yourselves. You've touched on so many guilty pleasures I can relate to, like real maple syrup and quality kitchen knives. (Red-faced admission coming up). I still practice the old pot on the stove when making popcorn deal. There are just some things (old-fashioned) I can't let go of...

Mtnlaurel. I admire you so much. I lacked self-confidence when I was younger, so venturing off to a movie theatre by myself never figured into the works. I needed someone else to go with, or I didn't go. I think it takes a lot of courage to do what you did. I think about all of the movies we went to see, spooky movies, where we were afraid to walk home afterwards.

LOL, Zemma! Mom and dad never bought hot chocolate when we kids were little, it was always cocoa, and I remember how delicious the thick cocoa mixture (with milk and sugar) was, all by itself. Adding water to it just spoiled it!

Me too, Iris Lily! Fine draperies and table-toppers, I'm thinking. With fancy bullion fringe trim, tassel pull-backs, and contrasting (lighter) background drapery fabric. That's what I like about fabric remnants, is they allow me to dream.

Wildflower. Chocolate, and me, go hand-in-hand, too. Years ago I never touched chocolate, but now, not so. Christmas is the worst I find, where I set out bowls of things to nibble on. Shame on me, I'm always nibbling...

Float On. Incredible! They're out of this world! You really did a great job on them, and the colour layout is perfect, as is the design. They're so modern looking, so contemporary.

Mighty Frugal. Gosh, I'm such a wimp when it comes to discomfort of any kind.

LMAO, Gregg!!!

[Mrs-M]

And, yesterday, I spoiled myself with a 1kg jar of unpasteurized honey from one of our local apiaries. I never want to go back to store bought honey again!