Between Broadway shows, towering department stores, and $200-a-head tasting menus, New York City has no shortage of ways to blow all your cash.

But, luckily, the city is also home to plenty of affordable activities that make it possible to live here without going bankrupt. So when my friend Kelly came up from Philadelphia for a recent weekend visit, I intended to strike a balance between showing her the magic of New York and sticking to my budget. 

Kelly agreed. Thanks to multiple weddings, bridal showers, and bachelorette parties on both our schedules for the fall, we knew we wanted to keep our weekend together cheap. 

Despite aiming to keep our expenses low, we still managed to fit in plenty of food, exploring, and classic New York sightseeing. In total, we spent less than $50 per person on food and activities for the entire weekend.

Here's everything we were able to fit in.

SEE ALSO: I moved to New York City 2 years ago — here’s what I tell my friends who say they can’t afford to

SEE ALSO: The 12 most affordable countries for Americans to travel to right now

Kelly arrived around 8 p.m. on Friday night, and we headed straight to dinner. We met up with a few friends at Artichoke Basille’s Pizza, where we filled up on the joint’s classic artichoke slice.

Known for its late-night crowd and huge, creamy pieces of pizza, Artichoke is a must-try for anyone visiting New York. We went to the one in Park Slope, but there are locations throughout the city, including the original on 14th Street.   

Cost: $5 per slice … but trust me, one slice is more than enough.

From dinner, we headed to a nearby dive bar called High Dive.

You can’t beat the prices at $6 per beer, and it was a fun way to see some of Park Slope’s local flavor.

I had an early morning run planned for the next day, so I stuck to one drink.

Cost: $7 with tip

I’m training for a half marathon, so I got up with the sun to go running, and Kelly decided to join.

While I don’t advocate forcing guests to exercise against their will (she volunteered!), going for a run or walk is far and away the best way to see a city in my opinion.

As we cruised through the tree-lined streets of picturesque neighborhoods like Park Slope and Brooklyn Heights, I got to show Kelly all the little things that make New York — and Brooklyn in particular — great, such as historic brownstones and cute coffee shops.

Cost: Free!

Buying a four-bedroom home and living in a major city are often considered mutually exclusive. But they don't have to be.

Coldwell Banker recently released its annual Home Listing Report, which tracks the most affordable real estate markets in the US. Each of the top 10 are either in major cities or within commuting distance of a major metropolis, including Detroit and Cleveland at No. 1 and No. 2, respectively. 

To determine the most affordable cities, Coldwell Banker analyzed the average listing price of more than 50,000 four-bedroom, two-bathroom homes for the period between January 2016 and June 2016. The ranking covered 2,168 markets across the US, excluding any with fewer than 10 listings.

In Detroit, a four-bed, two-bathroom house only costs around $64,110. And despite the city's notorious decline — which led to it ultimately filing for bankruptcy in 2013 — it's on an upswing. Detroit's small business scene is booming, creating jobs and revitalizing the town.

Keep reading for the cheapest places to purchase a home in the US. 

SEE ALSO: The 25 US cities with the lowest cost of living

DON'T MISS: The best suburb in every state

10. Palatka, Florida

Population: 10,390

Average cost of a 4-bedroom, 2-bathroom house: $110,655

Median household income: $21,864

9. Augusta, Georgia

Population: 197,182

Average cost of a 4-bedroom, 2-bathroom house: $106,567

Median household income: $37,593

8. Huntington, Indiana

Population: 17,095

Average cost of a 4-bedroom, 2-bathroom house: $105,614

Median household income: $39,542

If you have an Amazon Echo, chances are you've already discovered its music playing ability with streaming services like Spotify, Pandora, TuneIn, iHeartRadio, and Amazon Prime Music, which you can control with your voice using the Echo's smart voice assistant, Alexa.

But then what? Adding to your shopping list? Setting timers? Asking about the weather? Great, but it's pretty similar to Siri in what it can do, and using your voice to buy things from Amazon isn't super exciting.

Alexa can do so much more than that, especially for your home. With the help from smart home devices, like light bulbs, thermostats, and door locks, Alexa becomes your vocal liaison between you and your smart home.

Controlling your smart home devices with your voice is one of those things that you'll truly "get" once you try it. After you get used to it, getting up and controlling your smart home with panels and switches will seem archaic, and even using apps to control your smart devices will feel outdated.

Check out the devices in your home you can control with your voice and Alexa:

SEE ALSO: I've owned an Amazon Echo for over a year now — here are my 19 favorite features

Smart Home hubs compatible with Alexa.

If you already own a smart hub for your smart home, it could be compatible with Amazon's Echo and Alexa.

Many smart home devices normally connect to a central hub device that lets you control what they do with an app or website.

Some of the biggest names in smart home hubs are compatible with Alexa in Amazon's Echo, which means you can control any device connected those hubs with your voice. Those names include:

- Vivint

- Lutron

- Samsung SmartThings

- Wink

- Insteon

- Nexia

- Securifi Almond

Smart lightbulbs.

YouTube/At Home In The Future

You don't need to rewire your home to control your lights by voice with Alexa. You simply need to buy smart LED bulbs that can connect to WiFi or a smart hub that's compatible with Amazon's Echo.

With Alexa and your voice, you can turn the bulbs on or off. If your smart bulbs are dimmable, you can also use your voice to set their brightness, and even change their color if the bulbs you bought supports colors! 

You can find a bunch of smart lightbulbs that will pair with Amazon's Echo and Alexa here. (Note: Some of the smart bulbs can work directly with Alexa, and others need a smart home hub to work with Alexa.)

The same goes for fixed lights.

For fixed lighting, like the ceiling lights above, you can get smart floodlight bulbs (or whatever type of bulb fits) that connect to your smart home hub or WiFi. 

You can find a bunch of smart lightbulbs that will pair with Amazon's Echo and Alexa here.(Note: Some of the smart bulbs can work directly with Alexa, and others need a smart home hub to work with Alexa.)

The best things in life may be free, but that doesn't mean they won't take time, sweat, and perseverance to acquire.

That's especially the case when it comes to learning important life skills.

To ascertain which talents are worth the investment, one Quora reader posed the question: "What are the hardest and most useful skills to learn?"

We've highlighted our favorite takeaways, as well as a few other skills we thought were important.

SEE ALSO: 15 things successful 20-somethings do in their spare time

DON'T MISS: The 20 cities where Americans work the hardest

Empathy

"You can be the most disciplined, brilliant, and even wealthy individual in the world, but if you don't care for or empathize with other people, then you are basically nothing but a sociopath," writes Kamia Taylor.

Empathy, as business owner Jane Wurdwand explains, is a fundamental human ability that has too readily been forsworn by modern business.

"Empathy — the ability to feel what others feel — is what makes good sales and service people truly great. Empathy as in team spirit — esprit de corps— motivates people to try harder. Empathy drives employees to push beyond their own apathy, to go bigger, because they feel something bigger than just a paycheck," she writes.

Time management

Effective time management is one of the most highly valued skills by employers. While there is no one right way, it's important to find a system that works for you and stick to it, Alina Grzegorzewska explains. 

"The hardest thing to learn for me was how to plan," she writes. "Not to execute what I have planned, but to make so epic a to-do list and to schedule it so thoroughly that I'm really capable of completing all the tasks on the scheduled date."

Mastering your sleep

There are so many prescribed sleep hacks out there it's often hard to keep track. But regardless of what you choose, establishing a ritual can help ensure you have restful nights.

Numerous studies show that being consistent with your sleep schedule makes it easier to fall asleep and wake up, and it helps promote better sleep in general.

Here's how countries around the globe operate airport security compared to the United States. Some have additional checkpoints and increased security stops while others begin the screening process miles away from the airport.  

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When it comes to fast food breakfasts, McDonald's is the king. According to Foursquare Swarm they are the most popular in every state except one. So we took McDonald's out of the equation and looked at the next most popular fast food breakfast restaurants in every state. 

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Olivia Beavers was a chief of staff intern at the White House in the beginning of 2015. She describes the reality of what life was like inside the west wing. 

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We've all been there. After a night out, you've had a little too much to drink, and all you want is a slice of pizza or a kebab before you go back home to pass out. 

This effect has been something of a mystery to scientists though, as alcohol contains a lot of calories. When you consume more calories, your body releases chemicals that suppress your appetite, so it seems counter-intuitive that we get the "drunchies" after a heavy drinking session.

New research — albeit in mice, not people — suggests that the brain cells that stimulate the urge to eat may actually be activated by alcohol as well as hunger. This could help explain why, in people, binge drinking often leads to binge eating.

The study, published in the journal Nature Communications, showed mice enjoying a three-day "alcoholic weekend." The team found that the drunk mice ate significantly more food than mice that stayed sober.

Previous research has shown that people like to stuff their faces after drinking alcohol, which has been named "the apéritif effect," but so far it has been a bit of a mystery what the biological reasons behind this are. 

Thanks to this new study, the researchers say it may be because major components of the brain's feeding circuits are activated by alcohol — specific hunger-promoting brain cells known as Agrp neurons.

"Our data suggest that alcohol sustains fundamental appetite signals, (and does) not just disinhibit their behavioral manifestation," wrote Dr. Denis Burdakov, a pharmacology professor at the Francis Crick Institute in London, and lead author of the study. 

To test their findings, the team blocked these neurons in some mice, which stopped the drunken mice over-eating.

Still, as it was in mice, the findings may not be directly applicable to humans. We need more studies in humans to make that leap. For example, the mice were injected with alcohol rather than fed it, which people don't tend to do. This stress in itself can have an impact on the brain and may have affected the results. 

Either way, this is research many of us can relate to. It would be especially nice not to wake up feeling guilty about all the awful food we consumed when under the influence. 

SEE ALSO: Surprising ways alcohol affects your body and brain

DON'T MISS: Why smoking pot makes food taste so delicious

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NOW WATCH: Here's what alcohol does to your brain and body

If you thought "The Bachelor" mansion was an ABC real estate holding, think again.

The house — called "Villa De La Vina" — is actually owned by a 59-year-old named Marshall Haraden and his family, who move out of the home (along with their furniture and belongings) twice a year for ABC to come in and film.

The 7,500-square-foot mansion sits on 10 acres of land in Agoura Hills, California. ABC will shoot inside the home twice a year for 42 days, once for "The Bachelor," and a second time for its spinoff "The Bachelorette."

The home was listed for $8.75 million in 2008, according to Berg Properties, but has stayed with Haraden and his family.

Real estate website Trulia rounded up some pictures of the home's interior to show viewers what it looks like inside. Keep reading to see how different it is inside the home.

"The Bachelor" usually films at a 7,500-square-foot mansion in Agoura Hills, California. It's been the base camp for the show since season 11 in 2007.

Source: Us Weekly

The house is called "Villa De La Vina" and was built in 2005.

Source: Villa De La Vina

That same driveway is where the bachelors greet the contestants in front of the house.

This week, Dylann Roof was sentenced to death by a South Carolina jury for fatally shooting nine black church members during a Bible study session in 2015. Roof is the first person in American history ordered to be executed for a federal hate crime.

While the number of death sentences has dropped in the last 20 years, it's still legal in 31 US states. In most states and various countries where the death penalty is legal, it's customary to give sentenced prisoners a special last meal at their request. Restrictions do apply — for example, in Florida the final meal can only cost up to $40, and it must be able to be prepared locally.  

Food photographer Henry Hargreaves has never agreed with the practice of the death penalty, so when he heard in 2011 that Texas was abolishing the special last-meal request for death-row inmates, he became fascinated by the tradition.

"I dug into [researching] it ... and found a public record [of the meals]. For the first time, these people became humanized," he told Business Insider. His series "No Seconds" and "A Year of Killing" explore the inmates' requested last meals through staged photographs. 

"You don't know if they're being served on china plates, or plastic, or eating on their laps, or at a wooden table, so I tried to explore all these variations," he said.

Although Hargreaves has his own opinions on the death penalty, he didn't want to preach his beliefs with the work. "All I wanted was to make people have the conversation and be aware of it," he said. "That's the power of art; it [puts] a mirror up to the subject, and [viewers] can have a conversation amongst themselves and come to their own conclusions."

SEE ALSO: 29 eerie photos that show just how polluted China's air has become

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Victor Feguer, 28 years old, Iowa — kidnap and murder, death by lethal injection in 1963

John Wayne Gacy, 52 years old, Illinois — rape and 33 counts of murder, death by lethal injection in 1994

Timothy McVeigh, 33 years old, Indiana — 168 counts of murder, death by lethal injection in 2001

Business Insider is looking for a talented editor to join our growing Insider Picks commerce team.

As more and more people shop online, it’s Insider Pick's job to sift through the millions of products out there to highlight the few that will add value to our readers’ lives.

Insider Picks prides itself on finding its readers the best products and deals from around the web every day — whether that’s a fantastic set of bed sheets, an amazing-sounding Bluetooth speaker, a highly-reviewed online course for beginner coders, or an awesome gift to give a loved one during the holiday season.

The guides editor will take on a new arm of Insider Picks that focuses on building and updating thoughtful and thorough buying guides. This person will also help us order and classify product categories to build a comprehensive site optimized for product research and discovery. 

The ideal candidate has excellent writing and editing skills, thrives in a fast-paced environment, is focused and detailed, and has a passion for finding the best versions of products in every category. They are confident and careful when reviewing products and can describe the pros and cons of any item with conviction, while incorporating Business Insider's voice, style, and audience in mind.  

This is a great role for someone with product journalism experience and is excited to build an exciting new coverage area for Business Insider. 

Responsibilities:

• Writing and sourcing via freelance thoroughly researched buying-guide-style stories and making product recommendations to our audience
• Using analysis and reader feedback to improve existing articles and generate new ideas
• Executing a buying-guide strategy from concept to completion and maintaining those guides
• Sifting through relevant products to find items that resonate with our audience
• Promoting the guides across the web, through various digital optimization efforts 
• Maintaining and updating guides as new products are released to ensure accuracy over time
• Tracking the guides in affiliate analytics

Qualifications:

If you bring both writing and editing experience, and know how and where to find the best deals and products around the web, this is a great job for you. Additional requirements:

• At least 2 years of editing experience, and recent experience hiring qualified freelancers 
• A basic understanding Business Insider’s audience and writing style, and a willingness to learn our style
• A huge interest in shopping for great products and good deals
• Flawless grammar, spelling, and usage
• Basic-level understanding of Photoshop and HTML (more than basic is a plus)

Business Insider offers competitive compensation packages complete with benefits. 

If this sounds like the job for you, please apply onlineand include a resume, links to your social profiles, and tell us about 2 products you think would be great for Business Insider’s readers. 

Join the conversation about this story »

These are Facebook 360° Photos — photos that can be taken using your phone's panorama function. The new feature is way more immersive than simply uploading a regular photo. Creating and uploading a 360° photo is incredibly easy to do. We'll show you how it works. 

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President-elect Donald Trump announced on Twitter at the end of November that he would be leaving his business "in total" to "fully focus on running the country." He added that legal documents were being drafted that would remove him "completely" from business operations, and that he would hold a press conference on December 15 to explain the details. 

Trump has since postponed that announcement until January, saying that he wants more time to focus on appointing members of his future Cabinet. 

Trump's business empire and the conflicts of interest it could pose have been scrutinized throughout the future administration's transition. Earlier, Trump had said that the operations of his business would be passed on to his children in what he called a "blind trust," even though that constitutes an independent manager who typically is not someone as closely tied to the holder as his or her children.

But what does the Trump Organization actually do? The answer to that question — similar to inquiries about the president-elect's income and net worth— is quite complex. According to a recent analysis by the Wall Street Journal, "Roughly half — at least $304 million — of the revenue Mr. Trump reported in a federal financial disclosure form earlier this year came from assets held in 96 different LLCs."

That financial disclosure form is 104 pages long.

The Trump Organization includes a portfolio of real estate, hotels, and golf courses, as well as investments in clothing and other products. The company does not own most of these properties outright. Though many buildings around the world have been branded with the Trump name, many were not actually built by the Trump Organization and are instead a result of licensing agreements made with other development companies. The companies that take part in this kind of deal typically pay a fee for the use of the Trump name in the development and management of a property. 

While the perceived strength of the Trump brand dipped and spiked at various points of the election season, this licensing of the family name is a large part of what the Trump Organization does.

The Trump Organization announced Wednesday that it would be backing out of one such branding and management deal: a not-yet-completed hotel project in Rio de Janeiro. In a statement to Reuters, a Trump Hotels spokesperson said that the company was motivated to end the deal by construction delays and differences of vision. Last month, federal prosecutor Anselmo Lopes began a criminal investigation into certain investments made in the project, though Trump Hotels has not commented on whether this is why the company has ended the partnership in Rio. 

Many Trump-branded residential properties — like the condominium portions of the Trump Towers in Chicago and New York, for example — are now controlled by unit owners. Some Trump properties are owned in partnership with other management companies. And in some cases, including the president-elect's home of Trump Tower, Trump does not actually own the land the buildings are situated on.

As for the organization's commercial interests, Trump has a 30% stake in two properties — 1290 Avenue of the Americas in New York and 555 California Street in San Francisco — through a partnership with Vornado Realty Trust. He also owns 40 Wall Street in New York's Financial District and the Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida.

Here, we've rounded up all of the Trump-branded properties and their locations around the world. We've also noted which properties were developed as part of a licensing arrangement.

SEE ALSO: Trump's proposed tariff could cause a major problem for Ivanka's $100 million business

According to a study, lifting weights may be a great way to boost your brain health in addition to improving your strength. 

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The first blockbuster home sale of 2017 is here, and it's a doozy.

A newly constructed, nearly 8,000-square-foot mansion in the well-heeled Southern District of Hong Kong has found a buyer. The asking price was $670 million HK — nearly $86 million US — though its unclear what the house sold for exactly.

The buyer has not been named. Raymond Ho, the deputy senior director of residential development and investment at real estate firm Savills, which brokered the deal, referred to them as "an experienced buyer from Hong Kong" and told Bloomberg they paid no tax on the sale.

The buyer was reportedly able to use a well-known loophole in Hong Kong law to dodge a property tax in the purchase. Essentially, all that needs to be done to avoid paying tax is to purchase the property through a shell company registered offshore — an already common practice for wealthy buyers purchasing ultra high-end property around the world. In this case, the buyer avoided paying a 15% tax of $100.5 million HK (about $13 million USD), using an LLC with a name similar to the house's address.

The law has contributed to making Hong Kong one of the least affordable cities in the world. In November 2016, its government took steps to change the law by imposing a 15% tax on transactions by people who are not first-time buyers in the area.

SEE ALSO: A look inside the exclusive Washington, DC, neighborhood where the Trumps and Obamas will live as neighbors

DON'T MISS: 12 warm places you can travel to this winter without worrying about Zika

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NOW WATCH: This bizarre building in Brooklyn is a home for more than 20,000 crickets — here’s why

When "Tools of Titans" author and podcaster Tim Ferriss was asked on a book tour pit stop what he would print on a billboard if given the chance, the self-help guru did not hesitate.

"You are the average of the five people you most associate with," Ferriss answered.

During a talk at the San Francisco headquarters of e-book and audiobook subscription service, Scribd, Ferriss shared a piece of advice that was given to him as a teenager. It riffs on a now famous tip from motivational speaker — and early Tony Robbins mentor — Jim Rohn.

The rule suggests that the five people you spend the most time with shape who you are. It borrows from the law of averages, which is the theory that "the result of any given situation will be the average of all outcomes." We might interact with many people, but the few who are closest to us have the greatest impact on our way of thinking and our decisions.

"I was given that advice probably when I was 15 or 16, which has impacted a lot of my decisions since," Ferriss said. "And each year, I think it is more and more important."

In an interview with Business Insider last fall, Ferriss rattled off the names of a few people he cycles into his inner circle. Matt Wullenweg, a lead developer of WordPress, and serial entrepreneur Kevin Rose made the short list. As did Kevin Kelly, the founding executive editor of "Wired" magazine, who Ferriss also called the "true world's most interesting man."

"Then there are people like Maria Popova, who I've gotten to know," Ferris told Business Insider. "Her ability to consume high quality information and distill it, and then put out beautiful prose gives me something to aspire to."

He topped off his current five with the godfather of self-help and author of "Unlimited Power," Tony Robbins. "The more I get to know him, the more impressed I am," Ferriss said.

On stage at the Scribd office, Ferriss explained that the list is ever-changing, depending on what areas in his life he wants to work on: physical, emotional, psychological, or financial.

"If I feel like I need more work in the physical realm, then I'll modify the group to reflect that," Ferris said. "It's not always the same five."

You can learn more of Ferriss' life hacks in his new book, "Tools of Titans."

SEE ALSO: This tech icon fasts for 16 hours a day — and just launched an app to help others do the same

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NOW WATCH: Tim Ferriss’s top self-improvement tip stresses the importance of who you surround yourself with

A candy-colored pack of marijuana joints from Lola Lola, with its quirky characters splashed across the box, looks more like a prop from a Katy Perry music video than drug paraphernalia.

Its quirky, good-vibes feeling is exactly what creator Michael Garganese, Jr., is going for.

"We wanted to create something that you would feel comfortable leaving accidentally on your kitchen table. If Mom or Dad finds it, the conversation you get to have around that package is very different than if they find your black sack [of weed] under the bed," Garganese says.

"It's like, 'Honey, what is this?' 'Well, Mom, that's the way that cannabis is sold these days.'"

Lola Lola hops on a trend in the marijuana retail industry in which growers meticulously brand their bud. Garganese, a former employee on Google's advertising team, explains that in a post-prohibition era, it's no longer enough to slap a sticker with an arbitrary strain name and potency on a bag of ganja. Lola Lola aims to reinvent the smoker's experience through eye-catching design.

The San Francisco-based startup grows its marijuana on a farm in northern California and makes its own products, from oils for vape pens to heart-shaped concentrates, a waxy material that contains highly concentrated amounts of THC, the psychoactive ingredient in weed.

Lola Lola's three-pack of pre-roll joints, hand-packed with "connoisseur quality" flower, is the company's best-selling item, according to Garganese. It typically retails for $20.

The packaging is both sophisticated and delightful, with 3D-modeled drawings of animals — including a shark jumping rope and an elephant with wings like a bird — adorning the boxes. The company's whimsy is what Garganese believes sets it apart on dispensary shelves.

"We really saw an opportunity to contribute to the industry by figuring out a way to elevate and enhance the overall experience of buying and using cannabis," Garganese says. "... We want people to feel free to be who they want to be and do the things that they want to do."

"If you like to read, when you use our products, we want you to have more fun reading. If you like to write music, we want to be your partner in writing the best music that you can," he says.

Garganese's path to cannabis is anything but traditional.

He left his home state of Nevada in 2012 to join a social media marketing startup, Wildfire, but it was aquired by Google shortly before his move. Garganese ended up with a gig at the tech giant, where he says he learned an important lesson that shaped his entrepreneurial future.

"I worked for those two companies whose primary goal everyday was to make sure the employees were happy and the people using their products were happy," he says. "I really saw the value in relationships and the difference it makes to go a little further to treat people right."

Two years later, Garganese's father, Michael, Sr., convinced his reluctant son to enroll in a four-day intensive workshop at Oaksterdam University, the country's first marijuana business trade school located in Oakland. The elder Garganese was considering launching a pot startup.

"During those four days, something clicked inside me," Garganese says. "I had this voice inside me saying, 'Everything you've ever been told about this plant was just a complete lie.'"

He felt a calling to the industry, he says, so he left tech and accepted a job on a marijuana farm in Mendocino County, where he set out to learn everything he could about pot.

Today, you can find Lola Lola products in 50 dispensaries in California. Garganese hopes to take the company nationwide as more states welcome the drug's regulation.

SEE ALSO: Here's the pitch that landed a marijuana entrepreneur $1 million in funding

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NOW WATCH: We went inside a Colorado 'Bud & Breakfast' where you can legally smoke marijuana

Kat Cole, president of FOCUS Brands, the parent company of Auntie Anne's, Carvel, and Cinnabon, wakes up a 5 a.m. every morning and drinks 24 ounces of water.

Huffington Post founder Arianna Huffington and former Birchbox Man chief Brad Lande both start their days with a glass of hot water with lemon.

Why are these execs reaching for water instead of coffee?

We asked Rania Batayneh, MPH, a nutritionist and the author of "The One One One Diet," about the potential benefits.

Here's why she recommends that everyone start their days with a glass of water:

1. Drinking water first thing in the morning immediately helps rehydrate the body.

The six to eight hours of recommended nightly sleep is a long period to go without any water consumption. Drinking a glass or two of water right when you wake up, however, is a good way to quickly rehydrate your body, Batayneh says. 

"Most people have their coffee first thing in the morning," she says. "Although it is a good source of antioxidants, it is also dehydrating. You can offset this with water."

2. Drinking water first thing in the morning increases your level of alertness.

"One of the biggest indicators of lethargy or low energy is that you are dehydrated," Batayneh says. "Because water aids in both body regulation and brain function, it is also closely related to balancing out our moods."

After a long period without anything to eat or drink, the first thing you consume in the morning can be a shock to the body. If that first thing is ice water, it will get the body working and "can boost your alertness and low energy levels," she says. 

3. Drinking water first thing in the morning helps fuel your brain.

When it comes to daily productivity, hydration is crucial. The human brain is made up of 73% water, Batayneh says, so staying hydrated is especially essential for maintaining optimal brain activity. It is, of course, a daylong process, but starting with a glass of water right away is a step in the right direction, she says.

"The mornings set the tone for the rest of your day," Batayneh says. "If you feel sluggish, it will reflect in your activity (morning workout), productivity at work, and even your routine with the kids."

4. Drinking water first thing in the morning can help you fight sicknesses.

When you're sleeping, your body is in repair and recovery mode, Batayneh says. During this time, your immune system is hard at work ridding your body of toxins. By drinking enough water, you can speed up the process in which your body flushes those toxins.

Aside from the brain, a majority of many of the body's other major parts, like the heart, kidneys, and lungs, is water, she says. Simply put, staying hydrated is a key ingredient in staying healthy. 

5. Drinking water first thing in the morning jump-starts your metabolism.

The essential carbohydrates and proteins that you consume on a daily basis are metabolized and transported by way of water throughout the body. Having a sufficient amount of water in your system will help fire up your metabolism, Batayneh says, and it can also help with your diet.

"When we are not adequately hydrated, we can mistake thirst with hunger, which leads us to eat more," she says. 

An earlier version of this post was published by Steven Benna.

SEE ALSO: I followed Barack Obama's morning routine for a week, and it taught me a valuable lesson about mental toughness

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NOW WATCH: T. Boone Pickens' strict morning routine will inspire you to plan your days better

Affordable wine doesn't have to taste cheap.

But how can you tell you have a good bottle before pouring that first glass?

"Many wine consumers in the US are still challenged by the abundance of language on a wine label," says Jörn Kleinhans, owner of the The Sommelier Company. "It's difficult enough with an English label, but adding the other languages and countries, it becomes very difficult."

Kleinhans explains that certain words, often those regulated by local government in the region a wine is produced, are reliable indicators of high-quality wine at any price point.

Here are ten words he recommends looking for on wines under $25, to guarantee you're getting the best bottle on the shelf.

SEE ALSO: A sommelier chooses his 10 favorite wines for $16 or less

'CLASSICO' on a Chianti

Chianti is a popular wine in the US, Kleinhans explains, because it was the first wine commercially exported from Italy in large amounts.

However, he says, "Wine that is only labeled Chianti is usually not very good. If you see 'Chianti Classico,' that is always a good wine."

"The term 'Classico' describes the local best core-growing regions of this type of wine," he continues. "The core vineyards in the center of the region that have the best terroir and the best orientation to the sun."

Other vineyards may also produce a wine called Chianti, but they aren't permitted to add "Classico." Kleinhans explains that the distinction is an important one when looking to experience "classical notes of tomato paste and vanilla" typical of the wine. 

'GRAN RESERVA' on a Rioja

Rioja, Kleinhans says, is the most important wine of Spain.

It can be labeled as either "Reserva" or "Gran Reserva," but "you're always looking for, without exception, the Gran Reserva," says Kleinhans. "It means this wine has a strong oak flavor, the hallmark flavor of Rioja. It also guarantees this wine has been aged in oak for two years or more, and an additional three years in the bottle."

Kleinhans says Rioja Gran Reserva is "probably one of the greatest high-end wines in the world that you can get at tremendous value."

'CRU BOURGEOIS' on a Bordeaux

The "Cru Bourgeois" distinction has to do with the French region of Bordeaux, where these wines are produced.

The greatest wines of the region are classified as "Grand Cru Classé," which Kleinhans explains has been so successful that prices went through the roof and bottles are no longer available for under $40 or $50.

"For the value lovers, 'Cru Bourgeois' is the back door to get outstanding Bordeaux for under $25," he says. "Those are the chateaus not allowed into the Grand Cru classification 150 years ago. Several outstanding chateaus were left aside, and nowadays these wines not labeled Grand Cru, but Cru Bourgeois, you can get at a great value. It's the level right under the Grand Cru level people are paying thousands for."

2016 was a busy year for the US Marine Corps.

The service kept pretty active in training and in combat: Marine pilots have been, and continue to hammer ISIS fighters in Iraq and Syria, while Marine advisers operate on the ground in Iraq.

Meanwhile, the Corps started rotating troops to Australia and carried out other large training exercises around the world.

Of course, there was much more that happened, and usually, a Marine Corps combat photographer was on hand to document the action. We went through the Corps' Flickr photos and picked out our favorites for the past year.

Here's what caught our eye.

SEE ALSO: The most incredible photos of the US Army in 2016

SEE ALSO: 19 of the best photos of the US military at work in 2016

The Corps' official photographers had quite a year last year, snapping some noteworthy shots all over the world from the shores of New York ...

... to the mountaintops of Australia, where Marines started deploying to back in April.

There's plenty of action to choose from among the thousands of photographs ...