This is Mantry.com.

Why We Love It: Mantry is a food-of-the-month club geared towards men that ships five to six artisanal foods to your doorstep every month. All of the foods are full-sized, come from American-owned companies, and usually have a monthly-theme such as alcohol-infused products or goods from a specific state.

Some of the past offerings have included Alabama BBQ Sauce, bison jerky from Montana, and hand-harvested birch syrup from Alaska. They come in the standard, hand-made Mantry crate with recipes and directions on how to best use your new goods.

Where To Buy: Available through subscription on The Mantry Company's website.

Cost: $75 per month.

Want to nominate a cool product for Stuff We Love? Send an email to Megan Willett at mwillett@businessinsider.com with "Stuff We Love" in the subject line.

SEE ALSO: This Silk Glasses Case Doubles As A Pocket Square

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Pot magazine High Times held its annual Cannabis Cup this past weekend in Denver. 

The event coincided with the broader "4/20" celebration, which was marred to some extent by a shooting.

There's considerable effort put into the development of new, interesting, and potent strains of marijuana.

The industry is in a major period of innovation following legitimization last November after ballot initiatives in Colorado and Washington made marijuana legal. 

That's why this event was one of the most important events,  the first such Cannabis Cup in the post-legalization era.

Here are the winners for U.S. Mixed Flowers: 

First Place: Platinum Girl Scout Cookies by Private Stock LA

The Platinum Girl Scout Cookie is a strain made famous by Berner, a San Francisco rapper.

Here's how one dispensary described the original Girl Scout Cookie on  their menu on WeedMaps: 

Girl Scout Cookies has quickly becoming a west coast favorite, with elegant, yet powerful flavors of sticky cotton candy, earth, fruit and spice all wrapped up into one pungent flavor-combination with a long-lasting almost all-day effect that will leave you lethargic for hours after you "come down" from this fantastic medicinal strain.

Second Place: Chem Tange by La Conte's North

Chem Tange sells for up to $250 per ounce  at La Conte's North in Denver. It incorporates tangerine flavors, but there are not a significant number of reviews available to describe any further attributes.

UPDATE: The grower got back to us and described their victorious entry as follows:

Chem Tange is a 60/40 sativa-dominant hybrid.  The unbelievable tangerine smell is almost as incredible as the taste.  This strain gives off a wonderful and unique aroma when smoked.  The lineage is a Colorado mystery.  This cut is worshiped by many Colorado locals and is also known simply as "The Tange". 

Third Place: Kosher Kush by DNA Genetics

According to creator DNA Genetics:

 It is a stinky over the top strain with an average yield making all who smoke it feel "blessed". She grows tall so pinching will help tame her as well as beef up the yields. She is easy to grow for the beginner and a challenge to master for the expert. The Kosher can handle moderate to heavy nutrients and has a great bud to leaf ratio making her easy to trim. Kosher Kush will instantly become your favorite smoke. 

Here's how one dispensary described it on  their menu on WeedMaps: 

Great for insomnia leaving you feeling sleepy, pain relief, uplifting effects good for stress or depression, Uplifted Euphoric.

Click to see the full list of winners.

SEE ALSO: The Real Story About Marijuana Legalization According To A Top Insider In The Movement

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In the hunt for the perfect house, it's easy to get swept away by a home's most charming details (a gracious front porch) and play down the important stuff you'll be kicking yourself for later (the price is over budget).

And if you are touring multiple open houses each weekend, keeping everything straight can get complicated.

Set your priorities and streamline the house-hunting process early on, and you can breathe easier knowing you have a handle on things.

It's probably the most important purchase you will ever make, so take a few deep breaths and make a plan before diving in.

Click here to find your dream home >

1. Streamline your budget by picking your top five must-haves.

Before taking a look at any houses, sit down and write out everything you want in a home, with input from all members of the household.

Then choose your top five, or even top three, must-haves.

Once you start looking, all sorts of charming features are bound to sway you; keeping your priorities list close at hand can help you stay on track.

2. Bring a comparison chart or checklist to each home you visit.

After you have seen a dozen or more houses, it becomes very difficult to keep track of the features in each one.

Make things a little easier by creating your own comparison chart or checklist to bring along to each home, and make notes on it during or immediately after each tour.

Beyond the basics (beds and baths) consider including notes on landscaping, the condition of the roof and exterior, natural light in each room, storage space and cost per square foot.

Consider this chart a personal tool — something you can look back on to help guide your decision making, not a substitute for a good home inspection.

3. Walk through once and let yourself soak it all in.

When you tour a home for the first time, the excitement can make it difficult to focus on ... well, anything at all. So I say, just go with it.

Have fun, wander around and mentally note your first impressions of the space. Once the butterflies have died down, it's time to get to work.

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By 2020 the world's wealthy will have moved most of their private banking activity from Switzerland to Singapore, according to research group WealthInsight.

And of course, they'll need people to manage that money.

The country couldn't be more ready. It's becoming a hub for Asia's rich. In fact, Boston Consulting Group recently named Singapore the country with the world's densest population of millionaires -- 17 percent of all households, to be exact.

To serve that population, Singapore has built an infrastructure of high end shopping, hotels, and nightlife.

So if you've got the cash, there's plenty of room for you to play (and work) too.

Bankers have already said they want to work in Singapore.

According to a Telegraph survey published last year, 27% of respondents (investment bankers) said they wanted to move to Singapore more than any place else, beating out London and NYC.

That may be because Singapore was named best in the world for business.

Singapore is the best country in the world for doing business, according to a report released earlier this year by the World Bank. Here's why:

• It takes, on average, three days to open a business.
• Trade is open and competitive: there are no tariffs on imports and foreign and domestic business are regulated equally. 
• Unemployment is only 2.1% 

 Sources: Heritage and World Bank

Since it's in the middle of Asia, it's in the middle of some booming markets

Take Silicon Valley-transplant, and Bubble Motion CEO, Tom Clayton, who moved his start-up to Singapore after 2008's economic downturn.

 He told Business Insider that working in Singapore gave him great access to the nearby mobile markets of Indonesia, India and Asia (three of Asia's biggest).

"We can take day trips or red-eyes to all of our core markets," said Clayton.

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MIDTOWN — Next time your significant other won't keep his mouth shut during the big game, you can keep him quiet with a roll of New York Yankees-themed duct tape now on sale at a Duck Tape pop-up store in Times Square.

"The uses for it are almost endless," said Duck Tape brand duct tape store manager Christina Grozik, 30. "You can use it for everything from sealing boxes to making dresses."

The pop-up store, at 1411 Broadway between 39th and 40th streets, is selling duct tape printed with dozens of patterns, from local sports teams to One Direction, SpongeBob SquarePants, and tie-dye and floral prints through next Sunday, April 28.

"I don't even know what I'm going to do with this," said Juwita Seman, an engineer in Midtown, holding aloft a pink Hello Kitty roll. "I just love Hello Kitty." 

Duct tape flowers, purses, and shoes strewn about the store offered some ideas. Mannequins stood in the windows, wearing dresses constructed from duct tape by "Project Runway" contestants, plus a gown and suit that a high school couple wore to prom.

"I made a tie for my tech. ed. teacher — I used the mustache-pattern," said eighth-grader Jack Riebe, 13, pointing to a white roll printed with brown handlebar mustaches. "He said it was unique."

Prices range from $2.99 for a miniature roll, to $9.99 for one that's full-size. A portion of proceeds will be donated to Autism Speaks' "Light it Up Blue" initiative.

The store is open Monday to Friday, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

The Duck Tape pop-up store on Broadway in Midtown featured a display of a duct-tape suit and prom gown made by high school seniors Lara Ford and Cole Sudduth. The suit and gown took first place in Duck Tape's 2012 'Stuck at Prom' scholarship contest.

Alyson Mulhern looks at a pair of duct tape shoes at the Duck Tape pop-up store on Broadway in Midtown Thursday, April 18, 2013.

Juwita Seman, an engineer in Midtown, checks out a Hello Kitty-themed roll of duct tape.

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Filmmaker Baz Luhrmann’s much-anticipated adaptation of The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald’s classic 1920s novel, hits theaters on May 10, with Leonardo DiCaprio in the role of Jay Gatsby and Carey Mulligan playing the object of his obsession, Daisy Buchanan.

Tobey Maguire stars as Nick Carraway, the wholesome—and ultimately disillusioned—Midwesterner who is Gatsby’s neighbor, Daisy’s cousin, and the narrator of the tale of ambition, deceit, and ill-fated love.

An architecture and design enthusiast, Maguire spoke to AD about the movie’s lavish sets and locations, working with the dynamic Luhrmann, and the one souvenir he would have happily taken home from filming.

Architectural Digest: Baz Luhrmann movies—like Moulin Rouge and Romeo + Juliet—are known for their visual pizzazz. What’s it like working with him?

Tobey Maguire: Visually, it’s absolutely amazing. I was really impressed being in the physical spaces that Baz and Catherine Martin [the film’s production and costume designer and Luhrmann’s wife] created and also how those translated onto film and 3-D. There was certainly a kind of grandeur and beauty on the set that was appropriate for the story. There were also elements that were not physically built out but were added through animation. Watching it all come together has been really cool.

AD: How would you say the sets devised for the film influenced your performance versus some of the other projects you’ve worked on?

TM: It’s hard to compare—it’s apples and oranges. The Ice Storm was a very, very carefully crafted film but so different in the design that it’s difficult to draw real comparisons. Because of the aesthetic sense Baz and CM have, they are creating a unique film experience. It has serious scope, yet it’s intricately woven. And I think Ang Lee did this in some ways with Life of Pi. Gatsby is a totally different kind of movie, but it’s in that tradition of using sets and special effects and a particular visual language to give us something really exciting. It has the scope and excitement of big action movies, but it’s done in a totally different way. It uses those tools to create a period drama that’s really engaging and sexy and fun and musical.

AD: So it has the excitement of an action movie but the emotional depth of a drama?

TM: I think that in a superhero or action movie, all the special effects can be completely relevant for the characters and the stories. Then in Life of Pi, Ang used effects to paint beautiful pictures that were connected to the characters’ circumstances and journeys and created a feeling of isolation and loneliness. Baz and CM built this spectacular world, a fantasy world that brings you back to a version of the 1920s—one that also contemporizes it. It’s not dusty at all. It’s fun and sexy—it’s the ’20s as the characters might have experienced them.

AD: Which must be one of the great challenges for any filmmaker tackling historic material—walking that line between accuracy and excitement.

TM: As filmgoers get used to seeing a particular type of movie over and over and over again, it’s like, “Okay, what’s next?” If you have a great story and execute it well, then you can use these tools to get people to the theater and give them a really amazing, immersive experience.

AD: I understand design is an area of interest for you as well. That must have been an added bonus to working on this project.

TM: I’m a big architecture fan, and I looked at lots of architecture books and met architects for about a year while I was researching who I might want to work with to design a house [Peter Zumthor has been commissioned to design Maguire’s new residence]. I think architecture is about creating experience. Baz and CM are great hosts in that they’re creating experience for you. They’re creating experience for us, the players, and they’re creating experience for the audience, and a big part of that is the look and feel of the thing. It was something to behold. On the set—you don’t see this very often—the crew would have their camera phones out, shooting the scenes to remember them.

AD: What scenes stand out in your memory?

TM: Well, there were things as grand as a huge party scene, where 200 people dressed up in period costumes were shaking the gigantic set on a sound stage from dancing so hard, with Baz kind of hosting the party and M.C.-ing over a microphone. That was amazing. And then, of course, watching the scene come to life later as he adds different elements on top of what he shot—music and colors and whatnot. There’s a shot of us walking into the grand hall in Gatsby’s house, where the organ and the beautiful ceiling and staircase are, and the camera spins around and then goes down into Gatsby’s monogram on the floor. It feels like watching the filmmaking of Orson Welles or something.

AD: The film strives for a kind of exuberantly stylized period authenticity. What were some of the settings that blurred fantasy and reality for you?

TM: Going down into the speakeasy, for instance, and the environment that was created there—you felt what it was really like. You would walk down a set of stairs and you feel a certain kind of sexy humidity in the place, with grinding, bumping music. That was one of those experiences where you go, “Wow, this is all coming together like a fantasy.” And that’s what I love about artists, designers, directors, architects, you know. There’s the fantasy version, where you imagine your design unrestrained, without paying attention to real world issues like, “Can we engineer this thing? Is this actually possible in the real world?” And then watching it go back and forth—the push and pull of the artist’s dream and the real-world manifestation of that dream.

AD: I gather that making this film was a fairly long process for you?

TM: Yeah, I was there every day basically. We shot for about five months, and we had been talking about the movie a year and a half before that, and it’s been about a year since [shooting wrapped]. So it has been a process of two and a half years or so that I’ve been fortunate to be in conversation with Baz and CM.

AD: Does your interest in design play a role in your acting choices? And what did working with Baz and Catherine mean for you?

TM: It’s broadened my interests and my taste. I’m appreciating different things that I wasn’t paying attention to as closely. Just watching how they operate—in terms of design and style, they’re masters. It’s something I appreciate and I love being in conversation about. Whether it’s filmmaking or designing a home or even collaborating in designing furniture, I just know I always want to work with people who are extremely talented.

AD: Were there specific rooms or environments from the film that changed your thinking about design?

TM: Some came to life in a way that really sparked my imagination on the set, and some I had a different or second experience with when I watched it afterward. A lot of the sets have their own character that I had a great appreciation for. The library at the Gatsby mansion had a feeling and character. As you comb through the sets, they just keep unfolding—there was an immediate thing when you walked into a room and it gave you a particular feeling. Then as you walked around, the detail was phenomenal.

AD: That’s even true of Nick Carraway’s cottage, which Fitzgerald describes as a shack. Today that “shack” would cost millions.

TM: That was what was hilarious. This is the thing that the guy is kind of embarrassed of, and it would be an amazing place to spend a summer.

AD: Any single object from the film that you would have walked away with if you could?

TM: That’s an interesting question. I’ve got this sort of Hollywood-memorabilia-collector mind, and I’m a design fan. On one hand you’d like to have Gatsby’s car or his ring, or something that would be a really iconic piece from that story. On the other hand there was the furniture. The couch in his library—that was a great piece. I guess if I were taking something home with me, it’d probably be his car [a yellow 1929 Duesenberg].

AD: So what do you think Fitzgerald would have made of this version of his story?

TM: I’m not a writer, but my personal opinion is that a movie adaptation of a play or a novel isn’t just flattering for the writer, but gives new life to stories that deserve it. If William Shakespeare’s plays had only been performed when they were written, we wouldn’t know about them today. But because they’re constantly interpreted either on stage or film, these stories live on. So whether there’s a particular interpretation from a subjective point of view, whether a viewer appreciated it or not, I love the idea. As for Gatsby, the spirit of the book leads me to believe that F. Scott Fitzgerald would, at least, have appreciated what we’re trying to do.

Get an early look at the stunning sets of 'The Great Gatsby' >

More from Architectural Digest:

• Photos Of Legendary Hollywood Stars At Home
• 10 Blockbuster Buildings From Around The World
• Celebrities Share Their Homes' Favorite Rooms

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Seth Roberts leads a better life through numbers.

He's an advocate of "Quantified Self," the movement started by Gary Wolf and Kevin Kelly to capture data about yourself (such as what you eat, how much you sleep, your mood) to monitor and improve your day-to-day functioning.

A number of activity monitors, sleep monitors, and other biometric devices are readily available if you want to take the plunge, but the best place to start is certainly Roberts's blog.

We caught up with Roberts to hear what he has to say on the topic and where it's heading. Here's the highlight reel:

• Quantified Self was born from studying how medication did (or didn't) affect his acne.

• It's not an entirely new idea – people have been measuring blood sugar for years, for example. Roberts is demonstrating that the same principals can be applied throughout a wide berth of topics.

BUSINESS INSIDER: What's your general background? What do you do and how did you discover/develop Quantified Self?

SETH ROBERTS: I'm a psychology professor. Have been one since I finished school. My research area within psychology is animal learning. I started measuring myself when I was a graduate student. I wanted to learn how to do experiments so I did a bunch of experiments involving myself -- for example, juggling. The one that impressed me the most was about acne. I discovered that of the two medicines my dermatologist had prescribed, one worked and the other didn't. He (my dermatologist) had said nothing like "one of them might not work". I was really surprised that it had been so easy to improve on his advice.

BI: For the normals, what is Quantified Self?

SR: Measuring yourself numerically, usually again and again over a substantial length of time.

BI: What kinds of useful data can people learn about themselves if they started keeping track?

SR: People have been measuring their blood sugar level regularly for decades. After I measured my acne, I found it really useful to measure my sleep, mood, and weight. Nowadays I also measure my brain function using a reaction-time test. Lots of athletes measure their performance.

BI: Was there ever any sort of breakthrough moment where you realized people were actually paying attention to your ideas? How did you get your work/ideas noticed?

SR: A Freakonomics column about my work in the New York Times caused people to pay attention to my ideas. It enabled me to write a book about how to lose weight called The Shangri-La Diet. Before that column, no one seemed interested.

BI: You have a cool blog that's always kept current. How important was this in getting Quantified Self out there?

SR: As much as I would like to say it was important, I don't think it was.

BI: How does a psychologist come to develop ideas so far removed from his field?

For a long time, my discoveries (e.g., new ways to lose weight, to sleep better, how to be in a better mood, and so on) baffled me. I knew enough about science -- I am a professional scientist -- to know they were important.  I knew they would be true for many people even though I had mainly studied myself. The strange thing about these discoveries was that I was not an expert in these fields. I was not a weight control expert, a sleep expert, a mood expert, and so on. So how could I possible make real discoveries in these areas? As a professor at UC Berkeley, I knew that no chemistry professor had ever made a significant discovery in physics, and  no physics professor had ever made a significant discovery in chemistry. That sort of discovery not in your field of expertise never happened. Yet I had done it several times.

This was exceedingly strange. More recently, however, I have found other people doing similar things. They are always outside academia and their discoveries would ordinarily go unnoticed. Like me, they managed to figure out how to improve their health in ways different than what experts told them. These new ways were much better than what experts told them to do. An example is Dennis Mangan, who figured out that his mother's Restless Leg Syndrome might be cured by large doses of niacin. It turned out he was right. Lots of people have Restless Leg Syndrome -- this is an important discovery. I wrote about several examples in Boing Boing.

BI: What's the future of Quantified Self?

I believe that the Quantified Self movement will ultimately be important as the beginning of many people  figuring out better solutions to their health problems than what experts (such as doctors) have told them. An alternative to mainstream medicine that has nothing to do with making money (in contrast to Alternative Medicine, which is another group of experts). The Paleo movement is another side of this -- people doing something different than what mainstream nutrition experts tell them to do. I've recently started a Meetup group called Make Yourself Healthy to try to learn more about how to do this (improve on expert advice), to find out what's been learned this way, and to encourage this sort of thing.

In other words, I believe that the Quantified Self movement will ultimately be important because, in a small way, it encourages people to try to do better than expert advice. To think for themselves. We're used to relying on experts for everything; experts tell us to rely on them. They tell us it is dangerous to not rely on them. Our whole economy is built on specialization. So this is a difficult step for most people to take.

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Rumors of a plug-in Buick hybrid have been making the rounds for a while now — but this Riviera concept brings it to life. Conceptually.

While the look of the Riviera is orders of magnitude too wild for a production Buick, the Riviera name is orders of magnitude too mild. To borrow a catchphrase from dead sister-brand Oldsmobile: this isn't your father's Riviera.

Built from 1963 through 1999 with a two-year intermission, the Riviera was once a style leader. Toward the middle of its run, however, the Riviera got big. Then it got enormous--it remains the longest car Buick has ever built--and it got ugly, too. By the end it was an anonymous conglomeration of rounded surfaces.

The new Buick Riviera Concept is anything but; sleek curves flow into sharp edges and intricate creases, the Buick waterfall grille actually suits the nose, and the overall proportions are low, sporty, and futuristic.

Under the hood, the Riviera is something more like your son's car: a wireless-charging, plug-in hybrid powertrain offers a combo of all-electric driving and sporty hybrid mode. Buick hasn't made any claims as to performance or gas mileage stats, however.

Other future-forward features of the Riviera include a total of 10 high-resolution cameras collecting traffic information, cross-referenced with 18 micro sensors for distance monitoring. the data is processed and projected in a holographic image onto the windshield.

A range of driver assist systems are also incorporated: "eagle view" record system; night view assist; side blind-zone alert; lane departure warning; full-speed range-adaptive cruise control; lane change assist; parking assist; rear cross-traffic alert; autopilot; and "transparent" A pillars.

The Riviera is connected, too, using 4G LTE wireless to gather and share real-time traffic information, weather, and news. Voice commands with touch and gesture recognition allow less-distracting control methods.

This is the second Buick Riviera concept to come out of China, and Buick filed to maintain the Riviera trademark last year. While this concept doesn't look to be production-oriented just yet, the indicators hint at something to come bearing the name.

SEE ALSO: Meet The Humans And Robots Building GM's New Electric Car

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NEW YORK CITY—In a city where it sometimes seems booze is the center of social life, these New Yorkers tried going dry—and found sobriety suited them.

For many New Yorkers like Lynn Settlow, a 40-year-old resident of Park Slope, social drinking had become part of her routine.

During a typical week, she would meet up with friends at a bar, or for dinner and wine, at least three times a week, she said.

It wasn’t until she gave up drinking for a month to get trim for her wedding that she realized how much life revolved around it.

“I don’t drink so much, but the idea that you can’t have a glass of wine with dinner seemed so sad,” Settlow said. “When [you] do go out…you just don’t want to be the only one not drinking with a group of people.

"So instead, you meet up for coffee or meet up in the afternoon. It was just about changing the time of when you meet up with people."

Julia Furlan, a 29-year-old resident of Prospect Heights, cut out alcohol for the month of January in hopes of starting the year off with a clearer head. But she admitted that the most difficult part of kicking booze was losing time with her friends.

“It’s more annoying than it is hard,” Furlan said. “You end up not doing much, social events get postponed, or you put off that friend you’ve been wanting to see for months because you can’t have that big boozy brunch you wanted.”

Because of the high concentration of bars and restaurants in the Big Apple, it's common for New Yorkers to feel peer-pressured into thinking they have to drink to have a good time, said Joanna Paterson, a fitness trainer at Bodies Synergy.

“There’s this idea that if you don’t drink, you’re not going to have fun,” she said. “But to be at your best on your wedding day, or to be at your best for a marathon, you need to be able to focus on that. The goal has to be bigger than your friend telling you that you need to drink.”

Despite the social side effects, many New Yorkers agreed that abstinence for even a short period of time came with an array of benefits.

For instance, Furlan, who typically drinks two or three times a week, saved $200 a week when she gave up alcohol for the month of January.

“I ended up starting the year off with a little more money, which is good when you don’t have any money because of the holidays,” she said. “It really makes you realize how frequently you drink in other months.”

Lyndsey Purchon, a 30-year-old resident of Williamsburg, said she lost 10 pounds in a month by cutting out alcohol, caffeine and gluten. Several others echoed the sentiment that cutting alcohol reduced the general temptation to eat unhealthy foods.

“I find that I eat less and I eat less junk food,” Furlan said. “I felt like I was less susceptible to temptation because I’m more balanced in my head. In general, it makes your feel more mindful of everything you’re putting into your body.”

Not to mention that the positive effects of going dry — such as a clearer head and healthier body — lasts several months after you start drinking again, Furlan pointed out.

“It helped later in the year, when I’m deciding whether or not to have a beer at the end of the day,” she said. “Now I can tell myself, 'I'm fine, I don’t need this.'"

Jim Gallagher, a 65-year-old bartender at Molly’s at 287 Third Ave., quit drinking for 18 years and said that the decision has actually improved his social life.

“I have more friends now,” Gallagher said. “It’s good waking up in the morning with no hangover, or not getting a phone call the next morning from someone I offended the night before.”

The effects of alcohol on a person’s life is one way to tell whether a person is drinking too much and needs to cut back, said Dr. Jayaram Srinivasan, senior medical advisor of the Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University.

“Are other people getting annoyed? Is the person feeling guilty? Is the person having a drink in the morning just to get going?” asked Srinivasan. “These are some questions you can ask yourself.”

The safe level of drinking for women is one drink or less per day, and 1-2 drinks per day for a man, said Srinivasan. One drink means 12 oz. of beer, 5 oz. of wine, and 1.5 oz. of liquor.

“The more time in your life that you spend in that unsafe level of drinking, the higher risk you have for diseases like liver disease and certain types of cancers,” said Srinivasan.

But cutting back or going dry doesn’t mean you can’t go out for drinks with your friends anymore, Paterson said. Try sipping on a virgin cocktail instead of the usual mixed drink, she suggested.

“They look just like the real thing, and it seems to ease the peer pressure,” she said.

It’s also helpful to arm yourself with a support group, Furlan said.

“It’s very helpful when your friends do it all together,” she explained. “When you’re a young professional, not drinking can make you feel old, and if everyone is doing it, it makes it a lot easier.”

“As soon as the wedding was done, I went back,” Settlow admitted. “No, I would never quit [drinking] again. It was hard. Maybe if I got pregnant, but that’s the only way I would do it.”

Others said they’d dry out again, but only for a month at a time.

“I think it’s a wonderful way to start the year,” Furlan said. “It helps you sort of get in tune with your body. It lets you prioritize your health and feeling good."

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April is Financial Literacy Month, and if there's one thing we know for sure, it's that educating Americans about how to manage their money can't start early enough.

In a recent survey of international women's financial literacy commissioned by Visa, the U.S. ranked last among 27 countries when it came to the question:

"To what extent would you say that teenagers and young adults in your country understand money management basics and are adequately prepared to manage their own money?" Only 17% of respondents expressed any confidence that young people starting out understand financial basics.

Of course, teaching by example is one of the surest ways to get kids to learn. Here are 10 money questions to challenge your basic knowledge about managing finances. Find an area you need to brush up on?

Visit the new DailyFinance Learning Center, where you can take interactive courses on personal finance topics, including how to teach your kids about money. 

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Experienced business travelers have their travel routine down a science.

But even after you've mastered the art of packing and worked the twisted world of rewards points like a pro, that's only the beginning.

There are flights to catch, cabs to hail, airports to navigate, and, of course, expense reports to file.

We've compiled a list of seven apps that can help.

Seatguru

Price:Free

Use it for: Zeroing in on the best seats on your next flight, including where you can find access to electrical outlets to work on the go and get the best view of the in-flight movie. 

Availability: iPhones and Androids

BestParking

Price:Free

Use it for: North American road trips. BestParking functions like a search engine pointing you to the cheapest and most convenient parking spaces around. Bonus: If it ever leads you astray, the company will send you a $5 Starbucks gift card for your trouble.

Availability: iPhone, Android, Blackberry

Wi-Fi Finder

Price: Free

Use it for: Staying connected in a new city. Easily track down the nearest Wi-Fi hotspots or save Wi-Fi locations for later if you're worried about finding cell reception. 

Availability: iPhone, Android, Blackberry

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As we begin to "discover" Japanese whisky, we immediately thirst for more, seeking out new brands and older expressions. We're the Captain Kirks of whisky drinkers, venturing into darkness. While the range of offerings in North America is small compared with other whisky categories, remember it wasn't long ago that the Irish whisky selections behind most bars were limited to the basics. More expressions and rare bottlings of Japanese whisky are expected to arrive this year and in the near future. In the meantime, here are three whiskies you absolutely ought to keep an eye out for.

Hakushu 12-Year ($65)

This single malt launched in the U.S. in 2011, and whisky geeks who'd visited Japan were happy for its arrival on our shores, and were overjoyed to brag they'd tasted it first in Tokyo or Chiba City. It's made by Suntory (who also produce Yamazaki single malt and Hibiki blended whisky) at what's claimed to be the highest-elevated distillery in Japan. Fresh mountain water, dense forests and Japanese oak aging lend distinctive spice notes to the whisky. Lightly peated and light amber in color, Hakashu may remind you of lighter Islay expressions, like Caol Ila 12-year. On the nose, you'll get notes of smoke, vanilla, crisp apple and pear fruit. On the mouth, a sweet opening of candied citrus and roasted grain, with a long, lingering sweet smoke finish. If the 12-year whets your whistle for Japanese peated whiskies, you'll be pleased to know the higher-proofed (48% ABV) Hakashu Heavily Peated expression is scheduled to debut in the U.S. this fall.

Taketsuru Pure Malt 12-Year ($70)

From the Nikka Whisky Company, and new to the U.S., this is a blend of malt whiskies from Nikka's two distilleries (Japanese whisky companies blend within their own properties, holding proprietary recipes and techniques close to their vests). Yoichi Distillery, built in 1934, produces classic, lightly peated Highland style whiskies, with notes of spice, caramel and dark chocolates with a hint of smoke. Whisky from Miyagikyo, Nikka's newest distillery in the mountains of Sendai, Honshu, offers up ripe fruit notes, and a lightly sweet palate with a silky mouthfeel. The pure malt blend (not a blended whisky, because there is no non-malted distillate involved) is a highly approachable, easy drinking spirit designed to introduce the novitiate to Japanese whiskies. Though it's only recently appeared on store shelves here, the International Spirits Challenge awarded it a gold medal in 2008, and it received Best Japanese Single Malt Whisky honors at the 2007 World Whiskies Awards. When you're ready for the next step up from Nikka, look for Yoichi Single Malt 15-Year ($130), also new to the U.S.

Yamazaki 25-Year (about $1,300)

If there's any Japanese whisky on the bar, it's likely Suntory's Yamazaki 12-year. Like Taketsuru, the 12-year is clean, approachable and easy drinking. A more dedicated bar will pour the 18-year. But come this October, the 25-year expression, new to the U.S., will be the holy grail of spirits from the Land of the Rising Sun. Suntory provided a taste of this sherry-finished, deep amber nectar to journalists last winter. It's rich with aromatics of raisin, rosemary, candied strawberry and apple, and ripe tomato aspic. On the mouth, the extra time spent in wood give classic rich notes of unsweetened chocolate, fresh earth, hazelnut and a just the slightest sweetness in its long dried apricot finish. Since a bottle will set you back more than a grand, either start saving now, or plan on swinging by your favorite whisky bar for a wee dram.

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A couple of weeks ago, we recapped hospitality expert Bjorn Hanson's interview with Skift.com on hotel fees to watch out for in 2013.

It got us thinking: What else are hotels charging for these days?

Here are 9 irritating hotel fees that are becoming more and more common and tips on how to avoid them from Tingo spokesperson George Hobica.

Resort Fee

Even if you're not staying in a true "resort," many hotels charge a resort fee of $20–$50 per night. This fee often isn't mentioned on booking sites or in the final price—it simply appears on your bill at checkout.

One of our team members was recently charged a resort fee for services that included free yoga class, and he doesn't even do yoga. You must be proactive when it comes to avoiding this fee. Call the hotel before you even book to see if they charge it. (Tip: Hotels like Courtyard by Marriott, Hilton Garden Inn, and Staybridge Suites don't assess this and many other fees.)

Parking Fees

Many city hotels charge upwards of $25–$35 per day to park your car.

The most annoying part is that it's sometimes mandatory that you valet it—which means you have to tip. We recommend researching nearby parking garages in advance.

You'll probably pay less than your hotel charges to park your car, and you won't have to pay someone to park it, either.

Automatic Gratuities

Some hotels automatically charge a 10% housekeeping gratuity.

Others do the same for spa services. Find out beforehand if these gratuities will be added to your bill, or you could end up tipping twice.

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Somewhere along the line, we all stopped sleeping in well-crafted pajama sets and took to wearing sweats to bed.

But the luxury sleep shirts and robes of yore are coming back into style. The newest brand to join the game is Sleepy Jones, which is designed by fashion-world veteran Andy Spade and launched last week.

The colorful collection includes sleep shirts, boxers, robes, socks, and T-shirts made from luxury cotton and priced between $24 and $154, and are currently available through the company's website.

The inspiration for the line comes from famous creative minds who would often work in their PJs: "[George] Plimpton was known to roam the Paris Review office in boxers. Picasso churned out masterpieces in little more than shorts and a robe," Sleepy Jones' website says.

Looks like bumming around the house could be the new chic.

The Sleepy Jones line is made to be worn in and outside of the home. This tailored shirt with red piping ($128-$142) wouldn't look out of place beneath a blazer.

Buy the Henry Pajama Shirt here ($128-$142)

They use soft cotton for all their products. These boxers ($36) have a flat front waistband and double button fly.

Buy the Jasper Boxers here ($36-$84)

There's also the Gus Boxer ($28), which has a covered waistband for extra comfort.

Buy the Gus Boxers here ($28)

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The 2013 Shanghai Auto Show is now in full swing, and just about every automaker of significance is on the scene to show off its wares.

Since 2009, China has been the world's largest car market, and now it's more important to the industry than ever.

European auto sales are crumbling and there's no sign they'll bounce back anytime soon. Sales in the U.S. are steadily approaching pre-2008 levels, but prospects for substantial growth beyond that point are slim.

That leaves China as the key market in the global auto industry, and carmakers know it. To win over Chinese buyers — whose traditional taste for small cars has turned to a love for luxury sedans, supercars and SUVs — the industry's executives have come from all over the world, including China itself, to be in Shanghai this week.

While we got a sneak peek in New York last month, Audi saved the official debut of its A3 and S3 for Shanghai. The sedan body is popular in China, where it will be produced. The S3 will offer a 0 to 60 mph time of just 4.9 seconds.

Ford is in China as well, showing off a new concept version of the Escort. Never a showy car, this Escort is designed to be functional, roomy, efficient, and safe.

Chinese automaker Chery is at the show, of course. Its β5 (pronounced Beta 5) concept compact SUV is meant to meet Chinese buyers' developing love for big cars. A production version should hit the road within a year.

[Sources: New York Times, Autocar]

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Earth Day (4/22) isn't just about saving the planet –– retailers are rolling out a slew of ways for customers to save by shopping "green" during the month of April.

"I think everyone feels good about doing business with businesses that share the same values as you," said Jon Lal, founder for coupon site BeFrugal.com. "The highlight is April, but some of these programs tend to run on an ongoing basis." 

Here are 11 places you can still save by going green for Earth Day:

15% off at H&M: Donate a bag of clothing to H&M and get 15% off an item of clothing of your choice. The clothing is either recycled, turned into raw materials for new products, or donated. Limit two bags. Year-round.

10% off new jeans at Blue Jeans Bar. Bring in a pair of jeans to donate to charity, and Blue Jeans Bar will slash 10% off your purchase. They up the ante to 15% off when you bring in two, or 20% off when you bring in three pairs of jeans. All jeans go to a local charity in your area.

$5 off at Sally Beauty. Who knew beauty tools had value on the recyclables market? If you bring in your old styling tools to Sally Beauty, the retailer will slash $5 off your new one ($24.99+) or $10 off ($59.99+). 

Free M·A·C lipstick. M·A·C will love this deal. Bring in six M·A·C cosmetic packages and get a free lipstick of your choice in return.

And if you're not interested in doing the leg work to get those deals, there are still dozens of places offering Earth Month discounts throughout April. Here are a few, courtesy of BeFrugal.com.

• 1800AnyLens Coupon Code EARTH20 gets you 20% Off Any Order, Expires: 5/1. Plus get 10% cash back.
• Bambeco Special: Eco Friendly/Green Gifts Under $30,  Expires Soon. Plus get 5% cash back.
• Green Mountain Coffee FREEBIE: Free Earth-Friendly Filters W/ Email Sign Up, Expires Soon.
• iTunes Freebie: Free Happy Earth Day App Download,  Expires: 4/22.
• Lenovo Coupon Code THINKGREEN saves you Up To $150 Off Select ThinkPad Laptops, Plus free shipping. Expires: 4/24. And get 3% cash back.
• Personalization Mall Coupon Code GREEN10 gets you 10% Off Any Order, Some exclusions do apply. Expires: 5/30. And get 15% cash back..
• Shoplet Coupon Code EARTHWK2013 helps you get 5% Off Recycled Items,  Expires: 4/24. Plus get 5% cash back.

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For a small town worker comparing her salary to friends in a big city, here's a small source of comfort:

Take cost of living –– and the taxes that come with it –– into consideration and chances are you're actually on pretty equal footing.

State and local taxes eat away at paychecks like goons in a video arcade game. It's worse in big cities like New York and Philadelphia, where workers have not only state and federal taxes to worry about, but a city tax as well.

In the graphic below, Symmetry’s PaycheckCity, a site offering personal paycheck management calculators, has crunched the numbers to compare the annual take home pay for cities across the country.

Two types of workers are profiled: A single worker making $40,000/year and a married worker earning $40,000/year. Almost always, married workers took home a higher net salary, though not by much. Unsurprisingly, New Yorkers fared the worst.

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Want to know what it takes to get into Columbia University, which had a 6.9% acceptance rate this year?

We just got a clue thanks to Peter Jacobs at IvyGate, who discovered an online folder where students who were accepted into Columbia's class of 2017 are sharing their Common App essays.

Columbia is one of hundreds of colleges that accept the Common App, a standardized undergraduate college application. One of the most daunting parts of the application is the essay, where applicants are asked to write up to 650 words about nearly any subject under the sun.

Unfortunately, the Google Drive folder was deleted shortly after we discovered it. But we picked  out a few noteworthy opening paragraphs, below, and you can read more about what was in the essays over at IvyGate.

The 'life as a movie': 

 The dramatic opening:

The hipster paradox:

The extended resume:

The romance novel:

SEE ALSO: 25 Colleges Where Students Are Hot And Smart

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Your shopping cart looks full. Skim milk? Check. Bananas? Check. Candy? Shoot—you forgot the chocolate bars! Thankfully, there's no need to create a stir at a checkout line if you need your sugar fix.

With a click of the mouse, you're on the candy page, scrolling through your options: milk, dark or white chocolate?

The increasing value of convenience among consumers has created a robust online grocery industry. According to market research firm IBISWorld, online grocery shopping is estimated to grow by 9.5 percent annually and is on track to become a $9.4 billion industry by 2017.

Kari Gordon of Hoboken, N.J., bought groceries for herself and her boyfriend at brick-and-mortar chains before her Jeep flooded last year during Hurricane Sandy. At first, she rented a car for trips to the store. But when rental costs started adding up, Gordon tried FreshDirect, an online grocer that launched in New York City in 2002.

Gordon says the service fulfilled her desire for quick, easy, cost-efficient grocery shopping—and she doesn't have to leave her apartment, let alone carry heavy bags to her third-floor walkup. Now a regular FreshDirect shopper, Gordon says she makes fewer impulse food purchases, which helps her stick to a weekly grocery budget of $100. "I do a good job of keeping the budget low. Sometimes, though, I look at my [online] cart and find there are cookies in there," she says. "My boyfriend always finds a way to sneak things in."

While FreshDirect appeals to consumers like Gordon, its target customers are working moms, according to David McInerney, the company's co-founder. "Moms have high standards and high food values," he says, adding many are strapped for time. FreshDirect customers can choose between a one-month ($13), six-month ($69) or one-year ($119) unlimited delivery membership. In many locations, they can place an order by 11 p.m. and have it delivered the next morning.

Another long-standing player in the online grocery business is Peapod, which delivers to 13 states, including New York, Massachusetts and Illinois. Peapod's shipping charges vary by region and the size of the transaction (e.g., Northeast delivery fee is $7 for purchases above $100). Peapod spokesperson Peg Merzbacher says the website makes it easier to shop for healthy foods than a brick-and-mortar store, since customers can sort products by nutrition facts, such as sodium, cholesterol, fat and fiber.

Mobile apps are also fueling the growth of the online grocery industry. Merzbacher says about a third of Peapod's orders have a "mobile touch," meaning the customer uses a mobile device at some point in the purchase.

Leveling the playing field. One challenge for online grocers is establishing credibility. While consumers are looking to save time and money, shopping for groceries online isn't worth it if it puts them at risk of buying expired or unsafe foods. "Online grocery shopping is kind of like banking: It relies on trust," says Merzbacher. "You don't want to take a lot of chances."

To gain consumer confidence, many online grocers reimburse for subpar products or goods damaged during shipping. For example, when one of Kari Gordon's orders arrived damp—as a can of seltzer water had ripped open—FreshDirect deducted the cost from her next purchase.

As was Gordon, a lot of first timers are skeptical of buying produce online; they're used to being able to touch the items before purchasing them. Traditional supermarkets can also offer a more personable experience, as friendly cashiers make grocery shopping more enjoyable. However, many online grocers say they aren't looking to replace physical stores—they're aiming to win over a portion of brick-and-mortar consumers.

To do so, some companies, like Peapod, offer rotating deals on items and will match printable coupons from websites such as Couponing.com. Peapod also has a "My Specials" feature, which saves a list of the shopper's past purchases and shows if any of those items are on sale. Of course, an added perk of online grocers is consumers don't have to battle seasonal obstacles. (Peapod's Merzbacher says sales spike during the winter.)

More opportunities for startups. While the brick-and-mortar grocery industry has long been dominated by major chains, the online marketplace has fewer barriers to entry. Even small, online-only businesses such as Good Eggs, a San Francisco-based company that launched in February, have room to flourish. The website partners with some 150 Bay-area food producers to connect consumers with small, sustainable-food suppliers.

"We have food entrepreneurs representing every aisle of the grocery store: farmers, fishermen, butchers, bakers," says Good Eggs CEO Rob Spiro. Food purchased on the site is made to order; a pie purchased Monday night, for example, is baked on Tuesday and arrives at the buyer's doorstep on Wednesday. Spiro says the company's system eliminates waste, since everything brought to the Good Eggs warehouse has already been bought by a customer.

Rewards vs. drawbacks. The benefits of online grocery shopping include accessibility, budgeting tools and convenience. Meanwhile, brick-and-mortar stores offer a familiar, personable experience, which some consumers don't have a desire to stray from.

Delivery fees are also worth keeping in mind. If you choose a service that charges shipping costs for each order, consider your shopping habits. If, for instance, you plan to order food each week, you may be better off buying your groceries at a supermarket instead of paying a delivery fee each time. Meanwhile, paying a flat fee to sign up for a six-month free delivery package could be worth the cost if you shop often and can save money on gas or other expenses by eliminating trips to the store.

Consequently, consumers should weigh their options when deciding whether to make the switch to online grocery shopping.

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Summer vacation season is right around the corner, but with sequestration cutting hours and reducing services at many national parks, it's getting harder to find a low-cost, educational place to take the kids during the time off.

Museums are a good option, but admission costs can be bruising, especially for large families.

On the bright side, there is a simple, fairly inexpensive trick that your family can use to get free admission at 662 museums -- and counting -- across the country.

By joining the North American Reciprocal Museum Association (NARM) at a member museum, you can gain admission to any other museum in the network free of charge.

I found out about the program during a visit to the Norman Rockwell museum in Stockbridge, Mass. One-time admission to the museum for my wife, my daughter and myself cost $37 -- not exactly a punishing fee, but high enough that we would have to think twice before coming back. The thing is, after wandering through the museum a bit, we realized that we definitely wanted to return.

A year's family membership at the museum costs $75, which meant that if we returned within a year, we would break even. Any further visits would essentially be free. Before I handed over my credit card, though, I saw a notice for NARM. It turned out that a $125 roundtable membership would enroll my family in the program, giving us free visits at hundreds of museums.

I looked at the museum list and quickly discovered that it would be a great value. Two NARM museums are located right around the corner from our house, but we rarely go because the admission is prohibitive. Another 12 are located in my city, but -- again -- we rarely go because the $40 admission cost for our family is too much for a casual visit.

Part of the reason that NARM is a great deal for my family is because we signed up at the Rockwell museum. According to NARM director Virginia Phillippi, museums in the program are allowed to set their own requirements for membership. In other words, the Norman Rockwell museum, located in rural Massachusetts, charged a relatively low $125, but museums in large cities can sometimes charge more than twice as much for NARM membership.

Phillippi is NARM's first full-time director. The program has been around for a few years, but its leaders have traditionally taken on the group as a side job; their main jobs were running their own individual museums. Phillippi, for example, used to be in charge of membership at the Greenville County Museum of Art in Greenville, S.C., and her predecessor ran the Georgia O'Keeffe museum.

Working at GCMA, Phillippi noticed that, when they heard about NARM, about a third of the museum's members paid extra for the extended membership. It isn't hard to see why: In addition to free admission, NARM members get discounts at museum stores around the country and reduced prices on lectures and concerts. In the case of my family, it will take us about three museum trips to pay off the full price of membership.

NARM is also a good deal for the museums, as well. The museum where members initially sign up gets an added boost in membership fees, and all the museums in the network get added foot traffic -- which translates into increased store revenues, higher attendance at events, and other benefits.

The program is still fairly unknown, but Phillippi is hoping to change that. NARM has set up a Facebook page and a website, as well as a (constantly growing!) list of its member museums. If you're looking for a great place to spend part of your vacation, the list is a good place to start. And if you find three or more museums you like, NARM membership might be a great way to start saving before your vacation even begins.

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