What Is Your Guiltiest Pleasure?

Real Simple readers reveal how they indulge their hedonistic sides. 

Buying designer shoes.
Maria Mariquit
Staten Island, New York

Easy. Facebook Scrabble. In lieu of any other activity.
Barbara Mayden
Nashville, Tennessee

Elmo and chocolate. Elmo goes on for my kiddos, and I sneak away with the chocolate.
Anika Screnock
Lakeville, Minnesota

Watching Gilmore Girls all day.
Hannah Smith
Columbia, South Carolina

The Real Housewives of New York. Do women actually act like that?
Kara Slater
Holland, Michigan

I make sure that anything that goes against my skin is as soft and supple as possible. This has led me to some amazing fabrics and materials, like my favorite bamboo sheet set. These sheets are softer than silk, never pill, and are eco-friendly, expensive, and spectacular.
Kim Johnson
Los Angeles, California

Skipping work, leaving the kids in day care, and watching a girly movie in the middle of the afternoon…with a bowl of ice cream.
Elizabeth Deschenes
Barrington, Rhode Island

Hot chocolate in the summertime.
Elsa Mehary
Brooklyn, New York

I have a toddler, a house to clean, deadlines to meet, and grass to cut, so my time is limited. But when I have time and I can do anything I want, I take a mile hike on the Appalachian Trail with my best friend to a secret pond, where we spend the afternoon swimming; eating lunch; talking about kids, life, marriage, and work; picking blueberries; and listening to the buzz of insects and the croaking bullfrogs. It is always a blissful time for me. I let myself do it just twice each summer (while my husband entertains our daughter). I take the day off. It always feels like I’m playing hooky.
Jen Matlack
Bethel, Connecticut

Checking celebrity gossip online at work throughout the day.
Megan Givens
Columbus, Nevada

Letting myself daydream. It especially feels like a guilty pleasure if I have a lot of things on my to-do list. One minute I’m folding laundry, and the next I’m staring out the window, no more chores, lost in the moment.
Nikki Gregoroff
Montclair, New Jersey 

Lifetime movies on Sunday mornings.
Jacqueline Montalvo
Mahwah, New Jersey