On October 10th I hit my 6-month milestone of being self employed. “Lauren you crazy,” you’ll say,“Why are you celebrating six months and writing about it? Shouldn’t you wait until at least a year has gone by?”

Well for two reasons: 1) because it’s my blog and I’ll cry do what I want to.

And 2) I think it’s because deep down I always had the anxiety that I wouldn’t make it this far, that I’d fold within the first month or 90 days. But more than that I wanted to celebrate this small milestone because I’ve already learned more about who I am as a person, (and you know … business stuff) in the last six months than I have in my entire life.

Moving to NYC with no money also taught me a great deal, but that was five years ago.  So I guess it’s been five years since I really, truly stretched myself by doing something even  I didn’t think was possible.

My friend Paula shared this little nugget of wisdom with me when I was about to leave my job. “Time flies once you stop watching the minutes count down on the clock in your cubicle,” she said. “It’s all going to go so quickly.”

And boy was she right. Time has flown so quickly that it’s thrilling and a little bit scary all at once. Perhaps this is why I wanted to pause at the six month mark and write it all down: out of fear I’d blink and miss it if I didn’t. So, I want to add to Paula’s wisdom by sharing 10 important lessons I’ve learned from being my own boss.

SEE ALSO: After spending up to $425 a month eating out, I took a 30-day restaurant hiatus — here's how it went

1. THE INITIAL “LEAP” IS ACTUALLY THE EASIEST PART.

I tossed around the idea of making the switch from side hustler to full time solopreneur for years. Whenever I thought about it, it never seemed like quite the right time. Finally my bandwidth got so maxed out I had to make a decision: pull the trigger on working for myself, or let some clients go.

Maybe it’s the fact that once you do, in fact, become your own boss you’re thrown into a chaotic mess of to-dos that need to get finished and don’t have time to think about what you’re doing.

But making the leap, actually putting the plan in place and acting on it?

It’s been the easiest part of my journey so far. So for all of you contemplating making a switch of your own, my advice is to save your pennies and just do it.

2. PROCESSES AREN’T ALL BAD.

I was working with another contractor on an email campaign for a shared client of ours, and our weekly calls with the client would become so annoying I started to dread the call. During the call the other contractor would reference some process document, and if we didn’t have one, she’d take time out of the meeting to discuss and brainstorm creating … wait for it… another process document.

Every time she would do this, I would roll my eyes and think, “processes are for corporates. We don’t need that here.”

But after a few months I realized maybe there was a nugget of truth in her crazy extreme– processes aren’t all bad, they exist for a reason. I struggled a good bit with adding “legitimacy” to my business and managing the expectations of my clients when I swapped from side hustler to FT #girlboss. (I wrote about it in this post, here.) Processes were a huge part of making that shift, and it took me longer than it should have to realize it.

Even if it’s as simple as having a formal on-boarding process or “what to expect document,” those constructs let clients and customers know you mean business.

3. YOU’RE GONNA HAVE TO GROW A BACKBONE ... LIKE, A REAL ONE.

I love all of the items on this list, but I feel #3 is most important for bosses everywhere. It’s certainly the area where I feel most empowered and proud of my personal growth.

I wouldn’t say I’m one to shy away from conflict, but sometimes the “eager to please” part of my personality kicks in, especially when money gets involved. In the last six months I’ve found myself in projects or commitments that aren’t always to my benefit, the best use of my time, or at the level of compensation I’d like.

It’s a learning curve, but eventually you’ll realize that being easygoing all the time is taking a cut out of your bottom line.

I know, it sucks at first when you realize that there there is literally NO ONE else to have those tough conversations like there was at your old job. This is where the grit of being your own boss comes in. You can go crying back to corporate if you want … it’s definitely nice there sometimes.

But if you want to be your own boss, you have to grow a backbone. Not a fake one. A real one.

I thought the world would implode if I “made someone mad at me.” Trust me, it doesn’t. I also realized that me questioning something, or double checking/clarifying a point in an agreement didn’t make me difficult. It just makes me a business owner.

"Been there, climbed that" was my family's tagline while living in Germany.

My dad's job took us to the land of beer and pretzels during my last six months of middle school and my first two years of high school.

During those 2 1/2 years, my mom took on the role of travel agent. Every weekend we ventured to a different German village; every school vacation we traveled to a new country.

One constant: If there was a church — or any tall structure with stairs — we climbed to the top.

I may have complained a lot then ("Another cobblestone street? ANOTHER church to climb?"), but today I'm forever grateful that my mom dragged us up, because just look at all the incredible memories we made ...

SEE ALSO: The 20 best places to live overseas

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Europe is full of incredible buildings and churches, all of which have rewarding views and seemingly endless stairs. This is the Strasbourg Cathedral de Notre-Dame in Strasbourg, France.

The 332-step climb culminates with unparalleled views of the city and beyond. Just another mini-workout sneaked into our vacation by my active mother.

My mom rarely researched which cities had churches to climb; we stumbled upon them as we explored. During our cruise around the Greek islands, we stopped in Split, Croatia, and saw the Cathedral of Saint Domnius standing tall.

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In most jobs, the line between work and personal life is rapidly disappearing.

Thanks to 24/7 connectivity, it's easy to check email and put in extra hours on nights, weekends, and even during vacations, says Scott Dobroski, Glassdoor's community expert.

"Inevitably, there are some jobs that may require more attention during and out of normal office hours," Dobroski tells Business Insider. "Before accepting a job, job seekers should do their research to understand the hours that are expected in the role, where and how they can get their work done, and the overall nature of the job."

Think it's impossible to find a well-paid job that allows you a life outside of work? Think again. There are plenty, even in the tech sector. 

Glassdoorrecently sifted through its data to find jobs that provide the best work-life balance. Based on employee feedback and ratings on work-life balance shared on Glassdoor over the past year, the job and employer review site rated job titles on a 5-point scale, from very dissatisfied (score of 1) to very satisfied (score of 5).

Here are the jobs employees say offer the best balance between work and personal life, as well as the average annual salary and number of job openings, according to Glassdoor.

SEE ALSO: 3 reasons companies like LinkedIn, Virgin, and Netflix are giving their employees 'unlimited' vacation

25. Front end developer

Work-Life balance rating: 3.7

Average annual salary: $75,000

Number of job openings: 1,337

What they do: develop the part of the website that users interact with.

24. Software developer

Work-Life balance rating: 3.7

Average annual salary: $80,000

Number of job openings: 3,330

What they do: research, design, implement, and test computer software.

23. Lab assistant

Work-Life balance rating: 3.7

Average annual salary: $27,550

Number of job openings: 779

What they do: collect and process samples from various sources and use lab equipment to analyze them. 

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You know what’s great? Brunch. You know what’s better? Yeah, us neither.

That’s why we asked the experts — 14 top SF chefs — about where they get their eggs Benny come Saturday and Sunday morning... or, you know, where they would go if they weren’t making brunch themselves.

SEE ALSO: The 6 best bottomless brunches in London

Park Tavern

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Picked by chef Michael Mina of Mina Group

If you ever had a doubt that Chef Michael Mina (whose name is practically synonymous with delicious at this point) would be a great dining partner, his choice orders at his favorite brunch spots should clear up any confusion: the “killer” Marlowe burger at Park Tavern, “one of the best Caesar salads in the city” at Zuni Café, or the house-made Pop-Tarts at Foreign Cinema. Um, yes. We’ll have what he’s having. Of course, all this goes out the window if the 49ers are playing a home game. Again, Chef Mina with the winning-at-life moves!

Bar Tartine

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Picked by chef Chris Jones of Gaspar Brasserie

The Francophile chef behind the FiDi’s swanky Gaspar Brasserie is all about Bar Tartine’s ever-changing three-course fixed brunch menu because each course includes individually plated components that allow you to taste “lots of interesting bites and flavor combinations.” At $35 a person, it’s a pretty good deal too, especially since making any decisions should really wait until Monday anyway.

Bar Agricole

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Picked by chef Thomas McNaughton of Ne Timeas Restaurant Group

If the chef behind some of the best restaurants in the city ever gets a Sunday morning off from slinging delicious brunch burgers at Central Kitchen, he’ll be on Bar Agricole’s sunny back patio washing down the “simple but good food” with Thad Vogler’s amazing cocktails. As McNaughton says, “brunch is more about the booze anyway.” Couldn’t agree more, chef.

HTC just announced its new One A9 smartphone on Tuesday.

For the One A9, HTC isn't trying to compete in the spec arms race that smartphone makers tend to engage in.

Instead, the HTC One A9 is a more modest sub-premium flagship that's not quite in the premium league like the older One M9 in terms of specs. 

It looks and feels every bit as premium and works just as well, though, all while costing at least $200 less than its predecessor.

It'll certainly appeal to any Android user who appreciated the sleek designs on the new iPhones.

The HTC One A9 has a 5-inch 1080p screen.

The front glass panel slightly curves at the edges, which many will liken to the iPhone 6's curved glass edges.

Of course, the general shape and plastic antenna lines do make it look like an iPhone.

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The third trailer for the new "Star Wars" movie, "The Force Awakens," is here.

If you're not well-versed in "Star Wars" lore, you could be pretty confused by what you see. Here's an explanation for everything in the new trailer.

Warning: If you want to avoid potential spoilers or even speculation about "The Force Awakens," stop reading now.

The trailer opens with a closeup of Rey, one of the new main characters.

She seems to be exploring an old ship.

The ship is massive. We're probably looking at a crashed ship on Jakku, a new planet in the "Star Wars" universe. Jakku is a graveyard for destroyed ships from battles between the Empire and the Rebellion. The planet is full of scavengers looking for scraps.

The tech industry is filled with high-paying jobs.

Unfortunately, the tech industry is also notorious for demanding work schedules, in some cases pressuring people to work until they literally drive themselves crazy.

Glassdoor says that work-life balance in all jobs in all industries has been decreasing. On a 1 to 5 scale, employees gave work-life balance in their jobs an average rating of 3.5 in 2009, but only a 3.2 so far in 2015.

But it's not that way for everyone, not even in the tech industry.

Glassdoor analyzed its data and uncovered the top 10 tech jobs that got the highest scores. 

SEE ALSO: This is how much money you can REALLY make working at a startup

10. Front end developer

Work-Life balance rating: 3.7

Average annual salary: $75,000

Number of job openings: 1,337

What they do: Develop the part of the website that users interact with.

9. Software developer

Work-Life balance rating: 3.7

Average annual salary: $80,000

Number of job openings: 3,330

What they do: Research, design, implement, and test computer software.

8. Solutions engineer

Work-Life balance rating: 3.7

Average annual salary: $92,456

Number of job openings: 652

What they do: Work with with sales and product development teams to identify and solve customer issues.

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Professional social situations can be awkward. And, unfortunately, many people wind up making fools of themselves because they don’t understand that etiquette rules in business differ from those in other settings.

In "The Essentials of Business Etiquette," Barbara Pachter writes about the rules people need to understand to conduct and present themselves appropriately in professional social settings.  

Here are the most important tips on how to introduce yourself, how to dress, and what to order at restaurants, all from Pachter's book.

Vivian Giang contributed to an earlier version of this article.

Always stand when you're being introduced to someone.

"Standing helps establish your presence. You make it easy for others to ignore you if you don't stand. If you are caught off guard and cannot rise, you should lean forward to indicate that you would stand, if you could," Pachter writes.

Source: "The Essentials Of Business Etiquette"

Always say your full name.

In a business situation, you should use your full name, but you should also pay attention to how others want to be introduced.

If your name is too long or difficult to pronounce, Pachter says you should consider changing or shortening it. Or you should consider writing down the pronunciation of your name on a business card and giving it to others.

Source: "The Essentials Of Business Etiquette"

Always initiate the handshake if you’re the higher-ranking person or host.

In today's workplace, the host or the higher-ranking person, regardless of gender, should extend their hand first, she writes. "If the higher-ranking person fails to do so immediately — often because of gender confusion — the lower-ranking person should extend his or her hand without missing more than a beat."

Either way, the handshake must happen. "In the United States, the handshake is the business greeting. If you want to be taken seriously, you must shake hands and shake hands correctly."

Source: "The Essentials Of Business Etiquette"

A dozen eggs cost nearly $3 at your local grocery store. It costs more than $25 to fill up your car's gas tank.

And buying a new car? Kelley Blue Book reports that as of July, the average consumer spent more than $30,000 to buy a new set of wheels.

But not everything is getting more expensive. Here are five key expenses that you'll probably pay less for in 2015.

SEE ALSO: 7 things that make you look cheap without actually saving money

1. Housing

The National Association of Realtors says that the median sales price of existing homes stood at $232,000 in August. That's expensive, and it's up 7% from August of 2014. But it's actually lower than in June of this year. That month, the median price of an existing home hit $236,400, the highest this figure has ever been. The hope for buyers is that home prices will continue to trend down — the August median price is actually 0.9% lower than in July — over time. (Sellers, of course, hope for the opposite.)

Even more important for people buying homes is the direction that mortgage interest rates are taking. These remain at historically low levels, with the Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey showing that the average interest rate on a 30-year fixed-rate loan stood at 3.91% as of September 17. The average rate on a 15-year fixed-rate loan was even lower, 3.11% as of the same date.

Compare this to where these rates stood on December 30 of 2010: 4.86% for a 30-year fixed-rate loan and 4.20% for a 15-year fixed-rate loan.

Interest rates matter. The lower they are, the lower homebuyers' monthly payments will be, too. Thanks to these lower interest rates it costs far less today to borrow money to buy a home than it did less than five years ago.

2. Computers

Computers are an essential part of most of our lives. Good thing that their price tags continue to drop.

Statistics portal Statista reports that the average selling price of notebook computers was $1,292 in 2005. In 2015, this number had fallen all the way to $451. Meanwhile, NPD Group reported that from October 5 to 25 of last year, the average selling price of Windows-fueled personal computers was $430. That was down 10% just from one year earlier. And IBISWorld says that the average price of a desktop computer in its surveys was $390.49 in 2015.

Now, you won't be getting a top-of-the-line computer for these lower prices. But you can still get a pretty powerful machine that will serve the needs of most users.

3. Smartphones

You could make the argument that smartphones are even more important to us than computers. We use them to communicate with our friends, find the address of that new Thai restaurant, surf the Web, pay our bills, and watch TV while we're stuck on the train.

It's good news, then, that the cost of these devices has been steadily falling, too. Market research firm IDC reports that the average price of an unlocked iPhone in 2014 was $657. But this price is on the way down. IDC predicts that the average price of an unlocked iPhone will soon fall to $604.

Android phones are even less expensive today. IDC says that the average price of an unlocked Android phone was $254 in 2014, and will fall to $215 by 2018. And the news is even better for fans of Windows-based smartphones. According to IDC, the price of these phones will fall to $214 in 2018.

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The Consumer Reports 2015 Annual Auto Survey allowed car owners to tell us, in their own (often angry) words, about service problems they had experienced in the past year.

With more than 740,000 vehicles included in the survey, owners had a lot to say.

The following comments are a verbatim sampling of what disappointed owners regarding five of the most trouble-prone cars in our survey.

Some vehicles may show a high incidence of one problem, but in other cases each flaw has a low incidence but there were many faults scattered across the whole population.

Behind the vehicle images, shot in Consumer Reports' photo studio, is a word cloud that depicts the terms owners used in describing problems, with the size indicating the frequency the words were used.

Our survey is a measure of how reliable a new car you buy today is likely to be, based on the past three model years of problem areas reported by consumers. Note that new-car predicted-reliability scores are separate from our road-test scores, which are based on the performance, comfort, and road manners of the cars we buy.

These vehicles are presented with the worst, the Fiat 500L, to the "least worst" . . . although this isn't a consecutive ranking. (See the problems owners experienced with the 20 least reliable cars.)  

Click through the links below to see the complete road test and reliability data.

SEE ALSO: Tesla craters after Consumer Reports pulls recommendation

Fiat 500L

500L Feedback: 

• "Transmission will not shift gears."

• "(Transmission) would not go into gear; stopped on busy road."

• "Car towed five times due to dead battery."

• "Car stopped running . . . engineers told (dealer) to replace the engine."

• "Tie rod broke."

See our complete Fiat 500L road test and ratings.

Ford Fiesta

Fiesta Feedback: 

• "Transmission rebuilt twice already."

• "Rough chattering shifts."

• "Fuel pump (failure) happened twice now; melted the first time."

• "Driver’s side seat belt no longer retracts properly."

• "Low-beam light replaced."

• "Car seemed to overheat for no reason and was jerky and spastic."

• "The trunk has a water leak. It’s always full of water."

• "Side mirror pops off with very slight pressure."

See our complete Ford Fiesta road test and ratings.

Jeep Cherokee

Cherokee Feedback:

• "Transmission needed numerous software patches."

• "Vehicle constantly searching for the correct gear."

• "Transmission failed twice . . . needed to be replaced."

• "Key could not be removed from ignition."

• "Squeaking sound . . . dealer cannot find the cause."

• "(Tire pressure) warning light constantly on and off."

• "Push-button start would not work."

• "The whole Uconnect (infotainment system) just died."

See our complete Jeep Cherokee road test and ratings.

While the food in Italy is reason enough to visit, the country is filled with famous works of art, exceptionally beautiful cities, and gorgeous lakes and mountains. 

We compiled a list of 40 sites in Italy you should see at least once in your lifetime. 

We included important classics like Rome's Colosseum and Venice's canals, but also added more obscure spots, like the gardens of the Villa d'Este and the natural hot springs of Saturnia in Tuscany.

An earlier version of this post was written by Sara Bower.

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SEE ALSO: The 50 best US tourist attractions you've never heard of

Drive along the gorgeous cliffs of the Amalfi Coast. Stay a night or two in the charming village of Positano — it's straight out of a postcard.

See Michelangelo's famous statue of David in Florence's Galleria dell'Accademia.

Admire the colorful homes in Isola di Burano.

Buying a home is 23% cheaper than renting nationwide for millennials and now is the best time to buy since 2012 when interest rates were a tad lower.

Trulia’s Rent vs. Buy Report has traditionally assumed a 30-year fixed rate mortgage with a 20% down payment for households moving every seven years. With these assumptions, buying is 36% cheaper than renting on a national basis, based on September home prices. That’s the best differential since 2012 when it was 38% cheaper to buy than rent. Buying is also cheaper than renting in each of the nation’s 100 largest metros.

However, using the Census’ 2014 American Community Survey and a new Trulia consumer poll, we’ve found that the math is different for young households (ages 25-34), who tend to move every five years (*) and can only afford up to a 10% down payment (**). This edition of Rent vs. Buy crunches the numbers for these prospective home buyers.

To compare the costs of owning and renting for young home buyers, we also assumed a 3.85% mortgage rate on a 30-year fixed-rate loan, itemized federal tax deductions and a 25% tax bracket. With those assumptions, buying is not only 23% cheaper than renting nationally, it is also only cheaper than renting in 98 of the nation’s top 100 markets.

It's 23% cheaper for millennials to buy than rent in 98 out of the 100 largest metro areas.

Personal choices aside, here are the current economic conditions that influence today’s market. Nationally, home price growth has outpaced rent growth since 2012. That favors the rent side of the buy vs. rent equation. However, interest rates have returned to near historic lows, now at about 3.85%, after climbing to 4% or higher in 2013 and 2014. In October 2012, rates were about 3.4% for a 30-year-fixed rate mortgage. In that year, young households found that it was 28% cheaper to buy than rent.

It's cheaper to rent in Honolulu and Silicon Valley.

The rent vs. buy gap differs vastly across metros, largely because home prices and rents, property taxes, and home-price appreciation differs by metro. Taking these factors into account, young home buyers in the nation’s 100 markets would find that buying a home ranges from being 5% more expensive than renting in Honolulu to being 46% cheaper to buy a home in Houston.

The only other metro in the top 100 where buying is more expensive than renting a home for young buyers is San Jose, where they’d pay 2% more to buy a home than to rent. Rounding out the top 10 is New York, where buying is now 11% cheaper for younger consumers than renting.

Our rent vs. buy metric is especially tight for young prospective buyers in California. Of the 10 markets nationwide where buying vs. renting is a tougher call, seven are in the Golden State: San Jose, Orange County, San Francisco, Oakland, Sacramento, San Diego, and Ventura County.

The South and Midwest housing markets are great for young buyers.

Buying is clearly a better deal in many Southern markets. Metros in Texas, Florida and Louisiana dominate the top ten list of places where young households will find buying an easier call. In No. 1 Houston, for instance, it is 46% cheaper for younger buyers to buy than rent.

On Tuesday, top business strategist Michael Wolf gave a massive presentation on the future of tech and media in 2016 at The Wall Street Journal's conference.

He shared that the average American spends more time on tech and media then sleeping, and predicts that messaging will blow past social networking.

But if you are all prepped for the cord-cutting revolution, you’ll have to wait a little longer – though streaming music is going to be the next big winner.

And Wolf knows what he’s talking about. He served on the board at Yahoo, helping bring Marissa Mayer in as CEO, and cofounded the technology and media consulting firm Activate, where he is managing director. His career has spanned from being a managing partner at consulting powerhouse McKinsey, to being the chief operating officer of MTV networks.

You can see the entire presentation from the Wall Street Journal Digital Live Conference below, which we’ve republished in full.

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When people ask Elon Musk how he learned to build rockets, he has a simple answer.

"I read books,"he reportedly likes to say. 

Musk — who was smart enough to get into a physics Ph.D. program at Stanford University and then drop out because it didn't seem that relevant to him — has always been hungry for the written word.

In its profile of the Tesla and SpaceX CEO, the New Yorker observed that he was picked on a lot during his South African childhood, and he would retreat into fantasy (J.R.R. Tolkien) and science fiction (Isaac Asimov) to cope. 

As we'll see in below, books have always been important to Musk: inspiring him as a child, giving him heroes as a young adult, and helping him to learn rocket science while launching SpaceX. 

SEE ALSO: 17 books Bill Gates thinks everyone should read

'The Lord of the Rings' by J.R.R. Tolkien

Musk had a nickname when he was a shrimpy, smart-mouthed kid growing up in South Africa: Muskrat.

The New Yorker reports that "in his loneliness, he read a lot of fantasy and science fiction." 

Those books — notably "The Lord of the Rings" by J.R.R. Tolkien — shaped his vision for his future self. 

"The heroes of the books I read always felt a duty to save the world,"he told The New Yorker. 

Buy it here »

'The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy' by Douglas Adams

Musk says he had an "existential crisis" when he was between the ages of 12 and 15, burrowing into Friedrich Nietzsche, Arthur Schopenhauer, and other moody philosophers to find the meaning of life. 

It didn't help.

Then he came upon "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy," a comic interstellar romp by Douglas Adams. In the book a supercomputer finds the "answer" to a meaningful life is the number 42 — but the question was never figured out. 

This was instructive to a young Musk.

"If you can properly phrase the question, then the answer is the easy part,"Musk said in an interview. "So, to the degree that we can better understand the universe, then we can better know what questions to ask." 

Buy it here »

'Benjamin Franklin: An American Life' by Walter Isaacson

Musk has said that Ben Franklin is one of his heroes.

In Franklin's biography, "you can see how [Franklin] was an entrepreneur,"Musk says in an interview with Foundation. "He was an entrepreneur. He started from nothing. He was just a runaway kid."

Something about that is similar to Musk's story — growing up in Pretoria, South Africa, going to school in Canada, transferring to the University of Pennsylvania, then using an invitation to Stanford University's Ph.D. program to land in Silicon Valley. 

Musk's review: "Franklin's pretty awesome," he says. 

Buy it here »

Last year my son, James, and I drove up to Watkins Glen International, a storied racetrack, to watch a Ferrari race. We did not, however, make the drive in a Ferrari.

This year, Ferrari kindly lent us a California T, the company's "entry-level" car — its base price is $198,000 — to make a sort of return visit. The Cali T is now an important vehicle for the prancing stallion now that it's a public company and need to grow beyond its current 7,000-cars-per-year in sales.

At the New York Stock Exchange when Ferrari, ticker symbol RACE, began trading, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles CEO and Ferrari Chairman Sergio Marchionne said that many of the 9,000 cars the Italian sports car maker will sell in 2019 will be Cali Ts.

The last time James and I went to the Glen, we watched a Ferrari Challenge race in which the contestants run in Ferrari 458s. This time we attended the Six Hours of the Glen, an endurance race featuring teams from a variety of automakers — Porches, BMW, Aston Martin, Mazda, Corvette — alongside Ferrari.

It was an interesting weekend with a long drive in a cool car and a race that was heavily affected by the weather. Mixed in was a jaunt around the original Watkins Glen road course, where after World War II racers battled it out and before the now famous raceway was built.

We had a lot of fun — check it out.

Last year, James and I checked out a race series organized by Ferrari and featuring teams running only Ferrari 458 cars.

James had a blast ...

... because for an 8-year-old what's cooler than Ferraris?

We have to give "Back to the Future II" screenplay writers Robert Zemeckis and Bob Gale some credit — they guessed a lot of the technology that would be present in 2015. It's almost eerie how spot-on they were.

But they were also hilariously off base in a lot of ways.

For those who haven't been reminded of this fact at least 10 times via social media, this Wednesday is the day Marty McFly and Doc finally made it into the future. In "Back to the Future II," Marty and Doc, along with Jennifer, time travel out of 1985 to October 21, 2015. 

Here's a look at all the things "Back to the Future II" got wrong about where we'd be by now.

Flying cars.

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Sorry to state the obvious, but "Back to the Future II" envisioned a 2015 with flying cars and roadways in the sky. The cars would be able to zip around high up in the air and then merge back onto regular roads with ease. 

We may not have flying cars (yet?), but "Back to the Future II" did not envision a reality where cars would have self-driving technology. So we have that going for us.

Functional hoverboards.

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We've made progress on this front. Lexus made a hoverboard prototype over the summer, and other start-ups are working to create a hoverboard too. But we are far away from creating a hoverboard that works as well as the ones in "Back to the Future II."

Smart clothing, like self-lacing sneakers and self-drying clothing.

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Nike has teased that they will be releasing self-lacing sneakers this year, be we have yet to see them. 

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The US is full of incredible places to live — cities, yes, but also unique small towns and villages that people call home.

After examining data on 2,754 municipalities across the country, we put together a list of America's 50 best suburbs. We considered suburbs with populations between 5,000 and 100,000 within 40 kilometers of the nearest metropolitan area. We also factored in average commute times, median household income, poverty and crime rates, public-school ratings from GreatSchools.org, and a measure of housing affordability.

Click here to see our full methodology.

Our list was dominated by the Midwest, or more specifically by Ohio suburbs. This is likely due to several factors, most notably a reasonable cost of living.

Andy Kiersz compiled the data for this list.

SEE ALSO: The most expensive home for sale in every state

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50. Johnston, Iowa

Population: 18,135

Great Schools score: 7

Johnston sits adjacent to Saylorville Lake, offering lush greenery and over 35 miles of trails. The suburb is home to award-winning schools, low living costs, and a median household income of $93,571. The commute time to Des Moines is only 18 minutes.

49. Vestavia Hills, Alabama

Population: 33,993

Great Schools score: 9

Vestavia Hills is a 20-minute commute to Birmingham-Hoover. The suburb maintains its southern hospitality while being the fastest-growing town in Alabama. Vestavia Hills boasts great schools and has a median household income of $81,067.

48. Mequon, Wisconsin

Population: 23,231

Great Schools score: 10

Sitting on the shores of Lake Michigan, Mequon promises beautiful lake-shore bluffs, as well as numerous outdoor recreation spaces. Mequon is a 22-minute commute to the Milwaukee-Waukesha-West Allis metropolitan area, and the median household income is $107,432.

Amazon is famous for testing new ideas before deciding whether to scale it or shut it down.

That approach can lead to huge successes, like Amazon Web Services or the Kindle, but it can also result in failed projects.

Bezos shared his philosophy of failure with Business Insider last year. Here's what he said, and some examples of products that didn't go so well.

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Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos told us, “I’ve made billions of dollars of failures at Amazon.com…None of those things are fun. But they also don’t matter.”

Source

“What really matters is, companies that don’t continue to experiment, companies that don’t embrace failure, they eventually get in a desperate position where the only thing they can do is a Hail Mary bet at the very end of their corporate existence,” Bezos said.

That doesn’t mean companies should make bets that could risk the whole company’s existence, Bezos continued. “Companies that are making bets all along, even big bets — but not bet-the-company bets — prevail. I don’t believe in bet-the-company bets. That’s when you’re desperate. That’s the last thing you can do,” he said.

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Jessica Scorpio, co-founder of on-demand car-rental startup Getaround, wanted to freshen up her San Francisco apartment. 

She enlisted the help of friend Jacqueline Palmer, founder of interior design blog A Design Lifestyle. 

"Startup life is busy. I put most of my energy into making Getaround successful," Scorpio said to Business Insider. "I wanted to create a beautiful and zen environment for when I'm at home."

Palmer helped Scorpio add some decorative touches and small furniture items to the bed and dresser she already owned.

Palmer and Scorpio also recently collaborated on a redesign of the Getaround offices, located in a 16,000-square-foot warehouse in SOMA. 

They've shared some photos of the final product with Business Insider. 

SEE ALSO: Inside the beautiful apartment of an executive at one of New York City's hottest startups

"My style is minimalistic, so we used most of the furniture I already had. We decorated by accessorizing," Scorpio told Business Insider. "I love white with a pop of color."

A small vase and a collection of sand dollars make for fun decorative touches.

"I'm optimistic and love nature," Scorpio said. "The design is practical and beautiful. It has good energy."

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How do the most successful people start their days?

Whether through getting up early or exercise routines, the mornings are an important time to reflect and get your mind and body ready for the day ahead.

This includes getting the fuel you need to face the world.

From Richard Branson's morning fruit salad and grains to the Whole Foods CEO's healthy smoothie, here is what 12 successful people eat for breakfast every day.

Vivian Giang contributed to an earlier version of this article.

Richard Branson eats an old-fashioned, high-fiber morning meal.

Every morning Branson eats a fruit salad and muesli, a granola-like dish popular in Germany and Switzerland.

On occasion Branson will eat kippers, an oily fish that has been unpopular for decades, reports Christine Lagorio-Chafkin at Inc.

Al Roker makes a mean protein smoothie.

When the "Today" show weather forecaster is in between television segments — typically between 7:40 and 8:15 a.m. — he drinks a protein smoothie, according to Bon Appétit.

It consists of protein powder, fiber powder, 8 ounces of almond milk, frozen berries, ginger, and a little agave nectar. Sometimes Roker throws in almond butter.

John Mackey, founder and co-CEO of Whole Foods Market, drinks green smoothies.

A well-known healthy eater, Mackey makes a smoothie every morning.

It includes almond, oat, rice, or soy milk, fresh fruit, and kale or spinach leaves, he tells The New York Times.