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Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio.

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Speaker 1: Good Morning, This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.

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Speaker 1: Today's tip is to identify the perfect treat to be

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Speaker 1: a pick me up when you need one. You may

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Speaker 1: have heard about the lipstick effect, the tendency for women

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Speaker 1: to spend more on beauty products when the economy is weaker.

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Speaker 1: If during an economic downturn, you can't afford a big

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Speaker 1: indulgence like a designer purse, the theory is that you

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Speaker 1: are more likely to spend on small indulgences to make

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Speaker 1: up for it. Lipstick fits the definition of a small

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Speaker 1: indulgence pretty well. The actual research on the lipstick effect

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Speaker 1: is mixed, but there's a lot to be said for

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Speaker 1: the idea. Whatever is going on in the larger world,

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Speaker 1: it is nice to have a few little treats that

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Speaker 1: you know you can always indulg in. Sometimes a little

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Speaker 1: indulgence can go a long way towards boosting your happiness

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Speaker 1: and your sense that you get things just for yourself.

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Speaker 1: Every now and then, I've been thinking about treats a

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Speaker 1: lot lately because well, some of my old standbys no

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Speaker 1: longer work due to various boring maladies. I have had

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Speaker 1: to give up wine and dairy products. This is a

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Speaker 1: shame because chocolate caramels, or a glass of Sauvignon blanc

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Speaker 1: or a frothy latte have long been some of my

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Speaker 1: favorite picked me ups. Fortunately, the world has plenty of

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Speaker 1: treats if you think about it, and I've come up

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Speaker 1: with others. Craft beer it's a nice wine substitute, as

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Speaker 1: are some of the new higher end packaged mocktails you

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Speaker 1: can buy. Larger grocery stores carry a selection of non

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Speaker 1: dairy chocolate products such as my new favorite indulgence ben

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Speaker 1: and Jerry's Fish Food, non dairy frozen dessert, completely decadent

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Speaker 1: and available for a few bucks. Treats also don't have

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Speaker 1: to have calories. They can be experiences. I was amazed

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Speaker 1: at how often baths came up in my research from

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Speaker 1: my upcoming book, Tranquility by Tuesday. Lots of people chose

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Speaker 1: reading in their bathtubs as a favorite form of effortful fun,

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Speaker 1: and there's definitely something to that. I find it relaxing

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Speaker 1: enough that taking a soak in the tub is now

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Speaker 1: on my list of favorite treats to indulgen when I

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Speaker 1: have the house to myself, or at least I don't

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Speaker 1: have the toddler around. Another treat is playing the piano.

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Speaker 1: That might have been a chore when I was a kid,

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Speaker 1: but these days I like to play a few hymns

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Speaker 1: and sing along. I'm not trying to learn any new music,

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Speaker 1: just play the old standbys, which makes the experience quite relaxing.

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Speaker 1: Then there's puzzles and Lego projects. Before Christmas, my preteen

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Speaker 1: kids and I put together the Visit from Santa House,

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Speaker 1: and I enjoyed it so much that I bought the

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Speaker 1: Lego elf Clubhouse set too. Allegedly it was for the kids,

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Speaker 1: but hey, it could also be my treat. When the

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Speaker 1: weather is nicer, I like to sit on the porch

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Speaker 1: and read a magazine. I know so much as online

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Speaker 1: these days, but there's something just more relaxing about reading

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Speaker 1: a print magazine that cannot possibly interrupt me with an

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Speaker 1: urgent text or email. I save up each issue after

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Speaker 1: it arrives and tell I need a treat. In any case,

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Speaker 1: it could be hard to think of treats in the moment,

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Speaker 1: or at least treats beyond the obvious wine or chocolate.

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Speaker 1: And even if we do indulge in the obvious. We

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Speaker 1: want to notice that this is what we are doing

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Speaker 1: and savor the treat rather than just shoveling it in.

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Speaker 1: So if you need some pick me ups, and really,

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Speaker 1: who doesn't spend a little time today thinking about your

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Speaker 1: favorite treats, make a list where in your daily orbit

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Speaker 1: are you most at peace? Where do you feel most uplifted.

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Speaker 1: They say we can't buy happiness, but if you are

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Speaker 1: looking to spend ten dollars or less, what little indulgence

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Speaker 1: would reliably boost your mood. Really, it could be anything

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Speaker 1: new office supplies, fun cocktail, napkins, a special pass, and

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Speaker 1: a video game. Start making this list and come back

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Speaker 1: to it a few times as you think of things.

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Speaker 1: Then put this list somewhere you will see it on

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Speaker 1: your phone, on the fridge, with a magnet on a

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Speaker 1: sticky note in your kitchen. It can be hard to

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Speaker 1: think of things in the moment, and particularly when we

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Speaker 1: are feeling a bit glum. But if you remember that

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Speaker 1: a particular flavor of tea and posts from a certain

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Speaker 1: blogger always lift your spirits, you can go indulge in

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Speaker 1: those things when you need the boost. Or maybe it's

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Speaker 1: listening to a certain podcast. By my account, this is

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Speaker 1: the seven hundred fiftieth original episode of Before Breakfast. The

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Speaker 1: episode count might be higher in your feed because we

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Speaker 1: run repeats on the weekends, but I hope listening to

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Speaker 1: a few of these seven hundred fifty episodes has felt

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Speaker 1: like a little treat for you. In any case, I

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Speaker 1: am always looking for more treat ideas, so let me

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Speaker 1: know what you come up with. You can reach me

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Speaker 1: at Laura at Laura vander Kim dot com. In the meantime,

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Speaker 1: this is Laura. Thanks for listening, and here's to making

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Speaker 1: the most of our time. Hey, everybody, I'd love to

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Speaker 1: hear from you. You can send me your tips, your questions,

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Speaker 1: or anything else. Just connect with me on Twitter, Facebook,

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Speaker 1: and Instagram at Before Breakfast Pod. That's b E the

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Speaker 1: number four than Breakfast p o D. You can also

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Speaker 1: shoot me an email at Before Breakfast podcast at i

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Speaker 1: heeart media dot com that Before Breakfast is spelled out

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Speaker 1: with all the letters. Thanks so much, I look forward

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Speaker 1: to staying in touch. Before Breakfast is a production of

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Speaker 1: I Heart Radio. For more podcasts from I Heart Radio,

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Speaker 1: visit the I heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever

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Speaker 1: you listen to your favorite shows,