After wondering whether it was possible to master a new instrument as an adult, Therese Trollbu, a 24-year-old from Norway, spent two years learning to play the violin.

On her YouTube page she said that she only took eight lessons total, but with some dedication and self-teaching she was able to make incredible process over 24 months.

Trollbu filmed herself playing throughout the two years, and made a compilation showing how much she improved.

Practice does make perfect.

Story by Tony Manfred and editing by Chelsea Pineda

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In June 2015, Taylor Swift wrote a letter on her blog criticizing Apple Music. The newly launched streaming service would offer subscribers a free three-month trial, but not pay artists royalties during that time.

Swift saw that this would hurt budding or struggling artists, so she spoke out against it and withheld her latest album, "1989," from Apple Music.

Swift almost didn't post the letter. However, she got some advice from her mom that made her realize that publishing it was the right thing to do.

"I wrote this letter really quickly, and in the morning I just read it to my mom and I was like, 'you're gonna say this is a bad idea and probably talk me out of this, but I had to get it out. I had to get it off my chest. I probably won't post it,'" she said in an interview with Apple Music. 

"But after I read it she just said, 'it's the right thing. You have to go based on what you actually feel about these kinds of things or else sit there in silence and watch things happen and say 'maybe if I'd spoken up, something would've changed.'' 

The advice, and Swift's letter, worked. Apple changed its policy the next day.

Story by Ian Phillips and editing by Stephen Parkhurst

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A lot of a child's success as an adult is determined by how they are raised. Here are 7 things, from a much longer list, that can result in having a more successful child. 

Produced by Joe Avella

Original reporting by Drake Baer and Rachel Gillett.

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TripAdvisor recently released the winners of its Travelers' Choice Awards in several different categories, including the global and US destinations that are on the rise.

The results were based on increases in positive traveler feedback as well as increased interest in accommodations, restaurants, and attractions.

This year, Gatlinburg, Tennessee, was ranked as the top US destination travelers should have on their radar. It also came in fourth place on TripAdvisor's list of global up-and-coming destinations.

Set in the picturesque entrance to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Gatlinburg is home to a plethora of outdoor activities, a growing food scene, and eclectic attractions that make it a popular destination for travelers.

We've found 21 photos that showcase Gatlinburg's beauty.

SEE ALSO: The 22 best small towns to visit in your lifetime

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Gatlinburg attracts more than 11 million visitors per year. The charming town has three separate entrances that lead straight into the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

With an incredible diversity of plant and animal life and stunning mountain scenery, Great Smoky Mountains is America’s most visited national park. From Gatlinburg, visitors can explore its lush forests and scenic views.

Click here to learn more about the Great Smoky Mountains National Park »

There are also breathtaking hiking trails that travelers can take throughout the park.

There's lifelike and then there's too lifelike.

Jun from YouTube channel Jun's Kitchen created this insane-looking sushi, made to look like Japanese koi fish.

But it might actually look too real to eat.

To make this incredible dish, all you need is cooked sushi rice, a cucumber, seaweed, cod roe, squid, and cooked shrimp.

First, Yun cooked the rice. He then boiled the shrimp for about a minute, after having removed the head and shell. However, he left the tail on as it will later act as the koi's tail. He then sliced through the middle of the shrimp, but not all the way through, flattening it outwards.

Next, he sliced the squid into really thin sheets, criss-cross cutting their surfaces to resemble fish scales. Thinly sliced triangles of cucumber act as fins.

Yun then shaped the rice into rectangles, topped it with the cod roe and little pieces of seaweed, using some for eyes. He topped that off with layers of the squid strips — one strip across as fins, one on top for the body, and two thinner strips as the tail.

For the second version, he topped the rice rectangle with shrimp instead of squid, and used his cucumber triangles as fins.

For more of Jun's masterpieces, click here.

Story by Sophie-Claire Hoeller and editing by Carl Mueller

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Oprah Winfrey's empire just got even bigger — she just picked up an 8,700-square-foot mountain home in Telluride, Colorado.

According to Zillow, she paid $14 million for the property, which previously belonged to tech executive Bob Wall.

The home has five bedrooms and is packed with smart-home features.

"[Wall] can water his indoor plants from San Francisco with his iPad," realtor T.D. Smith told Zillow when the house first came onto the market with Telluride Real Estate.

Let's take a look inside Oprah's new mountain digs:

SEE ALSO: Go inside Sweden's stunning Ice Hotel, where each year the rooms are hand-carved out of 4,000 tons of ice

Oprah's new home sits on 3.25 acres in Mountain Village, near Telluride. Residents can take a one-minute ride to the ski slopes on a funicular, which reportedly costs about $240,000.

A 35-foot-high walkway leads through the trees.

According to the Los Angeles Times, the walkway cost about $140,000 to build.

Source: Los Angeles Times

The Quioche combines two savory snacks to make one incredible pastry.

French caféMaman just opened its second location in Tribeca this week. The restaurant was founded by Michelin-starred chef Arman Arnal, and features a complete menu inspired by dishes from the South of France.

The menu's star is the new Quioche, which combines a brioche bun with a quiche filling that's made of butternut squash, baby kale, and an egg.

Maman is opening its third location in Brooklyn in January 2016.

Story and video by Adam Banicki

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It has been unseasonably warm here at Business Insider's global headquarters in New York City, and as such, we've been noticing how a lot of men are rocking their winter clothes, since there's no need for heavy winter coats to hide them.

That means we can see the sweaters — a lot of them, day in and day out — on the street, in the office, and at bars.

It means we can see how boring guys are with their sweaters.

For a refresher on how to get as much as possible out of the sweaters in your collection, we talked to stylist Jessica Cadmus of The Wardrobe Whisperer, and she sent us a few pointers.

"When I first meet them, many of my male clients are in the habit of relegating their sweaters to weekend wear only.  In those cases, their sweaters are being severely underutilized," said Cadmus.

She continued: "As I always say, men's fashion moves in millimeters, and so it's incumbent upon all men to use every resource they have wisely and widely. That means relying on the sweater for more than just a companion to denim."

Let's begin.

Consider wearing your sweater as a blazer.

"This chunky sweater will look superb layered over a patterned button-down and paired back to gray trousers," said Cadmus. "Wear with or without a tie.

This one's at Elie Tahari for $398.

Put it under a blazer or suit jacket.

Throw a white button-down under this and a blazer over it, and you'll look like a bag of money.

Pair with gray trousers, said Cadmus.

You can do better than jeans.

This one's at Human Scales for $141.

If you're going to do that "just make sure the sweater fits close to the body so the proportions look correct," said Cadmus.

Try this one with a gray suit jacket.

Get it at Reiss for $180.

Atherton, California has topped Forbes' list of the most expensive zip codes in America for three years in a row. The town has some of the most expensive homes and wealthy residents in the country.

Produced by Ruchika Agarwal 

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Christmas is a Christian holiday that celebrates the birth of Jesus. But several important Christmas traditions have nothing to do with Jesus. These are the five biggest.

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Airbnb was founded by a couple of students who wanted to make money off renting their air mattress in their living room. 

Seven years later, the company has gone from renting floor space to guests to having a large section of luxury villas that span from the mountains of Colorado to the Caribbean Islands. 

Many of these aren't just private homes either. Airbnb has also expanded from being rentals of your personal house to a larger network of vacation-rental companies that list some of their super-luxe listings on the site, too. 

Here are the five most expensive rentals booked on Airbnb for this New Year's Eve: 

SEE ALSO: These billion-dollar startups more than doubled their value in 2015

5. Honolulu, Hawaii: The Diamond Head Seaside Hideaway costs $3,819 a night over New Year's Eve.

For that price tag, guests enjoy a hot tub, pool, and a five-minute drive to the famous Waikiki beach. The house has three bedrooms and accommodates up to six people.

If you visit the Diamond Head Seaside Hideaway in the off-season, though, you can stay for cheap. This house rents normally for about $1,700 a night, almost half of its New Year's Eve cost.

Listing

Luxury shoppers are highly coveted customers for brands and retailers. The top 10% of US household earners (those taking home $120,000 or more annually) account for approximately half of all consumer expenditures.

This demographic’s growing preference for online shopping is changing the face of luxury retail, and it has significant implications for how brands target luxury consumers.

In a new report from BI Intelligence, we profile the luxury shopper and take a close look at the spending habits and preferences of high-income earners — including how and where they shop.

Here are some of the key takeaways:

• Discretionary spending among the wealthy is growing faster than for the average US consumer. Discretionary spending among those earning $120,000 a year or more is expected to increase 6.6% in 2016, reaching $406 billion, according to YouGov. Among the top 1%, it's expected to rise 10%. By contrast, discretionary spending for the average US consumer dropped 1% between 2014 and 2015.
• Wealthy consumers are expected to spend the most next year on fashion, travel, and dining. Among these categories, spending on fashion (specifically, apparel, accessories, and handbags) will grow the most, increasing 6.9% to $37.4 billion (roughly 9% of total discretionary spending). 
• Luxury brands are over-allocating ad spend to print media. The seven largest US luxury brands collectively spent $133 million last year on holiday ad spending, 57% of which was allocated to magazine ads, according to the Shullman Research Center. But among luxury shoppers, recall rates are higher for digital ads.
• There are signs that luxury shopping is less brand- and status-oriented than it once was. Luxury shoppers, like the average consumer, enjoy the convenience and low prices of online retailers like Amazon vs. shopping via official brand sites. Luxury shopping may become even more price-sensitive as millennials age. 

In full, the report:

• Sizes the market for personal luxury goods, by country.
• Measures the effectiveness of luxury marketing channels.
• Breaks down ad spend among luxury brands.
• Identifies where luxury consumers shop online and in-store.

Interested in getting the full report? Here are two ways to access it:

1. Purchase & download the full report from our research store. >> Purchase & Download Now
2. Subscribe to an All-Access pass to BI Intelligence and gain immediate access to this report and over 100 other expertly researched reports. As an added bonus, you'll also gain access to all future reports and daily newsletters to ensure you stay ahead of the curve and benefit personally and professionally. >>Learn More Now

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Our subscribers consider the INSIDER Newsletters a "daily must-read industry snapshot" and "the edge needed to succeed personally and professionally" — just to pick a few highlights from our recent customer survey.

With our full money-back guarantee, we make it easy to find out for yourself how valuable the daily insights are for your business and career.  Click this link to learn all about the INSIDER Newsletters today.

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Even as someone who tests out new apps as part of my job, I often find myself getting bored with them after about a week. I stumble across a great concept, and am initially intrigued by it, but realize after a few days that it just doesn't fit into my daily life.

I'm not alone. Most people use the same five apps over and over again.

But there are a few apps every year that do become part of our everyday routines. These apps are here to stay. Of the apps released 2015 — or the ones which had major updates that completely changed how we use them — my colleagues and I identified nine we were still actively using at the end of the year.

Many of them are still in our rotations because they make something we do every day better: listening to podcasts, checking Twitter, or browsing the news. The others let us do something we hadn't been able to before, from trading stocks without fees to easily making crazy GIFs.

Here are the only apps from 2015 we are actually still using:

SEE ALSO: The 27 best apps of 2015 for doing your job

Periscope brought live-streaming from your phone into the spotlight.

What Twitter did for making micro-status updates, Periscope could do for live video broadcasts. That may explain why Twitter bought the app and its small team in February before it even launched. 

If you’ve never used Periscope before, here’s how it works: You download the app to your phone, log in, and start a live video stream with your phone’s camera. Your friends on Periscope and Twitter will be notified to tune in, and viewers can interact with broadcasts by commenting and leaving virtual hearts.

Price: Free (iOS, Android)

HBO Now is a slick way to watch 'Game of Thrones' without a cable subscription.

HBO's standalone app lets you access all its original programming, shows, and movies straight from your iPhone or iPad. The app has a sleek design that, according to Apple, "sets the standard for high-quality TV streaming services." If you don't have cable, this is the best (legal) way to get access to all your favorite HBO shows.

Price: Free, requires subscription $14.99 month (iOS, Android)

Overcast is the best way to listen to podcasts.

Overcast was already the best app to listen to podcasts on before this year, but a big update in 2015 made it free for everyone. This means free users can now get access to "smart speed" — which takes away pauses to speed up the podcast — voice boost, and downloading on the cellular network. There's really no reason to not have Overcast replace the native podcast app on iOS.

Price: Free (iOS)

Our bodies need a certain amount of sodium to survive, and one of the most common ways we get it is in salt. About 40% of what's in your table salt is sodium.

Salt does more than just take that caramel cookie to the next level. Healthy levels of it in the body also help keep our blood pressure under control and ensure that our muscles and nerves function properly.

Each person reacts to salt differently. But generally, physicians agree that if you want to control high blood pressure, you should limit your salt intake, and not doing so can be unhealthy. Here are some of the reasons:

LEARN MORE: 20 cognitive biases that screw up your decisions

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NOW WATCH: Here’s how to stay focused all day — according to scientists

In what appears to be an attempt to combat some of the recent negativity surrounding beauty pageants, Miss Universe is encouraging this year's contestants to show that their beauty is more than skin deep.

Several Miss Universe contestants have taken selfies without a stitch of makeup on, posting them on Twitter using the hashtag #ConfidentlyBeautiful.

While the #NoMakeupSelfie became popular in 2014 to raise funds for cancer research, the idea spread like wildfire, empowering high-profile celebrities and everyday women to confidently share their faces sans makeup.

Now, even beauty-pageant contestants are getting in on the fun. Women from 80 countries will compete for the title of Miss Universe December 20.

SEE ALSO: Donald Trump just sold off the entire Miss Universe organization after buying it 3 days ago

Miss Universe Australia, Monika Radulovic, with her regular pageant makeup on.

Instagram Embed:
http://instagram.com/p/_HxNV4Qf7s/embed/
Width: 658px

Here's Radulovic without makeup.

Tweet Embed:
https://twitter.com/mims/statuses/677187796470095872
Here is my no-makeup selfie to demonstrate that @missuniverse doesn't need makeup to be #ConfidentlyBeautiful !!! pic.twitter.com/9L5aDq1aF4

Here's the official headshot of Miss Universe Bahamas, Toria Nichole.

Tweet Embed:
https://twitter.com/mims/statuses/676160805763723264
Miss Universe Bahamas @Toria_Nichole 2015 Official Headshot pic.twitter.com/pgeMeNFXDk

"Last class" is the unofficial name for a new seating group ranked below coach. Major airlines created the category to compete with budget flights.

Produced by Emmanuel Ocbazghi

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Feast your eyes on "Eothen," which is Greek for "from the east." 

A slice of Hamptons paradise that once belonged to Andy Warhol just sold for $50 million — a record for Montauk, listing agents told the Wall Street Journal.

The family behind Arm & Hammer baking soda built the estate as a mere fishing camp back in the '30s. Pop art godfather Andy Warhol then scooped up the compound in the '70s for a mere $220,000, hosting the likes of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, the Rolling Stones, and John Lennon.

The most recent owner was J. Crew Group CEO Micky Drexler, who purchased the property for $27.5 million in 2007.

Originally part of a 21-acre estate with a separate 24-acre horse farm across the street, the property has now been divided up. The Warhol Estate donated 15 of the estate's acres to a nature conservancy, and the newest buyer, art gallery owner Adam Lindemann, elected not to purchase the horse farm, which is still currently on the market.

Douglas Elliman's Ronald White and Paul Brennan had the listing. 

Brittany Fowler contributed to an earlier version of this article.

SEE ALSO: An insane Florida mansion that was once the most expensive home in the US is back on the market — and now it's even more expensive

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J. Crew CEO Mickey Drexler bought the 30-acre, oceanfront property for $27 million in 2007.

Eight years later, the compound — which includes six cottages restored by architect Thierry Despont — has sold for almost double that amount.

The home fronts the serene Montauk coast, and the kitchen nook's bay windows make full use of that.

More than half the people living in the Netherlands live below sea level.

As sea levels rise, things are getting more and more complicated: there's less land to build on, and plumbing becomes difficult.

The solution? Floating houses. In fact, Amsterdam's Ijburg neighborhood is the first floating neighborhood, and has 97 houses.

"We think that sustainability on the water can work even better than sustainability on land,” Koen Olthuis, an architect who designs floating buildings, told the Associated Press. Olthuis's firm has built dozens of floating houses and office buildings throughout the Netherlands.

Floating houses are built by creating foundations of concrete, then filling them with styrofoam, making them virtually unsinkable. 

Story by Jacob Shamsian and editing by Chelsea Pineda

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Even those who seem to have it all deserve a Christmas gift. 

But what do you buy someone for whom money is no object? 

We have a collection of 11 gifts that are completely over-the-top, ranging from the world's largest tin of caviar to a private jet tour around the globe.

They're just as lavish as the millionaire in your life. 

SEE ALSO: 10 gifts guys REALLY want for the holidays this year

Set them up on a ride with Keanu Reeves.

The KRGT-1 is the first bike made by Arch Motorcycle, the company founded by Keanu Reeves and Gard Hollinger in 2014. The limited-edition performance bike comes with a 124-cubic-inch twin engine, special racing-inspired trim, and performance suspension.

This package, which we saw on Neiman Marcus' Fantasy Gifts guide, comes with a two-day ride down the California coast, hotel and airfare included. Joining you will be Reeves and Hollinger themselves. 

Price: $150,000

Get them their own billionaire toy.

The Quadski XL is an all-terrain vehicle that can instantly transform into a watercraft and can travel up to 45 miles per hour on both water and land. 

Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff reportedly plays around with one while vacationing at his $12.5 million Hawaiian estate. He also recently gave two Quadskis to the San Francisco Police and Fire Departments as a gift, apparently because he thought they would be helpful for water rescues. 

Price: $50,000

Splurge on the world's largest tin of caviar.

French caviar purveyors Petrossian have created only 50 of these 22-pound tins of caviar. Each tin, which is about the size of a tire, is filled with Ossetra caviar, which is the most expensive variety of the delicacy. 

The caviar is hand-selected by a member of the Petrossian family, generally considered to be the worldwide leader in caviar distribution.

Price:$125,000

An animated video that emerged online and was first spotted by Gizmodo shows various earthquake-proof bed designs that are scarier than an earthquake itself.

The designs appear to be related to a 2010 Chinese patent awarded to inventor Wang Wenxi.

The beds sense when an earthquake is happening and lower the sleeper into a metal box that contains enough supplies to ride out the aftermath. A 2012 video from a Chinese trade expo shows a prototype in action.

It's an interesting idea, but we have questions. How do you get out if the box is covered in rubble? How could you engineer the sensor to make sure it only goes off in the event of an earthquake? Is it even comfortable?

Story by Tony Manfred and editing by Stephen Parkhurst

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