About Calgary City Editor
Calgary City Editor Ricky Zayshley knows a good thing when he sees one. His heart races when he discovers a new hotspot and his mouth waters at the sight of delectable food. After years of living out east, this Prairie boy has found his way back home and can’t wait to dish about sweet finds in his favourite city.
Sometimes I make a discovery so epic it makes me giggle. So you’ll understand why my giggle turned into full-out laughter after I bit into my latest pastry obsession from Safeway.
It’s taken me a long time to organize my thoughts for this blog post because I want to get this description right. Imagine the lightest, flakiest croissant you’ve ever bitten into (well, maybe that’s a stretch — humour me) and the most unhealthy, sugary, glazed Krispy Kreme donut you’ve ever ingested. Now morph them into one delectable treat. Then drizzle it with chocolate. My heart races with anticipation as I write; or perhaps my arteries are clogging up. It’s exciting either way.
I’ve always believed in restraint when it comes to guilty pleasures, even though I’ve never practiced it. In fact, I relish in those simple, guilt-inducing foods, rituals and music I’ve indulged in ever since I was a kid. It’s funny, when you’re growing up in Saskatchewan, drinking instant coffee laced with Coffeemate with your grandma is a pleasure. Once you grow up and start to move in more sophisticated circles it gets demoted to a guilty pleasure. For the record, I still love instant coffee. My current fave is Nescafé 3 in 1 (which is available at my local Superstore).
Do you know what my idea of the perfect night is? A bottle of Copper Moon Shiraz (available at liquor stores across the city) and a PVR full of Medium. Cheap wine and Alison Dubois go together like Sylvia Browne and Montell Williams. Luckily for me Copper Moon wine runs anywhere from $7-$10. It’s delicious; however, I’m convinced the liquor store employees wonder if I’ll leave the paper bag on the bottle while I drink it. (Sadly Medium has been cancelled.)
But do not fret, I have several more guilty pleasures. Here are a few of them, in no particular order:
- White Rain hairspray (does anyone know where I can buy this stuff?)
- Deeply discounted shoes from Aldo
- Plackers
- Cribbage on the iPhone
- dlisted.com
- Eating a delicious $3 sandwich from Alpine Sausage (23-3919 Richmond Rd. S.W.) with my mom at Starbucks
- Free wifi
- Takeout pepperoni pizza from Canadian Pizza Unlimited
- Dollar Store candles
- Big Turk candy bars
- Sniffing cheap perfume at Shoppers Drug Mart
There is a certain sense of comfort derived from guilty pleasures. I have a few other ones that I choose to keep private, but some are too good to hold in, like the glazed croissants from Safeway. I just had to tell you!
What are your guilty pleasures?
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