Whether it's a restaurant or retail store, one thing is the same for business owners: You have to give it 100% all the time.

But you could end up wearing yourself thin. Working around the clock can take a toll, so it's important to find ways to take care of yourself before you reach a breaking point.

Here are seven simple ways to find rest and relaxation in the midst of your busy schedule:

1. Treat yourself to an unplugged dinner.

How often do you scarf down whatever's in the fridge — or worse, fast food — while checking email? Every once in a while, consider going to your favorite restaurant and indulging in a dinner without your phone in hand. Taking the time to fully enjoy a sit-down meal can help you recharge after a challenging day.

2. Talk to a loved one.

If you own a business, you're probably guilty of making it the focus of all of your conversations. But when you're under a lot of pressure, it can be cathartic to talk about yourself on a more personal level. That could mean making a phone call to your sibling, best friend, spouse, or parent in between meetings. Even a brief conversation with someone close to you could help you clear your head.

3. Make your workspace more attractive.

Whether it's a bouquet of tulips, a mood board, or a poster of your favorite quote, there are many creative and inexpensive ways to elevate your workspace. If you spend a lot of time at your desk, you might as well try to make it more fun and inspiring. You don't have to face a blank wall all day.

4. Rethink your lunch hour.

If you're accustomed to eating lunch at your desk, try to slip outside for an hour, especially if you're particularly stressed. Studies show that eating outside could help you feel happier about work. You could also squeeze in a quick workout at the gym to work off any stress.

5. Tackle your chores during the week.

You might not associate chores with relaxation, but there's a great reason to get them out of the way during the week: You'll free up your weekends to do what you want to do, or in some cases, what you need to do. If you run a business where weekends are your busiest time, you probably won't have the time or energy to do three loads of laundry.

6. Read before going to bed.

You probably have dozens of work-related issues on your mind constantly, which is why it's so crucial to develop a bedtime routine that allows you to shut off that part of your brain. Instead of obsessing over your to-do list or responding to emails late at night, read something absorbing, like a science-fiction novel, that will take your mind off work completely.

7. Go on a weekend jaunt.

Sometimes all you need is a quick getaway. If you don't have time for an extended vacation, a weekend trip to a nearby city may be the perfect opportunity to find zen.

The CitiBusiness^®/AAdvantage^® Platinum Select^® World MasterCard^® can help you do just that. Not only does the business credit card allow you to earn American Airlines AAdvantage^® miles that can be used for travel, but you can also consult a CitiBusiness^® personal business assistant for help with travel, hotel, and dining arrangements.

Taking any or all of these steps could help you counteract the stress that may crop up from time to time as you run your business. And this may also help you run your business in a more productive, sustainable way.

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If you pick up a bottle of your favorite whiskey once every year, it will almost certainly taste the same each time. Same for other spirits and beer. These drinks are made using consistent ingredients and recipes. This isn't the case with wine. One of your favorite wines one year may not please you at all the next. You may love one Paso Robles Syrah and try another from a different vineyard down the road and hate it. Why?

The answer helps explain why there is so much complexity to the wine world and why a wine nerd like me can spend so much time obsessing on the topic. Whether you are a fellow wine nerd or simply curious, the reasons behind wine variability provide a great window into how wine is made and why that amazing bottle is so special.

There are countless variables to consider, but they fall into three main categories: nature, nurture (grower and winemaker), and the market.

Nature

In general, the best wines are a product of environmental stress. Like an athlete who strengthens his or her body through focused exercise (stress) followed by repair and replenishment, the best wines are a product of extremes that concentrate the flavors of the juice.

These natural conditions contribute to the dramatic variations you may find between bottles of the same type of wine made in the same year of bottles from the same producer in different years.

• Temperature — Some types of grapes thrive in extreme heat, others require hot days and cool nights, and still others require lots of sunshine and moderate temperatures. Subtle variations in temperature from one location to another in the same field will produce differences in the final product.
• Soil — Wine grapes will pull minerals and other nutrients from the soil that will end up affecting the final wine product. A particular plot of land may have been a seabed thousands or millions of years ago, with its soil made up of ground-up seashells that have a high mineral content. This mineral content will impart a distinct minerality to the grapes grown in that field. The same grape without that soil may be much more fruity and have a very different character.
• Precipitation — When and how much it rains radically affects a crop of wine grapes. Most of the best wine regions have dry seasons around the time of harvest. Dry grapes produce a more concentrated flavor and are less likely to mold and rot.
• Wind/Sun/Shade/etc. — Some of the best (and best-known) locations for making wine are so revered because of very specific features of a particular field's location.

The best-known vineyards have microclimates that produce environments ideal for wine production. Subtle, unavoidable changes from year to year and place to place, however, make huge differences. The best vineyards benefit from a confluence of environmental factors that produce exceptional flavor on most years. But no two years are the same.

Nurture

The hands of the winegrowers and winemakers can produce tremendous variability in a wine. As with a great chef, the best winemakers are only as good as their ingredients, but how they prepare and, in some cases, manipulate the product can also make a huge impact. Some of the factors affecting the final products are:

• Is the grower pruning the grapes? The thinning of grapes on the vine reduces the overall yield for a particular field, but the remaining grapes will receive more nutrients and accentuate flavor.
• When are the grapes harvested? The longer the grapes are left on the vine, the more sugar is present in the grape. The more sugar, the more alcohol. Too much and it will taste "hot." Too little and it won't possess enough flavor.
• How selective are the growers when preparing for the crush? Quality control is essential to producing a great wine. Different winegrowers have different standards for rejecting grapes. In some cases the grapes are left on the vine, which saves time and labor but also produces much more bitterness in the final product from the pulverized vines. This cuts costs but affects the final product.
• Which additives find their way into the juice? Which yeasts are used? Preservatives? Additives may not be a bad thing, but they will change the taste.
• How and for how long is the juice aged? Many wines are aged in expensive oak barrels. The amount of time spent in barrels can greatly affect the final product. More time in a barrel means more cost to the winemaker. Some less expensive wines are aged with oak chips in a large vat. Other wines never touch oak. None of these decisions are inherently good or bad, but they make a big difference in the final product.
• When was it bottled? How is it stored?
• How much does the winemaker blend or isolate specific grapes from specific plots of land? Careful blending of grapes from different locations and varietals can add or take away from the experience.

Good juice is essential for good wine. But how the juice gets harvested and turned into wine is almost as important. Since winemakers typically change less than the weather from year to year, this can produce some consistency in a variable product.

Market

The final factor is you. Or us. Or wine media (me?). Try as we might to avoid it, we tend to inject bias into our wine tastes. That means the special bottle from the widely respected vineyard will taste better to you when you know what you're drinking than it might if you are tasting it blind. The price of the wine can also influence your sense of quality. Another huge false signal of good wine: the label.

This doesn't take away from all of the variables, but these expectations can place undue influence on your taste buds. Try to use the information you gain to isolate the things that matter to you and your enjoyment, and be aware of the biases and hype.

So how does understanding all of this help you? First, if you understand the factors that influence the flavor, you can start to seek out or lean away from specific types of wine or vintages. Second, if you want to collect wine or buy wine as an investment, this basic understanding of the factors that influence quality are essential learning before you spend a lot of money on a case to save or sell. Finally, knowing how wine is made enhances your enjoyment of a really good wine.

Understanding all (or some) of the things that must happen for a really tasty bottle of wine to make it to my glass adds to my enjoyment. If you're like me, celebrate it!

SEE ALSO: 11 pro tips for planning your next visit to wine country

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This luxurious townhouse overlooking the Hudson River just had its third price chop after six years on the market. 

Owners Bob and Cortney Novogratz, a famous husband-and-wife interior design team, first listed the home in 2009 for $25 million. The price has dropped several times and is now down to $15.95 million.

Supermodel Heidi Klum rented the West Village spread over the summer, but now it's empty again. Steven Gold of Town Residential holds the listing. 

Keep scrolling to check out the townhouse, complete with an indoor basketball court and rooftop hot tub.

SEE ALSO: Caitlyn Jenner redesigned her Malibu home to reflect her personal style — here's a look inside

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Welcome to the Novogratz's 7,180-square-foot townhouse. Watch your step in the mosaic entry hall.

After a long day, feel free to take the eight-person elevator from your private garage to your room.

The sparkling chandelier adds elegance to the spacious open kitchen.

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Gunnar Garfors traveled to every single country in the world before turning 40 — and he did it all while maintaining his full-time job.

Garfors works for the Norwegian Broadcasting Company, a government-owned radio and television public broadcasting company.

He also hosts his own travel quiz radio show three times per week.

Here's how he was able to spend so much of the year traveling while still working.

He works long hours, but asks not to be paid overtime.

Instead of asking for overtime, Garfors asks for time off from his job, which gives him more days to spend traveling. He says that he's lucky to have such a flexible employer to be able to do this.

He then uses this time off strategically, taking Friday and sometimes Thursday off so that he has a long weekend to travel.

"I leave Wednesday after work and take an overnight flight so I sleep on the plane and land in some exciting country Thursday morning," Garfors explains. He then flies back through the night on Sunday, arrives in Norway early Monday morning and is able to make it to work on time.

He works while on the road.

Garfors admits that he's almost always working — even when he's traveling for pleasure he usually still keeps up with his emails. He brings his laptop with him everywhere and says that he can work from anywhere, as long as there's Internet.

"I'm really bad at taking total holiday," Garfors said.

He already gets a fair amount of time off to begin with.

Garfors lives and works in Norway, a country which, according to him, gives five weeks of paid holiday. When you add on the extra holidays such as Christmas, Garfors says he gets about seven weeks of paid time off.

He looks for ways to add on extra time to business trips.

Since Garfors' job requires him to travel, he often finds himself making big trips to the US or Asia for work. When this happens, he'll tack on some personal vacation time at the end of the trip. That way, he doesn't have to pay for a flight there, he only has to pay for a flight back.

SEE ALSO: This guy visited every country in the world before turning 40 — here are the highlights from his journey

SEE ALSO: The man who traveled to every country in the world before turning 40 reveals his packing strategy

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Even more formal than black-tie — which most Americans see as the pinnacle of formality— is the forgotten white-tie.

Unless you're British, or a fan of "Downton Abbey," you've probably never heard of white-tie.

Most popular in the early 20th century, white-tie was the standard dinner dress for families of a certain status. 

After World War I, when "informal" dinner jackets and black-tie gained acceptance, white-tie fell to the wayside.

The difference between black- and white-tie is simple. 

Black-tie includes a black tuxedo dinner jacket, a white wing-collared shirt, and a black satin bow tie. White-tie swaps the dinner jacket for a dress coat with tails, a white cotton bow tie, and a white starchy waistcoat that hits just below the belt line.

Today, white-tie has almost completely faded and been supplanted by black-tie. In the United States, it's even rarer than it is in the UK, where it is still worn at state dinners and other high society events.

In 2014, Vogue editor Anna Wintour made white-tie the required dress at the annual Met Gala, which she chairs. 

Even though the Met Ball is attended mainly by fashion designers and industry insiders, as well as Hollywood stars with doting stylists, many men got the dress code completely wrong. Some ignored it entirely; others merely donned a white dinner jacket and called it a day.  

Wintour told "Late Night" host Seth Meyers that the only person who actually nailed the look was British actor Benedict Cumberbatch.

The notoriously exacting fashion editor said she imposed the dress code because it matched the evening's theme, celebrating an exhibit of 1950s couture designer Charles James' work. 

"Women traditionally have to spend so much time thinking about what they are going to wear, and we felt it was finally time to turn the tables," Wintour told Meyers. "I had no idea how much panic this would make the men of New York and all over the world think about their outfits."

Though most American men will never have to worry about dressing for white-tie, black-tie and formality in general are making a surging comeback. 

SEE ALSO: Here's what the 6 major men's dress codes really mean

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The most profitable business at auction house Sotheby's is its finance arm, and the company's temptation to grow this has one analyst worried. 

Sotheby's boosted the size of its credit facility nearly three times this summer, to about $1.34 billion.

Those borrowings will enable Sotheby's to double its portfolio of loans to $1.3 billion, according to ratings agency Moody's.

In a downturn for the art market, that could mean trouble for the auction house. 

"The potential $1 billion borrowing to support growth at the finance segment would materially weaken Sotheby’s credit metrics and its corresponding credit profile during the next cyclical downturn, compared to the last recession – potentially putting the company’s ratings under pressure in this scenario," Moody’s senior vice president Margaret Taylor said in a note on Monday.

“Although the finance segment earnings generate the highest margins and are poised to continue growing rapidly, Sotheby’s is sacrificing its balance sheet to support its loan portfolio.”

The company has seen shares drop about 25% so far in 2015, despite it buying back hundreds of millions of dollars of its own stock. Shares of Sotheby's fell for about 2.5% in morning trading Monday.

The drop has come even after a pair of hedge fund activists have applied months' worth of pressure on the embattled New York company, ripping into lavish board lunches and forcing the March resignation of its CEO. 

Moody's envisions three scenarios depending on how much of its credit facility Sotheby's is willing to use. The more it lends the higher the earnings and the greater the indebtedness. 

Business Insider has reached out to Sotheby's for comment and will update this story if we hear back.

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The US housing market is on fire, and homes at the high end of the spectrum continue to be listed for mind-boggling amounts.

The most expensive home on the market right now is the $149 million "Palazzo di Amore," which has 12 bedrooms and 23 bathrooms, plus a vineyard and parking for two dozen cars. In the Hamptons, a historic home is available for $140 million.

Our friends at Point2Homes have helped us compile a list of the most expensive homes currently for sale in every state, plus Washington, DC. They're ranked in order, going from the least expensive all the way up to America's priciest.

From a Dallas estate with its own helipad to a Beverly Hills mansion with 23 bathrooms, these homes are certain to suit the lifestyles of the rich and famous.

51. NORTH DAKOTA: An 8,727-square-foot home with five bedrooms would set you back about $2.78 million.

Price: $2.78 million

Address: 4810 Lakewood Drive SE, Mandan

50. NEBRASKA: In Omaha, a three-bedroom home stretches out over a property that totals 4.17 acres.

Price: $4.2 million

Address: 13507 Hamilton St., Omaha

49. SOUTH DAKOTA: This five-bedroom home sits near the 10th hole of the Dakota Dunes Golf Course. It's currently on the market for $4.5 million.

Price: $4.5 million

Address: 940 Quail Hollow Circle, Dakota Dunes

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Developer Sharif El-Gamal inspired a national controversy when in 2010 he proposed plans to build a 15-story Islamic center just blocks away from Ground Zero in downtown Manhattan. 

Protesters dubbed the planned Islamic community the "Ground Zero Mosque" and said that the construction would be a dishonor to all those who perished at the World Trade Center on 9/11. 

The plan, officially called the Park51 Islamic Cultural Center, was eventually tabled amid a lack of financing. 

But now El-Gamal's Soho Properties has a new proposal for the site: a 665-foot luxury condo tower named for its address, 45 Park Place. 

The tower was designed by SOMA Architects' Michel Abboud with Ismael Leyva Architects.  

Abboud and El-Gamal worked together on the original design for the Islamic center.

"I have worked with Michel for almost a decade to conceive the very best plan for this site, and my confidence is unwavering," El-Gamal said in a press release announcing the new proposal. "Michel's talent is staggering, and I am extremely proud to continue to work with him to realize the exquisite design in the form of a perfect glass and steel structure."

The skyscraper, as proposed, will have 70 stories of condos. 

About halfway up the tower, condos will become full-floor units with their own private elevators, Abboud told Bloomberg. They'll have 12-foot windows with panoramic views of the Hudson River and Manhattan. 

There will also be two duplex penthouses at the top of the tower. 

Italian architect Piero Lissoni will design the condo interiors and amenities, while Jean Nouvel will work on a museum and green space next door. Abboud said that amenities will potentially include a 50-foot swimming pool and a luxury concierge service. 

Construction is expected to begin by the end of the year, with occupancy tentatively scheduled for 2017. 

SEE ALSO: Go inside the rarely seen underbelly of New York's famed Woolworth Building

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When it comes to assessing the value of a college, the most important factor to consider is how much that school helps students succeed in life.

For our seventh annual ranking of the best colleges in America, we asked over 1,000 Business Insider readers to choose the colleges that best prepare their students for success after graduation. Respondents chose from a pool of what we perceived to be the top 100 schools in the US.

We then combined those results with each school's average SAT score from the college-data website College Board and the median starting salary from the employer-information website PayScale to come up with the final ranking. You can read the full methodology here.

This year, Massachusetts Institute of Technology tops our list after a brief hiatus from the No. 1 spot. Stanford, last year's top school, slips to No. 2; Harvard, Princeton, and CalTech round out the top five. 

Did your school make the cut this year? Read on to find out.

See a one-page version of our 2015 best colleges list: The top 25 colleges in America

SEE ALSO: The 50 best computer-science and engineering schools in America

50. Villanova University

Average SAT score: 1960

Median starting salary: $53,300

Founded in 1842 just outside Philadelphia by the Order of Saint Augustine, Villanova grants a liberal arts-based education in a large university setting. Among graduates of the class of 2014, 97% were employed or enrolled in graduate school within six months of graduation, and 60% held at least one internship.

49. Boston University

Average SAT score: 1945

Median starting salary: $50,100

The Boston University alumni community is full of Nobel Prize and Pulitzer winners, Fulbright scholars, and poets laureate. The school received over $350.3 million in grants and contract awards last year, powering it as one of the top research universities in the country.

48. Bucknell University

Average SAT score: 1960

Median starting salary: $56,800

A whopping 97% of Bucknell students report being employed, in graduate school, volunteering, or some combination thereof within nine months of graduation.

And if you think the median starting salary for Bucknell grads is high, it's important to note that the alumni median lifetime earnings are equally high; the Lewisburg, Pennsylvania-based school ranks No. 5 among liberal-arts colleges surveyed by PayScale.

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It's normal to feel uneasy about riding in an elevator. 

But considering how prevalent elevators are, it's an inconvenient phobia to have. Thankfully, deaths due to elevator accidents are extremely rare.

Just in case, researchers at the MIT Center for Biomedical Engineering have figured out the best way to survive if you ever find yourself stuck in a falling elevator.

Produced by Alex Kuzoian. Narrated by Sara Silverstein.

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Luxury for less can be hard to find, but it does exist.

Our friends at Hotels.com curated a list of major destinations around the world where visitors can stay at a five-star hotel for under $200 per night.

The bulk of the cities are in Europe, with a few in Asia.

Keep scrolling to see where you can treat yourself without breaking the bank.

SEE ALSO: The 15 most expensive cities for tourists to visit

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12. Moscow, Russia: $197 per night

11. Lisbon, Portugal: $196 per night

10. Bangkok, Thailand: $187 per night

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Rent prices in San Francisco are laughably steep.

The median rent for a one-bedroom apartment is about $3,500 a month, a deterring reality all young professionals face when moving to the Golden Gate City.

One such millennial — 23-year-old Sarah Carter, who recently moved to San Francisco for a new job with a large e-commerce company — figured out a creative solution to this real estate conundrum: Rather than settling into an overpriced apartment, she moved onto a sailboat.

"I have loved sailing for years," she tells Business Insider. "I can't sail by myself, but I've been out with other people 15 to 20 times, and there's no place that I'm happier, so I really do hope to learn to sail."

Carter had been toying with the idea of living on a boat for years offhandedly, but didn't start to seriously consider it until last January.

She was visiting San Francisco and met up with her friend's sister, who lives on a sailboat with her husband. "They had me over for dinner, and I saw their sailboat and the setup of living on it," she tells us. "It seemed really perfect for me."

"I was looking for apartments at the same time because I had to find something pretty quickly for my job and was weighing all of my options," she says. "I was leaning towards a sailboat, but thought it might be a bit impractical."

She didn't have to search long before finding something both affordable and practical. "I took the first boat I looked at," she says. "It was in amazing condition and I was comfortable with the marina, so I snatched it up quickly."

In early September, she bought a boat of her own on Craiglist for $9,600.

"If I live there for five months, I'll hit break-even on the rent of the apartments I was looking at," she says. "It really is a steal."

Plus, if she leaves San Francisco anytime soon, she could likely resell it for the same price, she says.

Carter pays for electricity and water, and a small monthly docking fee at a marina about 15 minutes from downtown San Francisco, which includes internet access. She expects her housing costs will add up to $350 a month, varying a bit depending on how much electricity she uses.

She also doesn't have to deal with renting for the near future: "It's essentially like owning a home. It takes me out of the stressful rental situation, which I really am so grateful for."

Another perk: Parking, which is notoriously expensive in San Francisco, is included at the marina. Carter commutes 45 minutes to work, and has to pay a toll on her way, but it won't be a daily hassle: she travels two to three days a week for work, and also has the option of working from home.

Having lived in Washington, DC and New York City before San Francisco, she's experienced high housing costs.

"It's really painful to pay rent prices like that," she says. "I felt financially restricted in other cities — even when earning a reasonably good income — but I don't feel that way anymore. That's one of the really nice things about living on a boat: You can live the lifestyle that you want to live, and you aren't tied down as much by needing to pay your monthly bills."

The tradeoff for such low-cost housing is space. The boat is 136 square feet, she estimates, but it doesn't feel cramped: "It's really small, but designed so intelligently that it doesn't feel small. Tables fold up into the walls and shelves are hidden into every little nook and cranny."

She has a back deck that seats eight people, a sizable living space, tiny closet and bathroom, and a kitchen outfitted with a stove, refrigerator, and toaster oven.

The one amenity missing is a shower, but there's one on land that residents of the marina can use, and one at her office.

Life on the sailboat provides more than financial freedom for Carter — it offers an escape from hectic city life.

"I grew up in the country, and a constant problem in my life has been that I love being around nature, but the jobs I want are in cities," she tells us. "I get exhausted if I don't have some contact with nature, so going home to my sailboat every night and recharging is a really fabulous solution."

She's not sure how long she'll stay in San Francisco — after five months of training for her new job she'll have the option of moving anywhere in the United States — but she's enjoying the lifestyle so far.

"It's been fabulous," she tells us. "Moving across the country in general is a lot, but I'm having so much fun. It's a big adventure."

She'll be documenting her big adventure via Instagram, @sarahdenaecarter.

SEE ALSO: I spent the summer talking to 8,000 people about money, and here are the 11 best pieces of financial advice I can give you

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Encompassing the delicious food and drink of Iceland, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, and Finland, Nordic cuisine is more popular than ever. 

For the past three years, New York City's NORTH Nordic Food Festival has brought the tastiest Scandinavian treats to the States. This year's festival claimed an empty lot in the West Village and, for six straight days, highlighted the culinary bounty of each Scandinavian country.

Keep scrolling to see everything we tried during the event's Swedish-themed day. 

SEE ALSO: 50 Mouthwatering Pictures Of Street Food In Singapore

Sweden is the third biggest coffee-drinking country in the world. So naturally my first stop was at FIKA, a popular Swedish coffeehouse chain in NYC.

Source: Euromonitor

Essentially the Swedish version of a cinnamon roll, these kanelbulle are topped generously with pearl sugar.

Yes, it's as delicious as it looks.

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NBA legend and "Mycroft Holmes" author Kareem Abdul-Jabbar explains why he thinks Donald Trump will not become president.

Produced by Joe Avella.

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The "Mad Max" franchise has had a hardcore fan base since the original film was released in 1979.

The second and third sequels came out in 1981 and 1985, respectively. It took another 30 years for the fourth, "Mad Max: Fury Road," to hit theaters. It premiered in May 2015.

The release gave a jolt of energy to the franchise and sparked a new generation of "Mad Max" superfans. 

Hundreds of them recently joined together for an annual four-day event they called Wasteland Weekend.

Held in the Mojave Desert of California, the weekend gave fans a chance to celebrate the film and even build their own post-apocalyptic world. 

SEE ALSO: 10 incredible works of art that were built to be burned to the ground

Wasteland Weekend started in 2010 and has gotten bigger every year since.

The crowd ranges from car builders to cosplayers like Desirae Hep, who makes for an intimidating "Immortan Joe."

There are activities throughout the day and night, including bounty hunting games, live music, car cruises, archery contests, and card games at the temporary casino.

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When fall rolls around and people start craving pumpkin-spice everything, the one pumpkin product that's definitely worth checking out is pumpkin beer.

We sampled some of the best pumpkin beers available to find the 10 best across a variety of beer styles. We guarantee you'll spot one you want to try in the graphic below.

SEE ALSO: The top 10 beers chosen by beer enthusiasts across the country

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Whether you're an American exploring your own backyard or a tourist flocking to the country's most famous sites, these iconic landmarks will have anyone humming the Star Spangled Banner.

We've rounded up popular and easily recognizable tourist attractions, natural landmarks, and iconic buildings that are so much a part of their state's history that they practically define it.

From natural wonders like Yellowstone to man-made treasures like the Space Needle, the U.S. isn't called "America the Beautiful" for nothing.

Here is the most iconic landmark in every US state. 

SEE ALSO: The most breathtaking natural wonder in every state

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ALABAMA: Much of the Civil Rights Movement unfolded in Alabama, so the state is home to many landmarks from that time period, including the 16th Street Baptist Church. The church was the first African American church in Birmingham, and the site of many civil rights rallies and mass meetings, as well the site of a bombing in 1963 that killed four girls attending Sunday School, a tragedy that added fire to the movement.

Click here to learn more about the 16th Street Baptist Church >

ALASKA: Denali National Park includes 6 million acres of Alaska's wilderness and is home to many different kinds of wildlife, breathtaking landscapes, and Denali, the highest mountain peak in North America, with an elevation of 20,237 feet.

To learn more about Denali National Park, click here >

ARIZONA: The Grand Canyon is a whopping 277 river miles long, 18 miles wide, and a mile deep. It's also the 15th oldest national park in America, and a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

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Some people drink coffee, UK artist Maria A. Aristidou paints with it. 

"I use [watercolor painting] paper and around five different coffee blends," she wrote in a blog post about her art. 

With subjects ranging from Albert Einstein to Darth Vader, we've compiled some of the coolest works from Aristidou's Instagram in honor of National Coffee Day (Sept. 29).

Keep scrolling to learn more about the artist and her unique paintings.  

SEE ALSO: 20 awesome photos of extreme latte art

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Aristidou earned a BA in Fine Art from Manchester Metropolitan University and a MA in Arts Health from the University of Central Lancashire.

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She says she created the first coffee painting by accident.

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But now she's made the genre a large focus of her work.

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