You’re saying: “Wait, what?! Where’s the picture of your fridge?!”

Relax, it’s coming, it’s coming. It’s just down below. But before I share the entire contents, let’s dig into my guilty pleasure (or, in this case, pleasures!) I snapped what I thought was a decent photo of my absolute favorite thing in the ENTIRE WORLD. Sure, ripe pineapple is heaven. And I *adore* hot sauce. But nothing screams pleasure and brings along as much guilt (for me!) as a well-chilled, soon-to-be-open bottle of Champagne.

The gold wrapper mesmerizes. It’s shine hints of plenty of bubbles, effervescence and celebration to come. Whether pink, lightly crisp or golden honey-colored, the liquid inside promises good times and a party. A party in a bottle. Champagne is literally a party in a bottle and I’m a party-in-a-bottle kind of gal.

While most would agree that this sprightly liquid indeed oozes pleasure, you’re wondering where the guilt comes in? Well… I always try to have one bottle of Champagne in my fridge at all times. ALL TIMES, people. Not just when I’m throwing a dinner party, or when guests are due to visit, but simply whenever. Sometimes, you just need the look of the bottle, the promise of a party, the anticipation of splendid times, to make everything okay, to ease you during a crappy day, to celebrate the little things like when you lose 5 pounds after eating half a pizza!

The guilt also comes into play when you think of popping open a $40 or $60 or – gasp! – $80 bottle of the stuff simply for those little celebrations. It’s very extravagant, super luxurious and the kind of thing one just shouldn’t do every day. And, I don’t. I promise! But once in a while, for the simplest, mini-celebration, I do pop it open. I like to celebrate the little things – the weight loss, a sunny day, or just the fact that we’re healthy and alive and lucky to have such a bottle in our fridge. I feel bad about it, but somehow I get over it once the second glass settles in…

My fridge is fairly empty this Friday otherwise. Lots of leftovers crowd in before a big shopping trip planned for today. And don’t you dare think that I actually keep FOUR bottles of the sparkling stuff in my fridge every day. I felt like a little fun exaggeration this beautiful Friday.

Notice my French passions peeking through too. Bottles of champagne nestled against a Tupperware container filled with freshly boiled and peeled local hen eggs. Those eggs are ready for a quick appetizer – either for fancy deviled eggs or an entire egg simply sprinkled with coarse sea salt. Champagne and hard-boiled eggs are like New Jersey and you = perfect together! (Remember that commercial?! No?! I guess you had to be from the tri-state area…)

One last guilty pleasure this gorgeous Friday morning – It really is going to be beautiful today in New England, unless the weather Gods are playing with us! – I love, love, love a little spoonful of chocolate syrup. In some milk. On some ice cream or a plate of strawberries. On a spoon!

This bottle is quite worn and probably needs to be replaced. I really don’t have much all that often. But I do try to keep the organic stuff around for an equally sweet, guilty treat! Not as perfect as Champagne, but it’ll make me feel like I had a huge hot fudge sundae, without all those icky calories. What’s in your fridge?!