Carnie Wilson’s Guilty Pleasures: ‘My Favorite Thing is Getting That Bra off and in My Jammies’ (EXCL)

From chart-topping success with the trio Wilson Phillips to crafting crave-worthy baked goods Carnie Wilson wears many hats—and wears them well. The singer, chef, and mom of two lives a vibrant life in California with husband Rob Bonfiglio and daughters Lola and Luciana, and she’s always looking for ways to spread joy.

During a recent Zoom with Woman’s World, Carnie opened up about the little (and big) things lighting up her world right now. And don’t miss it as she shares her incredible weight loss journey in our issue on sale here! 

Carnie’s daily dose of joy:

“I make breakfast for all my workers here—painters, the cabinet maker—every day,” she says of her current home renovation. “It’s my excuse to cook for them. Today we had scrambled eggs with jalapeños, onions, peppers, and corn tortillas with cheese. That makes me happy.”

Carnie Wilson’s current mantra:

“Progress, not perfection. If people lived like that, I think we’d be a lot more gentle on ourselves. We’d be gentle on other people.” 

Carnie’s favorite life hack:

“Laughter. I don’t know if that’s a life hack, but honest to God, there are too many things around us that are too sad and serious. But I have to laugh. I have to find the joy, and the love, and the gratitude. So much of it comes out in humor, and that could be anything—literally the silliest things make me happy.” 

What’s her laugh these days:

“My children, we laugh every single day. They are so funny.” 

The song Carnie Wilson plays on repeat:

“It’s always Steely Dan. And I love Bruno Mars. I do a lot of Bruno Mars lately, and Kacey Musgraves. She freakin’ blows my mind.”

Carnie’s current TV fixation:

“Love Is Blind. It’s silly, but people find love. I am obsessed with it.”

The last book Carnie read:

“I’m not reading a book right now. The last book I read was Where the Crawdads Sing. I just haven’t had time. I’m not making time. I’m not an avid reader, but I would like to read more. When I do, it’s relaxing. My husband loves to read. I’m literally crashing in bed, so if I can keep my eyes open, I’d read.”

Carnie’s favorite beauty trick:

“I would say lots of moisturizer. I have a serum and a moisturizing routine, a face scrub once a week. I think a facial scrub is really important, not too abrasive, but good to get the dead skin cells layers off and definitely moisturizing and putting serum on vitamin C serum is great.”

 Carnie’s biggest pet peeve:

“Liars. I just don’t understand why people can’t be transparent. It’s so wimpy to me. That’s my pet peeve, dishonest people.”

Carnie’s key to cozy:

“I love fuzzy thick pajamas and my Ugg slippers. My favorite thing in the world is getting that bra off and getting in my jammies. I run to the closet. I can’t wait.” 

The prayer she leans on:

“I say the Serenity Prayer every morning. I say, ‘God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can and the wisdom to know the difference.’ And that is a beautiful prayer, and my daddy loves that prayer too, because there are so many things that we cannot change and things we can. And I have to decide, is this something I can change or something I can’t? And let me feel serenity.”

Carnie’s favorite way to unwind:

“I love spending time with my children. I love cooking. Cooking is the way I de-stress, cooking and baking for other people. And also I’ve been meditating a little bit more. I try to be mindful about taking five or 10 minutes every day. Whether it’s when I get into bed, I do these creative visualizations and I start with my toes, my ankles, my calves, my knees, my legs, torso and I go all the way up to my body and I imagine everything just sort of relaxing and letting go. 

“The opposite of my relaxation is my physical tension. Everything is tense, and I really try to meditate to relax my whole body. I think that’s why I used to be so big with just drinking and escaping like that. I had to find relief. And now it’s an occasional bath, and it really is just finding time to just be quiet. Lighting a candle, putting music on and cooking in my kitchen brings me joy.”