More Happier: Dinner for Breakfast? Plus A Basic Question About Very Basic Questions

Summary

Happier with Gretchen Rubin: More Happier – Dinner for Breakfast? Plus A Basic Question About Very Basic Questions
Episode Date: May 30, 2026

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Episode Overview

In this lively, personal installment of the “More Happier” series, Gretchen Rubin and her sister/cohost Elizabeth Craft dive into quirky habits, unexpected joys, and the unspoken rules of daily life. Together, they explore:

• How social events and tastings can boost happiness
• The surprising depth in ordinary questions like “How do people know things?”
• A light-hearted debate about eating “dinner for breakfast” Throughout, they sprinkle in practical strategies for designing a happier summer and reflect on the little things—like the ability to rewatch or reread—that add unexpected joy.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. What’s Making Us Happier?

(02:44–15:15)

Elizabeth: Couples’ Wine Tasting Night

• Elizabeth attended a wine tasting party with her husband, Adam.
• The joy wasn’t so much about the wine, but about having a social couples’ activity, meeting new people, and learning something new in a relaxed, structured setting.
• “There’s something about it that just felt really fun and lively. I think because there was this activity.” (03:15, Elizabeth)
• Gretchen relates, comparing it to other fun, low-pressure activities like cheese or coffee tastings—activities with structure, but without the intimidation of games.

Other Tasting Ideas

• The sisters recount family memories of ice cream and apple tastings.
• Honey tasting with strikingly different flavors becomes another example of how simple, curious events can be memorable and even educational.

Gretchen: The Joy of Rereading and Rewatching

• Gretchen appreciates the modern ease of returning to favorite movies, shows, and books, reminiscing about a time when this wasn’t possible.
• “I love to rewatch TV and movies, and I really have to force myself to watch something new because I love to rewatch so much.” (10:44, Gretchen)
• She notes “the sheer pleasure of access” and wants to be actively grateful for it.
• Elizabeth, as a TV writer, points out the upside for creators—that new audiences can discover and binge old shows at any time.

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2. How Do People Know Things?

(16:47–29:06)

Gretchen poses a simple but profound question:
“How do people know things?” (16:47, Gretchen)

The Worry of Unknown Unknowns

• Gretchen shares moments where important practical life information seemed “obvious” only after someone told her—like not putting metal in microwaves or how to read office floor numbers (e.g., 2613 = 26th floor).
• “What is all the information that I don’t know, that everybody else has just been captured casually bantering about all these years, and I missed it?” (19:39, Gretchen)

Elizabeth’s Examples

• Not knowing about changing air conditioner filters.
• The everyday kind of “folk wisdom” that doesn’t come with explicit instructions.

The Trouble with Modern Work/Life

• They discuss how working from home and screen-based living might block us from picking up casual, practical tips.
• “There’s a lot of learning that happens very easily [in person], whereas if you’re at home, you… don’t even know that there’s something to figure out.” (21:49, Gretchen)

Accidental Mistakes

• Elizabeth’s mishap cleaning a hot coffee pot with cold water (“…sure enough, it exploded…” (23:35)) as an example of learning surprising rules by experience.

Tech and Information Pitfalls

• Sharing a caution about Google Docs’ tabs: when making a PDF, every tab is included—not just the one you have open. Learned the hard way! (25:05–26:00)

Actively Listening for Tips

• Gretchen notes some people miss abundant information because they don’t seek it out (e.g., reading school newsletters or manuals).
• She asks listeners to share practical “obvious” tips they didn’t know, aiming to crowdsource a helpful “public service announcement” PDF for all.

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3. Spotlight on a Tool: Design Your Summer

(29:09–30:25)

Gretchen introduces a feature in the Happier app to help listeners intentionally plan their summer—choosing a one-word theme, making a bucket list, and mapping actions to avoid “end-of-summer regrets.”

• “Because we all know that feeling of the summer ending, and you think, ugh, why didn’t I do this or that?” (29:20, Gretchen)
• Elizabeth notes her own summer plans are still slim, showing there’s no one right way to approach it.

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4. Dinner for Breakfast?

(34:43–38:35)

Gretchen’s Question: Would You Eat Dinner Foods for Breakfast?

• Gretchen asks Elizabeth if she’d eat “dinner” foods (like meatballs or tuna salad) at breakfast, since breakfast-for-dinner is lauded but the reverse less so.
• Elizabeth firmly says no—it feels wrong. “Now, what I will say is, I often would skip breakfast… and then I might have, at 11:30, dinner for breakfast food.” (35:22, Elizabeth)
• Exception: cold pizza. “Occasionally I might like a leftover piece of pizza for breakfast.” (37:16, Elizabeth)

Family Food Habits

• Elizabeth’s son, Jack, now requests ham and cheese sandwiches or even rice for breakfast instead of traditional options.
• Adam (Elizabeth’s husband) strongly prefers “breakfast food” first as a daily ritual and can't switch to lunch/dinner foods until after.

Rethinking Food Norms

• “We can break free from the tyranny of these assumptions… a ham and cheese sandwich, I mean, sure, absolutely.” (36:22, Gretchen)
• Sweets for breakfast seem less taboo—cake or Danish align closely with baked breakfast goods.

Leftovers and Food Usefulness

• Gretchen notes the practical benefits: “If you’re just as happy to have dinner for breakfast, you can eat your leftovers for breakfast… but if you feel like…this food is only for dinner, then that limits the number of times you can eat it.” (38:04, Gretchen)

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5. Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Casual Learning:
  “There’s a lot of learning that happens very easily. Whereas if you’re at home, you sort of have to figure things out… you don’t even know that there’s something you don’t know.” (21:49, Gretchen)
• On Everyday Wonder:
  “It’s so unusual in the history of mankind that you are able to replay things… I want to remember to be grateful for it.” (13:47, Gretchen)
• On Food Tradition vs. Innovation:
  “We can break free from the tyranny of these assumptions.” (36:22, Gretchen)
• On Unexpected Lessons:
  “Don’t make something that’s very hot suddenly very cold… Yet I did that.” (23:54, Elizabeth)

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6. Ending Reflection and Inspirational Quotation

(38:40–39:15)

Gretchen shares a quote from sculptor/writer Anne Truitt:

“I am attached to my house, to my inherited belongings, and to the things that I have chosen for myself. All these objects add complexity to my emotional ties to the people with whom I have shared and share my life and to my aspirations for myself.” (38:40, Anne Truitt, read by Gretchen)

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Notable Timestamps

• 02:44 – Elizabeth’s happiness: wine tasting as social fun
• 10:16 – Gretchen’s happiness: the joy of rewatching/reliving art
• 16:47 – How do people know things? (life’s unspoken instructions)
• 23:27 – Elizabeth’s exploding coffee pot story
• 25:05 – Google Docs “tabs in PDFs” caution
• 29:09 – “Design Your Summer” tool in the Happier app
• 34:43 – Would you eat “dinner for breakfast”?
• 38:40 – Anne Truitt quotation and closing reflection

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Takeaways for Listeners

• Don't take rewatching, rereading, and relistening for granted—these are unique modern joys.
• Social or tasting-based activities—even with humble ingredients—can foster connection and happiness.
• Many “obvious” life tips are learned by chance or through error—let’s be generous in sharing them.
• Food traditions are more flexible than we think; leftovers for breakfast are valid!
• Being intentional—whether about summer plans or daily habits—can help cultivate more happiness.

Call to Action: Gretchen and Elizabeth encourage listeners to submit their own “basic things I didn’t know” for a possible crowd-sourced list—there’s always more to learn, no matter how basic it may seem.

Transcript

[A]

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[A]

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Great brands, great prices. That's why you rack. Hello. We are here for More Happier. A podcast where we get happier. It is the weekend we are talking with just a little bit of a looser vibe. Hey, Elizabeth.

[C]

Hi, Gretchen.

[A]

Today we'll talk about my very basic question about very basic questions. And we will explore our views about dinner for breakfast. But first, something making us happier. Elizabeth, what is something making you happier?

[C]

Well, Gretch, the other day, Adam and I went to a wine tasting party.

[A]

Ooh, nice.

[C]

Okay, so our friends had kind of won this wine tasting party where, you know, it's exactly what it sounds like. You go, you taste wine, there's a guy there who tells you about all the different wines. You can order the wines if you want to. But what was so fun about it was that it was this couple's night that Adam and I had together. I didn't even realize. We sort of hadn't had, like, a couples thing for quite a while. So we went together, we sat together. We sat with another couple and a friend. And it just. I don't know, there was something about it that just felt really fun and lively, I think, because there was this activity that always kind of makes something fun. It's not like just the two of us. Going to dinner was. Felt very different.

[A]

Yeah. I'm just curious. How many couples was it, and how many wines did you taste?

[C]

It wasn't just couples, but there was, I think, about maybe 20 people.

[A]

Oh, okay. So it was pretty good size.

[C]

Yes. And I think we tasted nine wines.

[A]

Oh, wow. Okay. So that's a lot.

[C]

Yes. So it took also. It was a long process. It wasn't just like, three wines. It was like a solid two hours of sitting and drinking and chatting. You could throw out part of it if you didn't want to drink the whole taste.

[A]

Right.

[C]

But also, it was like you could talk about what you liked and didn't like. And there's that thing of, like, we didn't know everyone there. There were people there. We had never. Because it wasn't our friends that we see, like, all the time. So that also made it fun. And meeting new people is always easier when you have something like that where you're doing something to talk about. So I think that was another reason why it was really fun.

[A]

Yeah. Well, this appeals to me because, you know, I don't like games very much. So a lot of times something like this would be a game night. You love a game night. And I think part of it is I do. It's easier to talk to people and meet new people, and you have something that you're doing, you're not just chatting. I love to just chat, but it is fun to have something to make it different. I think it's fun to feel like you're learning something or, like getting an insight into something like wine. But so to me, this really appeals. Or like, if it was a cheese tasting party or even something like a coffee tasting party, because it is an activity, but it's not games. I mean, I do like a game night just because I like the fun. And I always like it more than I think that I will once we're actually playing games. But I don't look forward to playing games the way I know you look forward to playing games.

[C]

I Do look forward to playing games. It's true. I could do a game night every week and probably be happy.

[A]

I think that's so nice. But this is a good idea. It reminds me of. And maybe Jamie and I should do one of these. Even if you don't want to be drinking wine or you don't know anything about drinking wine. One of the fun things I did was have a tasting party when I was writing Life in Five Senses and I had all these friends and we tasted different types of apples and raided them. Didn't our mother and father do something where they tasted different kinds of ice cream?

[C]

Or did we just different vanilla ice creams?

[A]

Right. To see, like, was the most fancy brand actually the best tasting or, you know. Right. I think that would be super fun. You know, it would be really fun. This is something that I heard about in Life in Five Senses. And this would be really fun to do with a bunch of people. You know how there are all these really unusual ice cream flavors now. And when I was with all my high school friends, we went to an ice cream store and they just had these strange ice cream flavors, but that were delicious. I broke my no sugar rules so I could taste some of them. Very unexpected, but delicious. And somebody told us about a party where it was just for dessert. It was all different kinds of ice cream that you wouldn't really necessarily have the boldness to order and really commit to for, like your ice cream cone, but you like to taste it.

[C]

Well, that's a good idea.

[A]

And so the idea was you could just pass it around and everybody take a taste. And then you could say, oh, this is my favorite. I like this one. Again, it's less learning than doing a wine tasting test and much shorter. But it would still be this thing. I bet it would be an icebreaker and would get people sort of talking and laughing and commenting on their different thoughts about the different flavors.

[C]

Yeah, that would be fun. I do like the idea of learning, even if it's not something I'm necessarily going to remember. And I think that is something like, as one gets older, like, I found myself the other day saying, well, I just. I love a lecture.

[A]

And I'm like, I love a lecture.

[C]

That is not something I would have said when I was 22. I would not have been like, I just love a lecture.

[A]

You know, I love a lecture.

[C]

Now I could go to a lecture on almost anything, probably, and enjoy it.

[A]

Do you feel like you learned permanently stuff about wine?

[C]

No, no, it was a combination.

[A]

Yeah.

[C]

I don't Think I permanently learned it. But it was very interesting to hear about. You know, I don't have a great palette. You and I has taste as our most neglected sense.

[A]

Oh, yes. And by the way, if you want to take the most neglected sense quiz, go to GretchenRubin.com and take that I haven't talked about the most neglected scents quiz in such a long time. I love that quiz.

[C]

It's a good one. But a $12 bottle and, like, a $50 bottle, I probably wouldn't be able to tell the difference, but it was just interesting to hear about it in the different regions. And he was talking about why wine is white or what color is it red or why it's orange or why it's pink. So it was just fun and interesting, and it was nice just to, like, be there next to Adam and have our little asides while having a bigger conversation.

[A]

Kind of a date night.

[C]

But yes, it was a date night,

[A]

but it kind of came completely packaged, fully formed.

[C]

Exactly.

[A]

Because you're like, our friend is having this. This is what it is. We're invited. Yes, I remember with not knowing the difference, you sort of like, it's maybe to my advantage not to know the difference, because then I can drink the cheap stuff and not be bothered by it. But, Elizabeth, one of your things about you is how you like corner store coffee. Like, you like the coffee you get from a corner store. And I remember one time talking to somebody who actually worked at a coffee company, and I said, oh, you know, I love coffee. I drink so much coffee. And she's like, oh, really? What's your favorite kind of coffee? And I was like, oh, I don't know. I mean, just coffee. The idea that she would like, oh, I have a special kind. But then, of course, people have all sorts of special things that they like. I would love to go to a coffee tasting party. That would be super fun.

[C]

I would love that too.

[A]

Okay, maybe we'll do that for our reading retreat. If you're doing a lot of reading, you have to stay awake. So maybe we'll look for a coffee tasting thing. That would be fun.

[C]

That would be fun. I did a honey tasting the other day.

[A]

Really?

[C]

A mini honey tasting with Sarah in Ojai.

[A]

Oh, that screams Ojai. Yes. And Sarah's really gotten into honey. Oh, and it's your bees, too. Your killer bees. Yes.

[C]

Well, let me tell you, honeys can taste radically different.

[A]

Yeah.

[C]

You thought they all taste the same. They do not. So I highly recommend a honey tasting.

[A]

Well, I remember my mother in law gave our parents a six honey sampler and how much they enjoyed it. When you really compare them, you see, oh, this one is more flowery, and this one is more like hay and whatever. So, yeah, Honey sampler. Oh, that's so fun.

[C]

Yes.

[A]

Very Ojai. Very Ojai.

[C]

So, Gretch, what's making you happier?

[A]

Here's something I was thinking about that's so easy to take for granted. And I really don't wanna take it for granted because it's such a source of happiness for me. And probably not so much for you, Elizabeth, because I am a person who loves to reread and re watch and re listen. I will go over and over things, and I just never want to take the fact that right now it's very easy to rewatch and re listen for granted. Now, the beautiful thing about reading is that you've been able to reread for a very long time. And I reread a lot. Like, I really do reread quite a bit. And I'll sometimes just reread a page or two. Like, there's one passage that I love, and I'll just go back and read that one passage. But I also love to rewatch TV and movies, and I really have to force myself to watch something new because I love to rewatch and so much. And I always say to myself, well, you're not gonna have anything new to rewatch if you don't watch something new. But sometimes I'll just go on YouTube and watch a scene, like the scene from Mad Men where Peggy and dawn are talking about the campaign for the Telegram. And you see them working through it, and it's just so satisfying. And I'll just watch that over and over and over again. Or the Office. How many times have I seen the Office? And it just gets better every single time. I enjoy it more every single time. And, you know, it's hard for me just to think, like, if you missed a show, you just missed it, maybe you would see it in reruns, but maybe not. And now it's so unusual. Like a show. I never really watched it that much, but I would love to watch it now. But I haven't is 30 something. And Jamie loved 30 something. You can't rewatch 30 something. I think it's because of the music rights. It's all tied up or something. But anyway, it's one of these shows that was super popular, but you just, for whatever reason, you can't rewatch it. And it's so unusual or like One of my all time favorite movies is All About Jazz. It may be my very favorite movie. You can't stream it. I finally just bought the dvd, but I can't remember how to use a dvd. So someday I'm gonna have to sit down and remind myself how to actually do that. Because I just couldn't bear the thought that I didn't have the capacity to rewatch it. Because I love it so much, I'll replay it in my head. But I wanna watch it. And it's so frustrating. Cause we've gotten so spoiled that, oh, if you wanna watch it, you can. Because that's such a great pleasure to me. And it's so unusual in the history of mankind that you are able to replay things well.

[C]

And as like a TV writer, Gretchen, it's also nice for creators that people can find something years after it came out. Like, all these people are watching girls now who've never seen it. People continue to start at season one of Grey's Anatomy.

[A]

Yes.

[C]

And that's nice too. Which isn't rewatching, but it's sort of watching at any time.

[A]

Right. It's having the capacity. Well, and it's funny because, Elizabeth, we have all these completists who listen to the show and sometimes they say I go all the way back to the beginning and I'm listening to every episode. And like, I remember when you were talking about Fantasy island, they might well be like, oh, I want to go watch Fantasy island now.

[C]

Yes.

[A]

And they can.

[C]

Yes.

[A]

Or they want to rewatch it. Like, oh, I want to rewatch the one where the woman just wanted to rest.

[C]

Yes.

[A]

Instead of just knowing that you can have it.

[C]

Brings joy.

[A]

Brings joy. Just knowing, like, it's not gone, it's just like a book that you can pick it up again if you want to. I want to remember to be grateful for it because it's something that gives me so much pleasure.

[C]

Okay. All right, Gretch. Well, coming up, there is something you've been meaning to ask me. But first, this break.

[B]

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Why did I search the Internet for

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[A]

I can clear my search history, but I can never unsee that.

[B]

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[A]

Gretchen this show is sponsored by BetterHelp. Lately I've been thinking how easy it is to feel like you're supposed to have everything figured out, even when something is weighing on you.

[C]

Yes, and sometimes it's the kind of thing that keeps you up at night. You go over it again and again and it can feel like you are the only one dealing with it.

[A]

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[A]

here's something I've been meaning to ask you. This sounds like such a simple, obvious question, but I really mean it very profoundly, which is how do people know things? I feel like there's so many things where everybody just assumes that everybody knows, but how do people know things? I mean, things don't get mentioned, things nobody thinks to mention it to you. And so there's just things you don't know. And I'm haunted by like, well, what are the things I don't know? Because I just never randomly knew about them.

[C]

I know what you mean. I am someone who often feels like everybody knows something that I don't know.

[A]

Like, everybody got the memo about adulthood and got all the okay, but can I give you some examples that have occurred to me lately? Okay. Don't put metal in a microwave. How do people know that? I mean, we all know that, but it doesn't say it on the microwave. And we've been led to believe that's incredibly important. Like, how can you just leave that to people's casual exchange of information?

[C]

And that's a funny one, Gretchen, because I feel like when microwaves first came out, it was all the rage to say, don't put metal in that microwave. Don't put metal in that microwave. But, like, it's surprising. Like, how would Jack know not to put metal in a microwave? Right? Because it's not like now we run around saying, don't put metal in a microwave. I could see him doing it, right?

[A]

And then I've been haunted for a long time by a story that I heard when I was younger. And it's always told like, this person was such an idiot. How could she have done something so dumb? And her nail polish in its glass had become thickened, and so she decided she would try to thin it out by heating it on a burner. And it heated it up and it exploded. And of course, that was really bad. But I thought, I don't know that I would do that. But I don't know that I would know that it was a really, really bad idea to do it. It's not that far off from the kind of thing that I could see myself doing. And here's a small example. I saw somebody shove their glasses at the top of their head. And randomly, I remember randomly, somebody was like, cause I always wore glasses in contact lenses. There are two pieces of advice that people randomly gave me without any emphasis at all, could just as easily never have been said and have changed the way I behave for all my life. One is, don't shove your glasses on the top of your head because you will stretch them out. So don't do that. So I don't do that for that reason. And the other one was, when you put in your contact lenses, you either go left right always, or go right left always. And when you have glass. Here's the third one that just occurred to me. When you have glasses, don't put the lenses face down, because then they'll scratch. And the thing about these things is they make sense once you stop and think about them. It's not like they're counterintuitive. But would I have thought of them and changed my behavior had somebody not said something? But I feel like it was so random that they happened to say something. And so then this gives me this feeling of, oh, my gosh, what is all the information that I don't know, that everybody else has just been captured casually bantering about all these years, and I missed it, the random conversation. And so I don't know. And here, Elizabeth, this is the biggest example, because this is a thing which I guess is kind of shocking, but I honestly did not know. And I think I was in college, so I was in Kansas City. I was with our mother in the car. She said, oh, we have to drop something off at your father's office. We go. We pull up in front of this office building. He had changed office building since I had been there. Get out. Go in there. And I realized I don't know what floor he's on. And I go to the lobby, and I'm looking, and there's no directory to tell you what floor is where, what office number is on what floor. And I couldn't figure it out. So then I thought, okay, well, my mother is waiting, so I'll just open it up at a floor and look around and then just go up or down, right? So this took me like four or five times. I finally got it. I don't know, 2613 or whatever it is. I go down and mom says, oh, my goodness, what took you such a long time? All you were supposed to do is run up there, drop it off, and come down. I'm like, but you forgot to tell me what floor? And she said, what do you mean? And I said, but you didn't tell me what floor. You told me the number was 2613, but you didn't tell me what floor it was on. And she's like, don't you know it's on the 26th floor? And I was like, no, I did not know that. It makes sense. I've never forgotten it ever since. But I didn't know that.

[C]

Yes, I remember that story.

[A]

And it is the kind of thing where if you know it, it seems so obvious. Why would you ever mention it? But then again, if nobody mentions it to you, does it occur to you,

[C]

well, something like that for me, Gretchen, is air conditioning filters. Like, I didn't know that you had to change air Conditioning filters every year or maybe more often. I still don't know. Luckily Adam does that. But I had no clue. So if I had gone off and gotten my own house, I would have, I'm sure, gone 20 years without changing the air conditioning filter.

[A]

But then also, who remembers when to do it? I'm like, how do people track this stuff?

[C]

And I'm sure everyone has different areas where they suffer this.

[A]

Well, I wonder if this is an issue with work from home, because when you're at work, there's a lot of super casual, almost extremely low level exchanges of information like, oh, hey, do you have this thing? Oh, yeah. You just do this and you don't even think of it formally asking a question. It's just. Or. Or you can observe somebody doing something. There's a lot of learning that happens very easily. Whereas if you're at home, you sort of have to figure things out. And maybe you don't even know that there's something to figure out. You don't know that there's something you don't know, so you don't even think of. This is the problem that we talked about a while back, which is like, knowing that there might be a solution. Sometimes it doesn't even occur to you this might have a solution.

[C]

I also think because we spend so much more time on screens and sort of that way rather than living in life, that these things are falling away more and more. Like, I'm just thinking, how would Jack know to put baking soda in the fridge? I mean, it's just not his world. Even though we do have baking soda in the fridge.

[A]

Right.

[C]

How do you learn that? I'm sure at some point mom told us, oh, put baking soda in the fridge.

[A]

But it's also funny because it might be he's like, oh, well, you have to keep baking soda refrigerated. And then he doesn't understand. No, it's not for the baking. It's for the. Yeah, right, exactly. That's such a good example. Because if you don't know to look for it, you wouldn't be like, huh, I wonder why it is that so many people keep an open container of baking soda in their fridge.

[C]

Now, Gretchen, I have to tell you something. I did. Speaking of the nail polish on the stove, not so long ago, I was cleaning. I believe it was a coffee pot, which had been very hot.

[A]

I know where this is going.

[C]

And I put cold water in it and started washing. And sure enough, it exploded.

[A]

Oh, really?

[C]

A thousand million pieces shattered. And we had tiny shards of glass all over the sink, the floor, the counter in the kitchen. And that is one of those things where you should know.

[A]

Yeah.

[C]

Don't make something that's very hot suddenly very cold.

[A]

Yes.

[C]

And yet I did that. I don't think I knew I wasn't supposed to do that until it shattered. And Adam was like, well, yeah, it's because you put the cold water in it. I'm like, oh, okay.

[A]

Yeah.

[C]

So right there.

[A]

Right there now. Yeah. Isn't there a thing like you're supposed to put a knife in it or something and that, like, helps it regulate the temperature? I don't know. There's something in there about putting. Yeah. And I think the same thing is true with, like, saucepans. You're not supposed to. If they're really hot, you're not supposed to put cold water in them. Right.

[C]

But who knows, you know? So I guess it's just we should go around imparting information to people and listening for information all the time. Gretch, here's one that Sarah and I suffered from recently. And this is kind of a new thing that you would know, but it is important to know, which is that if you use Google Docs, as we do, and you use tabs on Google Docs, which means you have your main Google Doc, but then you can open any number of tabs attached to it and work on different tabs that are related to the original document.

[A]

So sort of like subdivisions or files within the folder.

[C]

Yes. Well, here's what we didn't know. That if you are sending a PDF to somebody, so a copy of the document, if you have various tabs, whether they're open or not, if you just send, all of the tabs will send

[A]

in that PDF, not just the one that's open.

[C]

Correct.

[A]

I didn't know that.

[C]

So the person you're sending to will get every tab you have on the subject. That can be a bad thing. And Sarah and I have accidentally done that twice now because we've forgotten. So now I literally have a post it on my iPad that says, don't send a Google Doc that hasn't been separated. You have to make a new Google Doc.

[A]

Yeah. Copy and paste it into its own clean document. Right. Yeah.

[C]

Okay, but how are we to know that there's nothing on Google Docs that says, like, when you're going to send something, by the way, you should know this.

[A]

I guess it considers the whole. Well, obviously, it considers the whole thing a whole. It's not just what's open, it's the whole Thing, Right, right. Oh, see, that is really important. Have you had the thing where somebody sends you a document and they meant to send you the final version, but they accidentally sent you a version that shows the edits?

[C]

Yes.

[A]

I don't even know how that happens, but I'm like, how do I know that I'm not doing that? But I have received that.

[C]

Yes.

[A]

So other people have made that mistake with me. Never too bad result. It's always just like, oh, it's kind of annoying because I see all their markups. But I could imagine that is the situation where you would not want that. You want to have control over what document you're sending, but you don't necessarily. You might assume that you know what it is when you don't. But see, how does one know? How do people know things?

[C]

Yes. There's probably some book somewhere you can buy of, like, you know, the thousand things we should all know.

[A]

Yeah. And you'd be like, but who doesn't know? Not to put metal in a microwave, But I think, okay, listeners, let's make a compilation. What are things that you feel like you did not know that everybody else knew that? You're like, oh, okay, now I know everybody knew this, but I didn't know this. I didn't know about how floors and buildings.

[C]

Yes. And to be clear, these are not true rules. Not like, be nice to your neighbor. This is like, connect your device using a URL cord or whatever it is.

[A]

Yes. Okay, but can I say an adjacent thing? There are people who think that they have not been given information or they have not been given access to information that they want, but they haven't looked for it. So on the one hand, we have the people who are like, nobody thought to tell me. How was I supposed to know? Because I didn't. Nobody told me about putting glasses down lens first. And I remember I was at a meeting, I think it was Eleanor's junior year. So we were going to like, some college, you know, meeting, and everybody's on edge and whatever. And this woman, this mother, raised her hand and very indignant, is like, I don't understand. No one has communicated this. We don't know that there's all this information. We don't have it. It's this, that, and there's just this silence falls in the room, and everybody looks at her and is thinking the same thing, which is we have been inundated with emails. There have been multiple meetings on exactly those subjects. And at a certain point, it's like, if people are trying to tell you information, you have to listen. You have to avail yourself of it. Yes, I'm very good at that. I will read School Blast for sure, but I guess I don't read manuals. I'm not that good at reading manuals. You know, read the manual. That's one of my true rules, is like if you read the information that comes with the air conditioner, it'll be crystal clear that you gotta change the filter. But I don't do that. Anyway, listeners, what has come up? Maybe we can have a public service announcement of all these things that we all need to know that people don't know.

[C]

That would be great. A nice PDF.

[A]

Yes, exactly.

[C]

All right, Gretch, what is our spotlight on a tool this week?

[A]

Well, speaking of resources that are handy, I just released a new tool to help everybody design your summer. Love Design youn Summer. We're coming up and Design youn Summer so you can map out what you want to do. Because we all know that feeling of the summer ending. And you think, ugh, why didn't I do this or that? You know, wishing you'd done more. And all of this is in the Happier app. You can choose a one word theme for the summer. You can make a bucket list for the summer. You can plan what you want to read, all kinds of things. You can do the designer summer on the Tools page and the happier app. And if you want to download the app, it's the happierapp.com Elizabeth I have to say, my design year summer list is getting longer and longer. I think it's kind of getting unrealistic. How about you?

[C]

Mine is still pretty slim. You know, I always say for me, summer is kind of a fall. Even though I'm not on the traditional TV schedule, I don't think I'm as overloading with summer as others. But I have been thinking about it. I'm very excited about it.

[A]

Excellent.

[C]

All right, Gretch, coming up, there's something you've been meaning to ask me. But first, this break.

[D]

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[A]

I've been trying to say yes more to little adventures. Nothing huge. Just getting out of the routine and going somewhere different for the day. And it really makes you appreciate having a car that feels solid and comfortable where you're not thinking about the drive, you're just focused on where you're going. That's what stood out to me about the Defender. It has that rugged design, but it also feels really thoughtful inside. And I like that There's a full lineup from the two door 90 to the 110 and the 130 with seating for up to eight. So it really fits different kinds of

[C]

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[B]

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[A]

Okay, Alyssa, this is a very minor issue, but I realized I don't know this about you, and I was just like, huh, I wonder what Alyssa thinks. So everybody loves breakfast for dinner. That's a whole thing, right? Like, oh, for dinner, we're gonna have whatever. Omelets or pancakes or whatever. But my question for you is, would you eat dinner for breakfast? Would you eat dinner. Food at breakfast time? Because I do, and people think I am a monster in my household. Would you do that?

[C]

I. No. I do not find dinner for breakfast appealing at all.

[A]

Okay, so you wouldn't eat meatballs? You wouldn't eat tuna salad, you wouldn't eat.

[C]

No.

[A]

Okay. Because you just aren't in the mood or it feels wrong.

[C]

Like, why it feels wrong. Now, what I will say is, I often would skip breakfast and just have coffee, and then I might have, at 11:30, dinner for breakfast. Food. Okay, but it's funny that you bring this up now, because Jack, my son, does not like breakfast in general. And just yesterday, he told me, from now on, he wants to have a ham and cheese sandwich for breakfast.

[A]

Okay, so he likes lunch for breakfast.

[C]

Lunch for breakfast. Yes.

[A]

Okay.

[C]

And. Or he requested rice. He said. And I said, but rice is just starch. And so that's where we got to a ham and cheese sandwich, which has the protein.

[A]

Okay.

[C]

But he just can't eat another bagel, you know?

[A]

So he doesn't like bagels, scrambled eggs, things like that?

[C]

No. And he was for years eating them anyway. And I think occasionally that's fine, but he's just, for the moment, he's done with breakfast food, period.

[A]

Well, you know, we can break free from the tyranny of these assumptions. You know what I mean? It's like a ham and cheese sandwich. I mean, sure, absolutely.

[C]

Adam, for instance, he must have breakfast food in the morning or his first meal of the day.

[A]

Meaning what?

[C]

It completely messes with his head if he does not have breakfast food before lunch or dinner food.

[A]

You mean? So, like, if he, for some reason slept really late and his first meal was at 11, he would have to have a, quote, breakfast before he could move on to, like, now I'm eating lunch or dinner. Yes, it, like, it has to be slotted. So, like, what's breakfast?

[C]

Say cereal or yogurt.

[A]

Oh, okay. So it's like the orderliness. So he absolutely would not have dinner for breakfast.

[C]

Never.

[A]

Never.

[C]

Not in a million years. He would rebel against that notion.

[A]

Oh, that's interesting.

[C]

Yeah. Here's an exception, Gretchen. Occasionally I might like a leftover piece of pizza for Brett. Breakfast.

[A]

Ah. Why is pizza an exception?

[C]

I don't know. It just is. I don't know why. Maybe because I love pizza. Maybe.

[A]

Yeah. Cold pizza. There's something just delicious about cold pizza.

[C]

I will eat cake for breakfast, dessert for breakfast. But that kind of goes with breakfast sweets, right? A lot of people have a Danish or something, so having cake isn't that far off.

[A]

It's funny. I remember we had a listener who was a rebel who said that the way that she ate healthy all day long was she always had one piece of candy at breakfast time. As a rebel, she's like, see, I'm eating whatever I want. I'm eating candy for breakfast. And then once she had the little piece of candy, then she felt like, the rest of the day, I'm fine. I'll eat very healthfully. I think this is a useful thing to know because it's good for leftovers. Because if you have leftovers and you're just as happy to have dinner for breakfast, you can eat your leftovers for breakfast. But if you feel like, oh, no, this food is only for dinner, then that limits the number of times you can eat it.

[C]

That is true.

[A]

And it's sort of one of these silly things, Elizabeth. It's like, does it matter? I don't know, but it's kind of interesting.

[C]

It's fun to think about.

[A]

It's fun to think about.

[C]

Okay. Finally, Gretch, what is our quotation this week?

[A]

This comes from Anne Truitt, who was a very renowned sculptor but also an amazing writer. Her journal called called Turn the Journal of an Artist. She wrote, I have not been inordinately materialistic, but I am attached to my house, to my inherited belongings, and to the things that I have chosen for myself. All these objects add complexity to my emotional ties to the people with whom I have shared and share my life and to my aspirations for myself. I like that solicitation. Are you feeling happier?

[C]

Yes, I am feeling happier. Thank you to Chuck. Bye, Gretch.

[A]

Bye, Elizabeth. The best time to start a happiness project is 20 years ago. The second best time is now. Elizabeth. I am so excited to see what listeners suggest because I do have this sort of dread that there are all these obvious things that other people know that I don't know and I would love to see what other like. The more I feel like somebody has told me those things, the more confident I'll feel in life.

[C]

Yes, you're not walking around in the dark.

[A]

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