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We've all been there, you're at a party, wedding, or formal dinner, and barely know a soul. From the editors at TownandCountryMag.com, 10 expert tips on the best ways to start a conversation.

Here’s something you should know about me: I only buy cheap jeans. Generally, I have nothing against expensive stuff—I’ve treated myself to more than a few pieces from designer labels I love over the last couple of years—but I just can’t get behind the idea of paying $200 for a pair of jeans. And it’s not just about the money: I haven’t found any premium denim brands that flatter me as much as cheap jeans.

We’ve gotten so used to smartphones in our lives that we don’t realize just what incredible feats of engineering they really are. PhoneArena has spotted an incredible new GIF made by an anonymous imgur user that quickly shows all of the components that you find in an iPhone 5s that need to be assembled to make a finished device.

Here are 25 tiny habits you could add into your life. They don’t seem like much, but if you practice them regularly, they can change your energy level, your fitness, your relationships, your work, your community, and your environment… in big ways.

For any of you in the rest of the world who may not know, we Americans use the fourth of July to celebrate our independence from the British Empire a few hundred years ago. Fortunately, we're now the best of friends, but the holiday remains a very popular one for us. In order to remember and relive those historic battles from the 1700's, we launch fireworks at nightfall and all become children once again, at least for a few special moments.

World War Two black and white photos that are researched and colorized in detail by Doug and other artists from the 'Colourisehistory Group.' These 50 breathtaking colorized photos look like they were taken yesterday.

Over the years the city of Singapore has been described by many as one of the cleanest on Earth with roads and toilets being “clean enough to eat off“, which is perhaps to be expected from a city where it’s illegal not to flush a public toilet.

In these times we live in, with so much happening, with the weight of a dualistic world on our shoulders, with the stress of a system that doesn’t really function for many of us who stepped out of the old, it’s almost impossible not to get caught up in a serious mood. But that “almost” makes a big difference.

In under two minutes you can learn how to neatly put away sheets. You can also double your space instantly when a fitted sheet is properly folded. This amazing technique is actually simpler than we think of it to be. Watch as you can learn how to fold the fitted sheet which has always been a mystery your whole life.

After studying over 500 millionaires, including Andrew Carnegie, Henry Ford, and Charles M. Schwab, journalist and author Napoleon Hill found that they shared a single quality: decisiveness.

This guide provides readers with insights and exercises that will help develop a positive, success-driven, never quit attitude. Understanding the importance of maintaining a positive attitude in the face of adversity is not an easy task to accomplish...but your attitude is one of the few things in this life that you have complete control over.

This video will show you the 10 most secret places in Paris. And the good news is that they are All FREE for anyone to visit, nothing to pay, no tickets, no waiting lines, no dress codes, just a little bit of curiosity and an open mind.

If this or any of the follow ten are your idea of the perfect car wash, you’re doing it wrong.

Despite their successes, there are hundreds of famous authors and writers out there who loathe the process of putting down words. The solitude. The long stretches of time away from any sort of human contact. The inability to think or talk about anything other than the topic at hand. And don’t even get me started on self-doubt, inner criticism, and writer’s block.

It is a universal truth that Nutella is the nectar of the gods. It takes the already delicious (e.g., sandwiches, cupcakes, or even bacon), and turns it into something magical. Everyone also knows homemade is always better. So if you're looking to step up your baking game, follow these instructions from Cookies, Cupcakes, and Cardio and make your very own Nutella!

Shark Tank’s “Mr. Wonderful” has some harsh, but wise, words for aspiring business owners.

A strong dose of LSD is 500 micrograms. Some people are taking daily microdoses of 10 to 15 micrograms, which is not enough to feel trippy, but provides a sense of well-being and mental clarity. A typical microdoser says these tiny doses "increase my focus, open my heart, and achieve breakthrough results while remaining integrated within my routine."

The moral of this tale, of course, is simply this: any fool can read Ulysses, despite its rumored impenetrability, given the right amount of determination and the proper resources. So, with that as inspiration, here are a few tools to guide you on your way into the thick, allusion-rife text of ribaldry, cleverness, humanity, and pathos.

We picked out the five most interesting skills new recruits learn at Germany's version of the CIA, the Bundesnachrichtendienst (BND).

As a psychologist and life coach who has spent thousands of hours working with clients over the past 28 years — including hundreds of hours with clients who meet this super-achiever character profile — here's what I've noticed about people who consistently succeed. Plus: How you can tweak your mindset to become a high achiever, too.

Because Pranayama is such an energetically expansive conversation and very informative, I felt that an article would be beneficial. The word "prana" in sanskrit translates to life force, and "ayama" to control. So with the breathing technique of Pranayama we are learning to control our life force through the breath. It’s interesting, though, to observe how "controlling the life force" translates to other aspects of our lives. Before I get all metaphysical, however, let me get back to the benefits of Pranayama.

From an entrepreneur who reclaimed control of a business he had lost to a co-founder who triumphantly returned to his company after an unceremonious termination, here are six of the greatest company comebacks in the history of corporate America.

Some of the world’s most priceless artifacts have been lost in war, buried and then forgotten, or simply misplaced without explanation. Many have been missing so long they have transformed from treasure to legend to rumor. Some have made it to the black market. Some have been stowed away in private collections. Some are believed to have been destroyed completely.

This group photo from 1887 is reportedly the first photo ever found of Vincent Van Gogh after he became an artist. If experts are correct, then the man third from the left (and smoking a pipe) is the legendary artist himself.

There are a lot of reasons for wanting to make sure your herbs last a long time. Maybe you know that your grocery store won't have decent parsley in the winter. Maybe you're taking a last-minute trip and don't want to throw away your perfect batch of basil. Or perhaps you're simply like me, and buy a dozen different herbs at the farmer's market, only to remember that you can't make it through all of them before they go bad.

Once — before he'd hit the New York Times Best Sellers List, before he'd hosted a TV show, before he'd written a book whose film adaptation got an Oscar nomination for best picture — Ben Mezrich was just another struggling author.

Science now understands that these cravings are a sign that your body needs certain minerals that can be found in unhealthy foods but are best acquired from whole foods. Indeed, only by acquiring minerals from natural sources, in which all nutrients are optimized for superior absorption, can we hope to finally end the cravings that plague our lives.

Having an elevator pitch ready is very critical not only for entrepreneurs but also for those looking to take the next step in their career. You never know when will you come across someone who could make a difference in your professional future, that’s why having your perfect elevator written and memorised is so necessary.

Here are some of the wisest and most inspiring quotes that will help motivate you to succeed.

We took a look at a Quora thread and did some of our own research to put together a list of hacks that will vastly improve your trip to Disney World, no matter if you're a first timer or a regular.

Going to work every morning is bad enough, but it's even harder when you can't take your dog in with you.

The best managers create productive and engaging work environments for team members. That’s why, according to Gallup’s recent State of the American Manager: Analytics and Advice for Leaders report, managers account for 70 percent of the variance in employee engagement. In other words, good managers increase employee engagement, and that makes teams more productive.

Many of us who have been covering markets and investing for some time were weened on great books like Burton Malkiel’s A Random Walk Down Wall Street (1973),  Benjamin Graham’s The Intelligent Investor (1949) and Jesse Livermore’s Reminiscences of a Stock Operator (1923). The wisdom found in these books is timeless, but markets and financial products evolve. So the editors of Forbes recently came up with a new list of investing classics as a companion to the New Masters of Money feature we have running throughout our recently released Investment Guide.  Beach readers looking for a break from the 50 Shades of Grey Trilogy this summer will find the reading list below informative and entertaining in a different way, as well as a good source for future portfolio profits.

One way of getting through the day and actually making it more productive is to think apparently crazy thoughts that just might make sense. Here are a few to get you started.

Lots of experts say it's stupid to forbid yourself from eating certain foods – that denying yourself something you really want to eat can ultimately lead to binge eating and eventual weight gain. But some foods really do deserve the axe — especially if you are trying to lose weight. In which case, avoid these foods (when you can!) to fend off cravings and hunger, and support your efforts to slim down.

Rolex has been called “the only watch that matters.” And that’s an opinion held not only by those people — like mountain climbers and deep-sea divers — who need a reliable and durable timepiece, but by investors. Handmade in the Swiss tradition using the finest materials available, a Rolex is among those rarest of things — a manufactured item that can actually appreciate in value as it ages.

Turbulence: spiller of coffee, jostler of luggage, filler of barf bags, rattler of nerves. But is it a crasher of planes? Judging by the reactions of many airline passengers, one would assume so; turbulence is far and away the number one concern of anxious passengers.

I recently listed Ludwig Wittgenstein as one of three essential philosopherswho can add surprising clarity and vital new perspective to frustrating debates about ethics, political ideology and the practical problems of our planet. What’s most essential about Wittgenstein is not the conclusions he has drawn about ethics and politics. It's the dynamic and truthful way of thinking that his method represents.

Many of us have a tendency to accept what we hear without thinking critically and forming our own opinions. Author Jeremy Kourdi says there are three questions you should ask every time you're presented with new information.

When we talk about conversions, we are, most of the time, discussing ways we can be more persuasive, more influential. We’re interested in meeting the needs of customers, fans, and followers and doing so in a way that truly speaks to them. So how can you persuade—i.e., convert—better?

Then there are growth hacks. Growth hacks are clever marketing tricks used by startups in order to get more users (often for free or very little cost). Sometimes they are simple, sometimes they are quite technical – but what they have in common is that they can be highly effective. Here are five of the most famous growth hacks of all time.

There's a million different knots for doing a million different things. But, these five are easy-to-learn, easy-to-tie and accomplish 99 percent of the jobs you'll ever need a rope to do. Anyone can make these, here's how.

The least-fun part of effective learning is that it's hard. In fact, the "Make It Stick" authors contend that when learning if difficult, you're doing your best learning, in the same way that lifting a weight at the limit of your capacity makes you strongest.

After many years of consuming unhealthy food, emotional eating, and inactivity, Almetria was at the point where she had to see three different specialists and a doctor to monitor her weight and hypertension. To make matters worse, in 2009, she received devastating news that, like her grandmother, she had diabetes.

Walt Disney, however, left another, arguably even more valuable, recipe for his company. This was a strategic recipe or what I call a corporate theory of sustained growth. This corporate theory is largely captured in the adjacent drawing also from the Disney archives, published in 1957. It depicts a central film asset that in very precise ways infuses value into and is in turn supported by an array of related entertainment assets.

It turns out there actually is an explanation as to why some ketchup is labeled "fancy," and it has to do with USDA classification.

Summer is the season of interns and young financiers bustling through an industry several times their age. So Business Insider reached out to veterans and asked, what are you reading?

Theorists argue that warped space-time prevents quantum superpositions of large-scale objects.

Sure, Pluto doesn't have full-fledged planetary status anymore, but we're still excited to get some pictures from the edge of the Solar System. The New Horizons spacecraft is carrying a "Multicolor Visible Imaging Camera" that takes stills in blue, red, and near-infrared, then puts them together for a color picture.