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4 Underrated US Cities You Should Visit

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Many people think that traveling to ‘The Top Vacation Spots’ means leaving the country, or squeezing into overcrowded tourist destinations with thousands of other travelers, but some of the best destinations may actually be right in your neighborhood. In this article, we’ve listed four of the most underrated US cities you should definitely visit whether it is for a weekend getaway, a long vacation, or even for work purposes.

Providence, Rhode Island

Found just south of Boston, the once gritty and impoverished city of Providence is now a creative hub for culture and the arts. One of Providence’s claim to fame is the world-renowned art school of Rhode Island School of Design (RISD). Aside from training some of the best artists in the world, RISD is also home to the RISD Museum of Art, which is free to visit on Sundays and on the third Thursday of every month. The museum displays a huge collection of artwork from all around the world such as Rembrandt drawings, Chinese lacquerware and couture dresses from Balenciaga and McQueen. If you want to be more in touch with nature during your travels, Roger Williams Park is the right place to go to. The impressive park spans an impressive 435 acres of land that is covered with gardens, lakes and greenhouses. You can never run out of fun things to do since the park houses the Museum of Natural History and the Roger Williams Park Zoo that will surely be a delight to visit.

Baltimore, Maryland

If you want to go on an artistic adventure without leaving the country, the mid-Atlantic city of Baltimore is where you should go. The American Visionary Art Museum (AVAM) which is solely dedicated to the works of self-artists can be found in Baltimore. AVAM will provide you with an extraordinary museum experience because it lacks white walls and solemn security guards that shush children which are common in other museums. Another museum that will surely complete your artistic adventure is the Baltimore Museum of Art which is the largest museum in the city with over 95,000 art pieces. The extensive collection of the museum includes a large Matisse collection that is donated by Baltimore natives Claribel and Etta Cone. The museum requires no admission fee which makes it ideal for travelers on a budget.

Kansas City, Missouri

Kansas City is fast becoming the top city for work and play, and often in the same location. Springfield News-Leader reports that the Country Club Plaza is one of the most popular places in Kansas City, as it is the city’s premier shopping and dining destination. You can find high-end retail establishments across 18 separate buildings, as well as more than 30 statues, murals and tile mosaics. The plaza is also home to Industrious’s Kansas City site, making it a good choice for digital nomads and remote workers who might need to check in on some work while in the middle of a vacation. For beer lovers out there, visiting the Boulevard Brewery is a must. During their 45-minute tour, you will learn about the company’s history and brewing process, and have a taste of their amazing beer for free.

Asheville, North Carolina

This humble town in North Carolina is the perfect place for a trip that will take you back in time. Asheville is the home of the Biltmore Estate which is the largest privately-owned estate in the United States. Biltmore has a house from the bygone era of the Gilded Age, impressive tapestries that will make you feel like you are visiting a European castle, an on-site winery and estate gardens. After basking in the beauty and elegance of the Biltmore Estate, go straight to the Asheville Pinball Museum that will surely bring out the child in you. This game museum combines history, anthropology and technology with its amazing collection of over 75 pinball machines and various arcade games hailing from the 80s. The $15 admission ($12 for kids 10 and under) gets you open access to all the machines, no tokens required.

Home And Garden Inspiration

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If you’re desperately in need for some home and garden inspiration, don’t worry you’ve come to the right place. Simply continue reading to discover a few creative home and garden ideas which you may want to steal

Home and garden inspiration:

Consider placing a decorative bird bath in your garden:

If you enjoy listening to bird song and are looking for a new decorative item to dress up your garden, you may want to shop around for an aesthetically pleasing bird bath. Which will attract plenty of birds to your garden.

Place low hedges or decorative stones around your flower beds:

One stunning way to box in your flower beds is top lace low hedges around the perimeter of some of your flower beds. Just be warned that hedges take a fair amount of upkeep and it’s wise to purchase slow growing breeds of hedges, which don’t require constant pruning.

Alternatively, if you can’t for-see yourself pruning your hedges every week or paying for the services of a professional gardener, you may want to purchase some smooth decorative stones, which you’ll be able to place around the perimeters of your flower beds.

Invest in a few pieces of garden furniture to place in a quiet corner of your garden:

If you’d love to spend more time outdoors enjoying your garden, you can’t go wrong purchasing a few pieces of garden furniture, to place in a quiet corner of your garden. As an example if you enjoy reading books in your spare time, you may want to place a padded outdoor recliner under a tree in your garden. Or if you love to entertain your friends and family members in winter, you may love the idea of purchasing a solid outdoor table and chairs, so that you’ll be able to host social events such as barbecues in the warm summer months.

Drape a sheepskin rug or a faux fur blanket over a decorative ottoman:

To ensure that your lounge or home office is as cozy as possible, it’s a great idea to purchase a warm sheepskin rug or a faux fur blanket, which you’ll be able to drag over an ottoman. In order a bit of texture and warmth to your lounge or home office.

Reupholster an old chaise, ottoman or sofa:

In order to give an old chaise, ottoman or sofa a new lease on life, it’s a great idea to see how much it will cost to reupholster your chosen item with a fabric of your choice. Just imagine how stylish a pre loved chaise would look after it has been lovingly reupholstered with a navy blue velvet fabric.

Place a large ornate mirror over an old fireplace:

To draw focus to an old, well painted fireplace simply place a large ornate mirror over your fireplace. Which will also make your room look significantly bigger than it actually is.

Have a custom window seat built:

During winter you may enjoy lazing on a window seat which offers stunning views of your garden.

So hopefully you’ve found a couple of noteworthy home and garden ideas which you’re interested in trialling out. In order to create a home and garden which you love spending time in and which you enjoy sharing with your loved ones.

Lifestyle Tips That Will Change Your Life

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If you’re always on the hunt for fun, simple to implement lifestyle tips which will change your life, continue reading to discover a few new tips that are well worth implementing.

Lifestyle Tips That Will Change Your Life

Visit your nearest outlet mall in order to purchase affordably priced designer clothing and accessories:

If you’d love to be able to purchase designer clothes and accessories, without having to blow budget, it’s well worth visiting your nearest outlet mall in order to purchase high quality, fashionable items at a fraction of their initial recommended retail price. As an example, if you want to invest in well made staples such as a trench coat, a pair of sunglasses or a classic watch which you’ll use for years to come, it’s well worth browsing through the designer boutiques at an outlet mall.

Build a capsule wardrobe full of staples which you’ll wear on a regular basis:

If you waste far too much money each year on purchasing impulse buys which you end up forgetting about, it may be a clever idea to put together a capsule wardrobe. Some staple items which you can use to build a capsule wardrobe include three pairs of fitted jeans. A medium blue pair, a dark blue pair and a black pair. As well as a wool coat, a neutral sweater, a trench coat, a pair of smart black or grey trousers and three smart button down shirts. So if you frequently purchase loud pieces of clothing which you never wear, you can’t go wrong putting together a capsule wardrobe of neutral colored items.

Try to purchase clothing items which have sustainably produced:

Instead of being a slave to fast fashion, make a conscious choice to save to purchase clothing items which have been produced in ethical conditions out of sustainable fabrics. As an example instead of purchasing a cheap and nasty polyester sweater, opt to purchase a merino wool sweater. One of the advantages of purchasing sustainable fashion is that ethical clothing items will last you several years and won’t shrink in the wash or develop holes after a few washes. So you’ll also end up looking smarter and well presented on an everyday basis.

Create a vegetable garden in your back yard:

If you’re lucky enough to have a back yard, which gets plenty of natural sunlight you may want to create your very own vegetable garden. So that you’ll be able to eat your own organically grown produce. Which should also save you hundreds of dollars per year. As unfortunately most fruits and vegetables which are sold at grocery stores are more expensive than unhealthy food items. If you want to add a bit of extra flavor to your homemade dishes, it’s also a great idea to purchase a few herb plants. Such as a coriander plant, a basil plant and a thyme plant.

Make sure to keep in contact with your family members:

While everyday life can be hectic, it’s well worth making an effort to see your parents or grandparents on a weekly basis. As at the end of the day you’ll never regret time spent with loved ones.

Hopefully you’ve found at least one lifestyle tip which you’ll be able to use for the rest of your life and which you’ll share with your friends and family members.

Business 101: A Handy Guide To Running A Successful Business

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If you’re looking for a simple, straightforward guide to running a successful business which will stand the test of time, simply continue reading to discover a few handy tips which will help your business grow!

Business 101: A Handy Guide to Running a Successful Business

If you operate a physical brick and mortar business, consider extending your opening hours:

One simple way to capture a captive market it to stay open for an hour or two longer than your business’ direct competitors. As an example, if your competitors shut their doors at 5pm each day, it’s well worth staying open till 7pm, in order to capture sales from individuals who are looking to shop after work.

Alternatively if your business only exists online, you may want to have a customer service agent on hand in the evenings to answer your customers’ questions. So that they’ll be confident enough in your business to put their order through straight away.

While extending hours, you want to ensure your employees are working, even if business isn’t pouring in. It may take time for customers to start utilizing your extended business hours. If you’re worried about your employees slacking off, try using employee screenshot monitoring to ensure they are on top of their tasks.

Make sure that your business provides innovative solutions for common problems:

Instead of trying to market mere products and services, it’s a far smarter idea to market your products and services as providing innovative solutions for common problems. For example, Fed Ex market the fact that they’re able to get urgent packages from one part of the country to the other within 24 hours.

Remember that if your potential customers believe that they need your product, they’ll be far more likely to place and order than if they believe they simply would like to purchase one of your products or services. Especially as savvy shoppers are always on the lookout for goods and services which will improve their lives in a small yet profound way.

Make sure that it’s easy for your customers to get hold of your customer service team:

In recent years it’s becoming increasingly popular for businesses to hide their telephone numbers and to force customers to use social media or contact forms in order to get in touch with a customer service representative. However more often than not if customers aren’t able to easily able or phone a business, they’ll simply cancel their order and will give their money to a rival business.

Ensure that your business has a positive reputation:

There are a few different ways to go about improving your business’ public perception. For example, you may want to consider sponsoring a local sports team or a local school. While extending hours, you want to ensure your employees are working, even if business isn’t pouring in. It may take time for customers to start utilizing your extended business hours. If you’re worried about your employees slacking off, try using employee monitoring software Workpuls to ensure they are on top of their tasks or not. Alternatively you may want to think about sponsoring a local event such as a community festival or a fun run.

Find creative ways to make your customers feel special:

If your customers believe that your business genuinely appreciates their patronage, they’ll be far more likely to remain loyal to your business. So it’s a wise idea to find creative ways to make sure that each of your regular customers feels special. As examples, you may want to offer a percentage discount off your customers’ shopping carts on their birthdays. Or you may want to implement a loyalty scheme for your repeat customers.

So if you’d like to build a highly successful business which is able to stand the test of time and which will attract loyal long term customers, it’s definitely well worth using some of the straightforward business tips which you’ve just read.

If you liked this article and want to learn more about business from BlagHag, click here!

Budgeting For Life Tips

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To discover how to make budgeting a part of your lifestyle, Continue reading in order to discover an invaluable list of tried and tested budgeting tips, which will change your life.

Budgeting for Life Tips:

Make sure that you start investing for your financial future as soon as possible:

While you may be tempted to delay saving for your eventual retirement for several more years or decades, the sooner that you start saving for your financial future, the sooner you’ll be able to retire. You can get creative in your ways of saving, for example saving money on your cable bill or phone bill, and even calling other utility companies to see if you can lower your bills. Especially as steady investments take time to mature and it may take several years for your passive income to grow. So when it comes to coming up with a monthly budget, make sure to invest a percentage of your disposable income each month towards your financial future.

Don’t spend time too much time with friends who try to coerce you to blow your budget on social gatherings:

Ideally you should aim to spend your free time with individuals who are smart about their money and budgeting and are also setting themselves up for a comfortable retirement and financial future. However, if there are certain individuals who continually try to convince you to blow your budget on social gatherings, it’s well worth limiting the time that you spend with them. As it’s far wiser to spend $200 on buying assets, instead of spending $200 on a night on the town.

Set financial goals that you’re passionate about:

You’ll have a far easier time sticking to your budget if you’re able to write down financial goals that you’re excited about. For example, you may be passionate about putting aside money each month for an overseas getaway or you may have your heart set on buying a new car or having enough money to put down a house deposit. You may even have a goal of retiring in the next 10 years.

Avoid purchasing items which you don’t need using credit:

While it’s fairly commonplace to purchase high ticket items such as smart phones, laptops and cars using credit, it’s well worth saving to purchase high tickets items with cash. As when you buy items using credit, you’ll end up paying high interest rates. Also, be careful of your automated bills monthly which you are paying with credit. You can look into getting things like free TV instead of paying cable monthly with your credit.

Make sure to get rid of any debt which you may have:

If you have credit card debt or have a student loan, you shouldn’t budget to purchase luxury items until you’ve paid off your debt. So that you’ll be able to avoid wasting your hard earned money on paying interest on your loans. So it’s well worth factoring in debt repayments into your monthly budget.

Check your online bank accounts on a weekly basis:

To ensure that there aren’t any false charges on your debit cards, it’s a smart idea to check the balance of your online bank accounts on a weekly basis. So that you’ll be able to contest any fraudulent charges. As a benefit if you keep an eye on your bank account balances, you’ll be able to tighten your purse strings, if you find that you’ve overspent your assigned budget for the week. Which may prevent you from further blowing your budget.

Hopefully you’ve discovered a few budgeting tips for life, which will help you reach your long term financial goals. Especially if you’re currently wasting too much money on unnecessary items or find it hard to budget your expenses.

To read more on topics like this, check out the money category

5 Effective Fitness and Health Tips

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Are you ready to increase your current level of fitness as well as your health and well being? If so, simply continue reading to discover a list of fast, effective fitness and health tips.

5 Effective Fitness and Health Tips:

Kickstart your metabolism each morning by drinking a teaspoon of apple cider vinegar:

If you’d love to be able to kickstart your metabolism as soon as you wake up each morning, it’s a smart idea to consume a teaspoon of apple cider vinegar in a glass of hot water. As apple cider vinegar has been proven to naturally and healthily increase your resting metabolism. If the taste of apple cider vinegar is a little too strong for your liking, you can add a few drops of honey to your drink or you can opt to consume natural apple cider vinegar pills instead.

Don’t avoid eating breakfast if you want to lose weight or maintain a healthy weight:

Unfortunately a lot of individuals who are looking to lose weight or to maintain a healthy weight forgo breakfast in the hopes of consuming less calories on a daily basis. However most individuals who maintain a healthy weight actually eat breakfast every day and individuals who skip breakfast are far more likely to be obese. One of the reasons why this is the case is that your metabolism doesn’t start working until you consume your first meal of the day. So it’s important to eat breakfast daily, especially if you plan on completing early morning workouts.

Make fitness one of your key priorities:

While many people place their job on a high pedal-stool, most individuals don’t see their fitness regime as having the same importance as their job. When in reality staying fit and healthy is far more important than your job as it directly impacts your day to day health and sense of well being. So, think of your workouts as being an important commitment, which need to be completed. Instead of looking at your workouts as an optional activity.

Fit regular home workouts into your week:

Even if you’re a keen runner or you enjoy working out at your local gym, it’s well worth squeezing a few home workouts into your week. As an example, you may want to invest in a high quality yoga mat so that you’ll be able to complete body resistance exercises, Pilates exercises, yoga and HIIT exercises from the comfort of your own home. Alternatively you may want to purchase an exercycle or a treadmill in order to fit quick cardio workouts into your busy schedule.

Take up active hobbies which don’t feel like exercise:

You don’t have to spend hours at a gym sweating in order to get your heart racing. For example you may want to take up surfing as a hobby or you may enjoy swimming laps at your local pool. You may even get a kick out of skiing, rock climbing, ice-skating or stand up paddle boarding. The key is to continually find new ways to get your heart racing that you enjoy.

So if you’re ready to take your fitness and health and well being to the next level, it’s definitely well worth ticking off all of the helpful tips which are conveniently listed out above.

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