What's better than a warm pot of ooey-gooey melted cheese? One you didn't pay for.

Luckily, we can all celebrate National Cheese Fondue Day with some free fondue from The Little Chalet on Monday, April 11.

The new prime steak and fondue house in Boca Raton is offering customers a free petite cheese fondue with the purchase of any two dinner entrees in observance of the national holiday. Dinner service starts at 5 p.m. and lasts until 10 p.m.

The featured pot will be Little Chalet's specialty, the Swiss Alps Original, which is a blend of emmental and grand cru cheeses (that's Swiss cheese and Gruyere) melted in dry white wine. Each cheese fondue is served with a basket of artisanal bread.

It's a Swiss tradition for anyone who accidentally drops something into the fondue pot to buy the table a round of drinks, so here's to hoping for some overboard bread bites! 

Call 561.325.8000 to make a reservation.

Golf fans, you’re going to love this. 

South Florida PGA will be holding its 2016 Golf Expo at Seminole Casino Coconut Creek from April 15 through April 17. The event will feature apparel and equipment from more than 40 PGA golf facilities.

The best part? The items will be available at reduced prices, as vendors look to sell their leftover merchandise from the season.  

From 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. on April 16, attendees can also enjoy a special clinic by golf legend Bob Toski and SFPGA professional Glenn Hall. 

Tickets to the expo are $10 per person. Children ages 15 and younger get in free. 

For more information, or to buy tickets, visit Seminole Casino’s website here. 

Seminole Casino Coconut Creek; 5550 NW 40th St., Coconut Creek

Get ready for a new food court option that's small in size but big in flavor.

Miami-based Sliderz Restaurant will open its new fast-casual food stand at Boca's Town Center Mall in June, and when it does, the first 100 customers will receive Very Important Guest cards—offering exclusive 15-percent discounts—on opening day. 

Sliderz serves, well, sliders of all kinds—grass-fed beef burgers, free-range chicken, line-caught fish and more—topped with homemade sauces and fixings. The concept comes from restaurateur Buzzy Sklar, the man behind Burger & Beer Joint, who opened the first Sliderz location together with business partner Richard Booth last year.

“We are so excited to bring the Sliderz fast-casual and family-friendly dining concept into Palm Beach County and couldn’t have asked for a more perfect location in the Boca Town Center Mall food court," Sklar said in a release.  

The chain hopes to open additional South Florida locations in Plantation, Aventura, Miami Beach and South Miami, as well as expand beyond the region with another location in Gainesville near the University of Florida's stadium. It also hopes to grow nationally with franchise stores.

A few menu favorites include the bacon cheeseburger, buffalo chicken slider, pulled pork and blackened mahi—all served on an egg roll bun—with other options such as chili-cheese dogs and meatball parmesan sliders served on hot dog buns. The sliders can be ordered individually ($2.50-$4) or in "stacks" of four ($14.25-$17) or eight sandwiches ($17.50-$24.50).

The fast-casual dining concept is notable for its tech-friendly atmosphere, featuring digital menus, an iPad selfie station, and a modernized milkshake machine to whip up their new Sliderz Shakez. Plus, Sliderz Boca will offer an app so that guests can place their orders while shopping in the mall.

Sliderz will also offer a half-off happy hour from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday, covering craft beers, wine and champagne. 

(Rendering of Boca food court location and slider photos courtesy of Sliderz Restaurant)

Here's your chance to spot a nesting sea turtle on the beach—all you need is an expert from Gumbo Limbo Nature Center as your guide.

The center's nighttime Turtle Walk series, which leads locals down the beach in search of nesting sea turtles, kicks off next month. Guides are knowledgeable about federal and state laws regarding threatened and endangered species to help the group look for sea turtles safely and legally. (That means no flashlights or flash photography.)

The 2016 Turtle Walks, which take place on select week nights from 8:30 p.m. to midnight between May and July, consist of an educational class at Gumbo Limbo, followed by an ecology walk along the beach with the intention of seeing a nesting loggerhead. 

Loggerhead sea turtles are listed as threatened species, but people are allowed to watch them lay eggs when accompanied by a guide. Leatherback and green sea turtles are off limits because they're endangered, according to Visit Florida.

The walk experience is suitable for children ages 8 and up, but kids must attend with an adult. Turtle sightings are not guaranteed.

The programming schedule is as follows:

May 19

May 26

May 31

June 1-2

June 7-9

June 14-16 

June 21-23

June 28-30

July 5-7

July 12-14

Hatching releases, in which participants watch Gumbo Limbo staff release baby sea turtles into the ocean, will begin later in the summer. They will take place Monday through Thursday nights from July 20 through Aug. 13 and again Aug. 17 to Sept. 8.

Reservations are required for each participant and can be made online at gumbolimbotw2016.bpt.me for $17 per session. Friends of Gumbo Limbo members can purchase discounted tickets for $10 and also gain early access to reservations.

Ticket sales for the 2016 Turtle Walks go live to the general public on May 9 and are available for members a week early, on May 2. Public sales for the Hatchling Releases don't begin until June 13.

Gumbo Limbo Nature Center; 1801 N. Ocean Blvd., Boca Raton

(Image via Flickr/U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Southeast Region)

Only 2 percent of women-owned businesses break $1 million in revenue, so 15-year-old Rachel Zietz decided to make hers one of them.

Fifteen-year-old entrepreneur Rachel Zietz spends late nights and early mornings on business video calls with her product factory in China. Sometimes she’ll squeeze in a nap on the bus ride to school in Fort Lauderdale. But more likely, the high school sophomore uses that time to do homework, since her afternoons are busy with lacrosse practice for one of the three teams she’s a part of.

The Boca Raton native owns Gladiator Lacrosse, which aims to sell higher-quality, lower-cost equipment than competitors. Rachel, who has been playing lacrosse since the fourth grade, felt the goals and rebounders she practiced with at home would too easily rust and tear. Not to mention, she was spending up to $230 every few months to replace broken equipment—way more than a teenager like herself could afford. “Whenever there’s a problem, that really means an opportunity,” she says.

So, Rachel turned her longtime passion into a lucrative business. She launched Gladiator Lacrosse as a middle school student in 2013 after developing the idea through the Young Entrepreneurs Academy. She sells rebounders ($159.95)—a trampoline-like net wall used to practice throwing and catching skills—and goals ($79.95) built to last a couple of years, primarily through her online store, gladiatorlacrosse.com. She has also launched her products at select retail stores.

Last year, the company earned more than $1 million in revenue, garnering Rachel recognition from Gov. Rick Scott, who heard about the business after Rachel introduced herself at a local event; he later honored her with Florida’s Young Entrepreneur Award.

When Rachel first launched the company, she set the goal of selling 500 units total. To her surprise, she’s selling at least 500 a month. Now her ultimate goal is to make Gladiator Lacrosse the brand everyone is using.

How’d she get to this point? The teenager found out that only 2 percent of women-owned businesses reach the $1 million mark and decided to do something about it. “I was like, ‘Well, that’s got to change. … It says right here that no one can do it, so we have to do it,” she recalls.

Of course, there was more than a spur-of-the-moment decision at play. Rachel is competitive—both on the lacrosse field and in the business world—and has a keen sense of determination. Those two qualities make her a successful entrepreneur. It also doesn’t hurt that Rachel was born into an innovative, business-savvy family. Her parents are seasoned entrepreneurs themselves, and her younger brother has also caught the bug, founding GameReef, a video game console rental company.

When Rachel first started selling Gladiator Lacrosse products at local tournaments—a marketing strategy none of her competitors were using at the time—she was hesitant to leave her booth and go out and get customers.

“They’ll come if they’re interested,” she thought. But, her father would teach her that customers don’t know they’re interested until you show them the product. She’s learned that in business, just as in lacrosse, you need good “field vision” to act selflessly and assess the situation from other perspectives.

“It takes a lot of guts to go up to someone not knowing what’s going to come out of that, but I definitely got over my fear,” she says.

With that kind of mentorship and encouragement from her father, Rachel has turned into the type of young woman who’s bold enough to walk up to a professional lacrosse legend and pitch him a business partnership.

After spotting Major League Lacrosse player Casey Powell at a South Florida tournament, she approached the athlete to ask if he’d be interested in collaborating with Gladiator Lacrosse.

“When I went up to talk to him, like many other people, he was surprised that I was running the business so young,” she says.

Together, they launched a Casey Powell signature edition line of ultra-durable rebounders and goals. And it doesn’t end there. The budding businesswoman gave her elevator pitch to the cast of “Shark Tank” last summer. The episode will air on May 13.

Now when Rachel walks into business meetings with older execs, she wears heels and a power color like red, and remembers she has her own experiences to bring to the table.

“I knew I always wanted to do this. I just didn’t realize I could do it this young,” she says.

Attend this showcase of talent performed by Lynn faculty, students and staff through solo features and artistic collaborations.

The festivities will kick off with live entertainment at Celebration Circle, an indoor art gallery and Celebration Unplugged, a special line-up of student performances. Guests can also enjoy light bites sponsored by Tucker Dukes Lunchbox, Hoffman’s Chocolate, Corner Bakery and Meatball Joe Food Truck.

The main production, Celebration 2016, will take center stage in the Wold Performing Arts Center. The cabaret-style performance will include musical theater Broadway hits, dance, poetry and short plays, as well as a performance by the Lynn Conservatory of Music.

5:30 p.m.; Celebration Circle, Art Gallery and Celebration Unplugged; Lynn University in Boca Raton; free 

7:30 p.m.; Celebration 2016; Wold Performing Arts Center at Lynn University in Boca Raton; $15

Those long drives north to Jupiter Donut Factory will be over soon. 

The fast-growing chain, which sells fresh-baked specialty doughnuts, is opening a new location in Boynton Beach in mid-May. It will be the fifth Jupiter Donut Factory store and the first to open in southern Palm Beach County.

The Boynton store at 2260 W. Woolbright Road will keep the same hours as all the other locations: 6 a.m. to 1 p.m., or until sell-out time, which often comes earlier.

Baked and decorated overnight, the treats at Jupiter Donuts come in specialty varieties, such as PB&J and blueberry cake, as well as traditional favorites, including glazed and Boston cream. Between its current four locations, Jupiter Donut Factory makes upward of 10,000 doughnuts a day.

When only the original Jupiter shop existed, customers would drive from all over South Florida for the fresh-baked doughnuts, according to owner Chrystal Jones. Even now, a lot of people from Boca, Delray and Boynton still drive out to the location in Royal Palm Beach.

"We want to go where our customers are, so that way they don't have to travel as far and risk not getting the doughnuts they want," she said. "We go to them."

So when a spot opened up next to Jersey Mike's Subs in Boynton, Jupiter Donut Factory jumped at the opportunity. 

The Boynton location will look different from all the others, Jones said, to give customers something to look forward to. It'll retain the 1950s theme, but there'll be a giant doughnut hanging from the center of the ceiling.

"It's like a blast from the past, but a little bit more modern," she said.

While bakers have been hired and in training for the past month, the Boynton store is still hiring a few doughnut decorators and counter positions. To apply, email a resume to jupiterdonutsboynton@gmail.com.

There are no more locations on Jupiter Donut Factory's radar at the moment, but Jones said the business will be looking to open more stores in 2017. 

"The more that open, the more comfortable we get with it," she said.

For updates on the official opening date for the Boynton shop and the grand opening festivities to follow, visit the store's Facebook page.

(Image via Facebook/Jupiter Donut Factory LLC)

Five years ago, Thierry Beaud wandered into a tiny French bakery on Sunrise Avenue in Palm Beach to order a Napoleon. What he got was one of the most authentic French desserts he’d had since leaving his hometown of Bordeaux. So, he became friends with the pastry chef, Patrick Lézé, and in 2013, he worked with him to reopen the shop as the acclaimed Patrick Lézé Palm Beach Patisserie it is today. 

Beaud, the restaurateur behind PISTACHE and PB Catch, didn’t stop there. The next endeavor was a café called Paneterie, which opened in 2014 on Clematis Street in West Palm Beach. And finally, for those who had to travel north for their French fix, a second Paneterie location opened in Delray Beach this spring.   

Lézé bakes for all three locations, starting each morning at 3 a.m. “Everything we make is handmade from the jams to the chocolates to the macarons,” Beaud says. The newest location joins The Shoppes at Addison Place with retro indoor and sidewalk seating, and a counter showcasing oven-fresh croissants, Danishes and chocolates. It’s also a lunch and coffee spot, boasting a salad and sandwich menu and a Nespresso machine. What’s more are the cakes, which look like tarts or pastries in monstrous proportions. At press time the location was also waiting on its alcohol license in order to sell beer and wine with cheese plate accompaniments.

Here are five international destinations that go above and beyond.

Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka—or “Lanka the Blessed” in the local Sinhalese—has been seducing travelers for centuries. Hike and bike through the Kandy kingdom, Ceylon tea region and Cape Weligama, passing golden beaches, hilltop rock temples, lush rainforests, vanished empires and highland tea plantations. Sri Lanka is a colorful mosaic of tropical island paradise with a cultural, ethnic and historical diversity that will astound, seduce and surprise; butterfield.com or 866.551.9090.

Siberia & Mongolia 

Wind your way through the remote Barguzin Valley to homestays in rural Ust-Barguzin. Join a country Naadam celebration, then enjoy the waters of the deepest lake on earth, Lake Baikal. Explore the Mongolian capital, Ulaanbaatar, before flying to the red sands of the Gobi Desert to sip tea in a ger. Complete your journey by riding a section of the fabled Trans-Siberian Railway; mircorp.com/trip/siberia-mongolia-spirits-nomads/ or 800.424.7289.

Amazon Rainforest

Venture deep into the rarely accessed Amazon Rainforest to meet the indigenous Achuar tribe of Ecuador, a tribe of 6,000 indigenous people still living traditionally in small Amazon communities along the Ecuadorian and Peruvian border. This 10-day intrepid adventure explores the world’s largest river system by foot, plane, motorized canoe and kayak. Enjoy a stay at the award-winning Kapawi Ecolodge while witnessing wild toucans, parrots, caimans, pygmy marmoset and howler monkeys. Hike in Cotopaxi National Park, visiting “Devil’s Cauldron” waterfall. Spend the night at a traditional hacienda. Finish the journey by exploring the lively streets of Quito; gondwanaecotours.com or 877.587.8479.

Africa & The Med

Indulge in sea, sky and safari during an exclusive journey that combines a jet experience with global yachting. A custom-configured Boeing 757 whisks guests off to Africa—Rwanda (think gorilla trekking), Botswana, South Africa—and then off to the mega-yacht in the Med to see Monte Carlo, Cannes, Provence and Portofino. Tres chic; TCSworldtravel.com or 844.495.7165.

Antarctica, South Georgia and the Falklands

This Southern Ocean experience takes guests into a magnificent white wilderness. Glimpse a king penguin colony—tens of thousands stretching as far as the eye can see—herds of elephant seals and wandering albatross with their 11-foot wingspan. Antarctica’s ethereal beauty is increased by monumental ice, tabular icebergs and the haunting Lemaire Channel; expeditions.com or 800.397.3348.

Jen Glantz, a South Florida native, posted an ad on Craigslist two years ago that completely changed her life.

It was a lonely Friday night during the month of July after a bad date in New York. No, this isn’t the opening script to an episode of “Sex and the City.” Instead, this is the beginning to a plot twist that changed Jen Glantz’s career.

The then copy editor for a startup tech company was feeling down when she got home to her one-bedroom apartment, shared by two, where she bunked in the living room using a pantry as a closet. So, she decided to break the No. 1 rule her mother made when she was growing up—she got on Craigslist.  

“I said, ‘You know what? There’s this idea in my head and I’m going to do it.’ And I put [the idea] on Craigslist, closed the computer, went to sleep, didn’t tell a soul, and two days later after that, my entire life flipped,” Glantz says.

She’s animated with wide eyes and hand gestures when she gets to this part of the story. She’s sitting at a booth that could belong to an old-timey diner, except it’s plopped at a Boca Raton library in a fishbowl playroom. It’s the only place where you can converse without getting dirty looks at the otherwise mute facility. In Glantz’s purse are three books she’s checked out to read during her visit in South Florida, where she grew up and where her parents call home. 

Glantz splits her time between the north and south, which is OK considering now she’s her own boss. Her company, Bridesmaid for Hire, got its start two years ago from a Craigslist ad, but the 28-year-old explains that it really began about four years ago when all of her friends were getting married. 

“I got one phone call and one in-person coffee date with two girls in one day who asked me to be bridesmaids,” she says. “Why it was weird was because we weren’t that good of friends, and I started to think to myself, ‘You know, are people asking me because I’ve done it so many times?’”

When she got home, Glantz told her roommate, who said, “You are a professional bridesmaid.” That was the seed. 

But Glantz didn’t plant it, of course, until that lonely Friday night during the month of July after a bad date in New York. She typed a post, offering herself up as a “Professional Bridesmaid,” with services like, “Holding up the 18 layers of your dress so that you can pee with ease on your wedding day,” and “Doing the electric and the cha cha slide.” She didn’t think about the ad again until Monday, when her friend sent her the link to a BuzzFeed article.

“She was like, ‘You have to see this article about this girl who posted an ad on Craigslist to be a bridesmaid.’ And I’m like—because it didn’t have my name—‘Oh my god, that’s me.’ And she was like, ‘Yeah I know that’s you!’ And I was like, ‘No, no, no, like, I did that,’” Glantz says.

For the next week, Glantz put every free minute she had into turning a spur-of-the-moment pitch into the viable business. Through the company, she offers six packages, in addition to itinerary-making and speech-writing services. Packages range from “Virtual Bridesmaid,” with over-the-phone or video sessions to “Ultimate Bridesmaid,” with in-person pre-wedding and day-of support.

While these services may seem tame, Glantz has found herself in surprising to uncomfortable situations. 

“I’ve touched poison ivy for a bride because she wanted a picture somewhere,” she begins. “I’ve taken off my bra and given it to a mother of the bride because she forgot hers. ... I’ve been the person that the bride calls the night before and says, ‘I don’t want to get married.’ ... I mean you just become more than someone that was hired. You become a part of their life.”

In just the last year, Glantz has played a role in the lives of more than 40 brides, bridesmaids and maids of honors. She also maintains her personal blog, The Things I Learned From, and is working on her second book, Always a Bridesmaid for Hire, which she hopes to release in 2017. It follows her first book, All My Friends Are Engaged, which released in 2013. When asked if she’ll become a “bridesmatron” anytime soon, the answer is likely no. And her reason is humorous. 

“I was never the kind of girl who imagined a wedding of [her] own, you know, middle school sleepovers when girls are like, ‘I want this kind of dress and this ring.’ I was like, ‘What? I want pizza and someone I love,’” she says. “I hate weddings and everything about them, but that has nothing to do with the business because my business is people. It just happens to be in a wedding setting.”

Local business owner Omar Medrano reversed a poor and unhealthy diet to take control of his weight—and his life.

When Omar Medrano couldn’t fit into his size 38 pants several years ago, he thought they had shrunk in the dryer. After all, he was exercising and burning a lot of calories. He was running, working out four or more times a week in the gym, and had participated in a 100-mile bike ride. However, soon he was noticing other issues—shortness of breath when he ran, severe lack of energy, high cholesterol and the telling tale: a bathroom scale that registered a hefty 230, which meant he’d gained 55 pounds. 

It was this concrete evidence that forced Medrano to face the facts. Although he was building muscle, it wasn’t his exercise program that was causing him to gain weight. It was his unhealthy diet.

“I was eating a lot of bacon cheeseburgers, pizza and drinking beer. During the century rides [100-mile bike rides], I was doing a lot of eating at the 20-mile breaks. I thought I was burning so many calories I could eat whatever I wanted,” Medrano says. “That was until I looked at myself after a cycling event at Cocoa Beach and thought, ‘Oh my gosh!’” 

At age 40, the Smoothie King franchise owner who sells energy and health drinks had to take a hard look at himself and his lifestyle. Was he setting a good example for his employees? Was he becoming the perfect candidate for heart disease? 

 “I needed to practice what I preached about nutrition in my smoothie stores and go back to eating healthy so I would be able to run effortlessly again,” he says. 

He cut out all the high- and empty-calorie foods, laid off the beer and continued his CrossFit workouts. The dedication paid off. With time, Medrano shed 30 pounds and is on his way to his goal of weighing 180 again. He says it should take him another 10 weeks.

“My diet now consists of two low-carb and high-protein smoothies a day and eating sensible meals to include four ounces of fish, chicken or pork, vegetables and carbs, though I’m partial to sweet potatoes. I’ve also cut out drinking sodas and limit my beer to special occasions,” Medrano says.

Since making the commitment to living a healthy lifestyle, his two daughters—Lauren, 10, and Mia, 8—as well as his wife, Millie, have joined him. He runs in full marathons, and his daughters join him in shorter 5K and 10K races. 

The 42-year-old says he would like to add two more smoothie stores to the existing four he currently owns in Davie, Plantation and Cooper City. And one day, he hopes that he and his wife can open their own gym. He envisions it as a place where no matter your age, physique or attire, you will be welcome.

Of his progress Medrano says, “It’s a process. You have to stay committed and focused. It’s not ‘The Biggest Loser;’ it’s a marathon. The first step is hard, but you will see results and you will be much happier mentally and physically.”

Enjoy a night out on the town with a special Plumpjack wine dinner at La Nouvelle Maison in Boca Raton.

The event begins at 6:30 p.m. with sparkling wine and hors d'oeuvres. Please find the menu, below. 

For reservations, call 561.338.3003.

As of Early April, there were 84 cases of Zika virus reported in Florida, all travel-related. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention teamed up with the Florida Department of Health to answer questions about Zika virus to keep Florida residents safe.

What is the status of Zika virus in Florida?

Currently, there are no locally acquired cases of Zika virus in Florida. All of the cases are travel-associated. The Aedes aegypti mosquito, the type of mosquito that spreads the Zika virus, is present in Florida and throughout the southern U.S.

Is it likely the Zika virus will spread in Florida?

From learned experience with dengue virus and chikungunya virus in Florida, which are spread by the same mosquito, travelers who come back infected can infect local mosquito populations. With what we know from dengue and chikungunya, it is very unlikely we will have large outbreaks of Zika virus in the U.S. One major reason for this is we have better constructed housing with air conditioning and intact screens that protect us from being bitten by mosquitoes in our homes. When locally acquired mosquito-borne illness is present, the department works closely with mosquito control to stop further transmission of the virus of concern. Mosquito control and the health department jointly provide public education whenever possible as well since it is very important all residents cooperate and drain containers on their property at least weekly to help successfully control this mosquito.

Why do people say that pregnant mothers should be aware of this virus?

The Ministry of Health of Brazil has reported an increase in the numbers of newborns with microcephaly as well as other poor pregnancy outcomes in areas experiencing Zika virus outbreaks. The CDC is conducting research to further characterize the relationship between Zika virus and poor pregnancy outcomes. Additional studies are planned to learn more about the risks of Zika virus infection during pregnancy. There are many causes of microcephaly in babies, including genetic abnormalities.

How can I protect myself and my family?

The Florida Department of Health urges Florida residents and visitors to protect themselves from all mosquito-borne illnesses by draining standing water; covering their skin with repellent and clothing; covering windows with screens; and other basic drain and cover precautions. 

What is being done to prevent transmission of Zika virus in Florida?

State and local health departments are working closely with other partners to make sure people at risk for Zika virus infections as well as health care providers stay informed with the most current science and public information about the Zika virus. We also provide education about effective repellents and insecticides. These include products with DEET, picaridin, IR 3535 and some oil of lemon eucalyptus and para-methane-diol products. County health department staff also report suspect Zika fever cases to local mosquito control staff to make sure mosquito control activities are put in place.

I heard that you can contract Zika virus by sexual contact. Is it true?

There have been two cases where a female has developed Zika virus infection after sexual contact with a male infected with the virus. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidance, if a male partner of a pregnant woman lives in or travels to an area with active Zika virus transmission, the couple should abstain from sex or use condoms every time they have sexual contact for the duration of the pregnancy.

Who can I call to have the area around my home sprayed for mosquitoes?

Many counties and cities have mosquito control services. Contact your county or city offices to find out if these services are available in your area. The mosquitoes that spread Zika breed in small containers, so you can also limit your risk by making sure to regularly dump all sources of standing water in bird baths, flower pots, etc., on your property at least weekly.

(Photo via Wikimedia Commons/Muhammad Mahdi Karim)

I once signed up for one of those wine and painting classes. My Facebook feed was bustling with as many photos of friends holding a glass in one hand, masterpiece in the other, as there were engagement announcements, baby albums and posts about what such-and-such ate for lunch. Because I'm indefinitely single, awkward around children and incapable of food prep, I decided this was a trend I could hop on board with.

I was wrong.

Memories from high school art classes flooded in like black paint hitting a cup of water used to clean the brushes. My trees had more curves than the Kardashian clan, and my red robin sitting on a branch looked more like an overgrown berry.

So, when I signed up for a floral arrangements course at Field of Flowers, and the instructor said, “There's no wrong way of doing it,” I thought to myself, “Challenge accepted.”

Step one: Choose your method

Marble island counter tops lined with high-rise stools serve as workstations at the Field of Flowers FlowerBars in Davie and Boca Raton, where floral enthusiasts can learn how to build their own arrangements while sipping adult beverages. The locations offer six arrangements to choose from, and participants can stop by for “freestyle DIYs” during the day, schedule private parties or sign up for courses led by an instructor.

Step two: Gather the ingredients

 After ducking into an apron, the instructor passed out recipe cards. I selected the Klimt arrangement, so my “ingredients” included roses, trachelium, gerbera daisies, cymbidium orchids and anemones. We took a field trip to a classroom-sized refrigerator in order to retrieve bundles of buds awaiting arrangement.

Step three: Ready, go!

We began by using a toothy tool to remove any excess leaves from the flowers' stems. Then, one by one, we cut each stem at a diagonal and strategically stuck them through the foam inside the vase meant to keep everything in place. An hour later, while I'd gone into the experience sure I would create a disaster, I was pleasantly surprised that my end product turned out not so hideous.

The final verdict: It's better than painting

While paint isn't necessarily aesthetic in its native form, it's difficult to un-beautify a flower. And, if you do a terrible job with your arrangement, the flowers will eventually die, whereas a painting will not, and continue to haunt you as a reminder of your incompetence. The FlowerBar is also a relatively cheap way to take home a beautiful centerpiece or craft a Mother's Day gift, as arrangements cost between $34.95 to $59.95.

Field of Flowers FlowerBar, 5101 S. University Drive, Davie; 8177 Glades Road, Boca Raton / 800.963.7374 / myflowerbar.com

Boca Raton was just named the best city in the country for lazy people, and frankly, we're offended. Shopping and soaking up all that sunshine takes hard work, too.

Seriously though, Realtor.com released a list of the Top 10 Cities Where Lazy Folks Can Thrive this week, and Boca Raton landed on the top of the heap.

For the ranking, the real estate website enlisted its data analysts to determine the U.S. cities where the work-life balance scale tips toward "life." 

Analysts considered the following (silly) factors to make their determination: the number of restaurants that offer delivery; the number of day spas and massage therapy centers; the percentage of homes on Realtor.com that have a hot tub, sauna or steam room; average hours of sleep; average work hours per week; average cost of a cleaning service; and the number of available on-demand service apps, such as Instacart and Postmates.

Earning the No. 1 spot, Boca was recognized for its average temperature of 77 degrees Fahrenheit—keeping us out of the office and at the beach instead—and the many shopping options we have to choose from: Boca Town Center, Mizner Park and Royal Palm Place.

Apparently, Florida and California are both havens for lazy people. Each state had three cities named to the top 10 list.

Here is the complete ranking, below:

1. Boca Raton, Florida

2. Orlando, Florida

3. Boulder, Colorado

4. Las Vegas, Nevada

5. Miami, Florida

6. Provo, Utah

7. Berkeley, California

8. Ann Arbor, Michigan

9. Pasadena, California

10. San Francisco, California

(Image via Flickr/Alexandra Cavoulacos)

Yoga teacher Paige Held guides us through poses suited for yogis of all skill levels.

Starting yoga can seem daunting if you lack coordination or have never had any formal training. The practice is noted for its mental and physical benefits, but if your main focus is not toppling over in a headstand, it’s hard to feel said benefits. Luckily, all you need is a little bit of patience and guidance to start your journey. We spoke to Paige Held, co-owner of The Yoga Joint in Fort Lauderdale and Boca, who shows us simple beginner poses to do at home—no mat required.  

Warrior One 

This one is a classic. Place your feet wide apart from each other in a lunge. Turn your front foot straightforward and place your back foot at a 45-degree angle. Lift your torso and your arms up, make sure that your hips are square and facing the front foot, and don’t let your knee pass your toes.

Benefits: This pose strengthens the spine, lowers the pelvic floor, supports the arch of your upper torso, strengthens your shoulders and alleviates nerve pain. 

The pigeon pose 

The pigeon pose is all about targeting and extending the hips. Start in a right side lunge similar to that in warrior one. Move your right foot to the left and drop your right knee so that the entire outer side of the right leg is on the ground.

Benefits: Held says that we store emotions in our body and that having high hips is a symptom of bottling up negative emotions. This pose is said to relieve them. It also stimulates your organs, improves posture, diminishes lower back pain and stiffness, and stretches your thighs. 

Downward facing dog

The downward dog serves as one of the main yoga practices and is often used to segue between poses. To do this, start in a tabletop position, or with hands and knees on the ground. Curl onto the tips of your toes, lift your hips and straighten your legs as much as possible while working your heels down.

Benefits: Energizes your body, neutralizes your brain and relieves the stress hormone. The breathing in this pose, like in most poses, helps to bring awareness to the prefrontal cortex of the brain. It also improves digestion and is therapeutic for high blood pressure and sinuses. 

For those living with chronic pain, there’s hope. Dr. Ira Fox, co-founder of Anesthesia Pain Care Consultants in Tamarac, offers stem cell therapy for patients suffering from joint, disc, nerve or soft tissue pain. Fox delivers stem cells through injections to help repair damaged or degenerated tissue. The research has been ongoing for decades but stem cell therapy is still in its infancy, he says. 

The process uses a mini liposuction procedure while the patient is under local anesthesia. Fox and his team withdraw fat tissue and process the material to isolate stem cells. The doctor then relocates and injects the cells into the area of pain or inflammation, repressing the inflammation, resulting in decreased pain. 

The therapy enriches the population of healthy stem cells allowing natural healing to occur. Since the technique involves the patient’s own cells, it reduces the risk of the body’s immune system rejecting them. Some patients feel relief quickly—within a day—and for many the relief can last up to a year, he says. Plus, the treatment is minimally invasive, lasting just two hours, and requires a shorter recovery time.

The treatment improves function and mobility for patients giving them an overall improved quality of life.

South Florida has many fine physicians, partly because a market with so many affluent patients demands it. But not many of them have names that are nationally recognized. One cardiologist has a reputation that extends far beyond our magazines’ circulation reach, and that’s because of what he has published.

Clinical Cardiology Made Ridiculously Simple, by Dr. Michael A. Chizner of the North Broward Hospital District, is a widely used textbook. It is, as the title suggests, the farthest thing from the kind of dry publications one usually expects in a training environment. As such, it is not limited to those specializing in cardiology. It also appeals to general practitioners who want to improve their knowledge of cardiology. They are often the first step in diagnosing symptoms that require the expertise of a cardiac specialist.

“It’s probably the best read cardiology book in the country,” says Dr. Stephen Goldberg of MedMaster Publishing Co., which published the book. “It’s No. 1 on Amazon. It’s around the world now. It’s been translated into Chinese and other languages. It’s not just for cardiologists. It’s used by medical students and nurses and interns who deal with a lot of cardiology.”

Chizner, founder and director of the Heart Center for Excellence at the hospital district’s flagship, Broward Health Medical Center, likes to keep his practice uncomplicated. The book, which has had four printings since 2004, reflects that. It is a soft cover with a cartoon illustration, and its 343 pages are filled with illustrations, often in cartoon form, made to make easy reading. The book matches Chizner’s personal style. He is the definition of a calming bedside presence. He is a born teacher who instructs at the University of Florida, University of Miami, Nova Southeastern and Barry University. He often has medical students present while examining patients.

In its new education campaign, the CDC offers tips from former smokers to inspire others to quit for good. 

Tequesta resident Rebecca, 57, started smoking as a teenager. All of her family members smoked, and once she started smoking, she was hooked. At age 33, she was diagnosed with depression. She smoked frequently when she felt depressed because she thought smoking might help her cope with her feelings. The more she smoked, the harder it seemed to quit. At age 53, she finally quit after getting care for her depression and realizing that she had to take care of her own health. Six months later, she ran a 5K race to celebrate and is now bravely telling her story on national television and print advertisements as part of the CDC’s 2016 Tips campaign.

Smoking remains the leading cause of preventable death and disease in the U.S., killing more than 480,000 Americans each year. For every smoker who dies, there are about 30 suffering from a smoking-related disease. 

Rebecca’s Tips

- Trade smoking for a healthy activity, such as  running, walking or doing something physical 

- Reset your boundaries on what is acceptable behavior in your life and think of cigarette smoking as an unacceptable behavior.

- Choose to be with friends who don’t smoke. The more you hang out with people who smoke, the more you will be tempted to smoke.

- Begin to respect your body and love who you are without cigarettes. Part of loving who you are is respecting your body and not smoking.

CDC Tips

- Resist the urge to smoke. Having one or two go-to coping skills is helpful, such as taking a walk or practicing deep breathing.

- Remember that quitting is a learning process.

- Set a quit date. Pick a date within the next two weeks to quit smoking.

- Tell family and friends you plan to quit. Quitting smoking is easier when those closest to you support your journey.

- Identify your smoking triggers so you can be prepared to resist temptation.

- Even after you’ve been smoke-free, you may still be tempted to smoke. When this happens, don’t be afraid to turn to a loved one for support.

- Remove cigarettes and other tobacco from your home‚ car and work place. Removing things that remind you of smoking will help you to quit.

- Mood changes are common after quitting smoking and usually get better after 1 or 2 weeks.

- Talk to your doctor or pharmacist about quit options. Most doctors and pharmacists can answer your questions, and give advice for quitting smoking.

- Remember, quitting smoking happens one day at a time. Celebrate your quit milestones—big and small—you deserve it!

“Healthy” tends to get a bad rap. With these three trending treatments for whole-body wellness, we'll have you reconsidering your opinion of the word.

Reflexology

Our feet: perhaps the last body parts we consider paying some attention, even though they carry us through workouts and strap into heels with minimal complaints. It's time to offer them relief, and for more than feel-good reasons. During reflexology treatments, therapists target pressure points in the feet to alleviate stress and anxiety. These areas are also believed to correspond with organs, increase metabolism and energy levels, and treat some medical conditions. Spas concentrating on reflexology, like Flourish Massage in Palm Beach Gardens, are becoming increasingly popular and offer quick, 30-minute sessions perfect for fitting in during a lunch break.

Flourish Massage, Palm Beach Gardens; pgacommons.com

Other Reflexology Practitioners:

Four Elements Reflexology & Wellness Spa; 4elementsmassage.com

US 1 Massage and Spa, Port St. Lucie; us1massageandspa.com

Fascial Stretching

Stretching is the new massage. This is according to Sharon Curry, a health coach, Pilates instructor and fascial stretch therapist who owns South Florida's Etain Healthy Living. There, she helps clients with everything from planning their diets to touching their toes. The idea behind fascial stretching is to rehabilitate scar tissue created from repetitive movement—or lack of movement. Anything from a workout without variety to sitting for a long period of time can cause damage to the fascia, which is the body's internal lining connecting organs, muscles and bones. So, instead of focusing on a trouble area like a massage might, Curry assists clients with stretches that address an entire network of muscles, joints and ligaments. “You cannot isolate a muscle—everything is connected,” she says. In addition to addressing areas of discomfort, Curry says this stretching method can also help with weight loss, trouble sleeping, stress levels, posture, flexibility, surgery prevention and recovery.

Etain Healthy Living, Boca Raton; etainhealthyliving.com

Similar Practices:

Stretch Zone Treasure Coast, Stuart and Port St. Lucie; stretchzonetreasurecoast.com

Body & Soul Wellness Center, North Palm Beach; bodyandsoulusa.com

Facial

Take care of your largest organ: your skin. Treatments like the Optimal Skin ProFacial at Acqualina Resort's five-star ESPA Spa will help you do just that. Expect more than a glowing look—the experience also offers long-term health benefits to visibly revitalize dull, dry, dehydrated and stressed skin. Developed by skin care experts at ESPA, the three-step system helps restore balance to the skin's natural processes. First ESPA's ProCleanser gel, worked into the skin with a Clarisonic brushing tool, acts as an all-in-one cleanser, exfoliator and mask. Next ProSerum facial oil is applied using a pressure-point massage, and finally, hydrating ProMoisturiser will lock in all of the benefits. The facial treatment is customized to fit your skin care needs throughout, even going so far as to include a blind sensory test, in which guests choose between products based on scent—to see if their bodies naturally desire what their skin type requires.

Acqualina Spa by ESPA, Sunny Isles Beach; acqualinaresort.com/luxury-miami-spa/

Other ESPA Spas:

The Seagate Hotel & Spa, Delray Beach; theseagatehotel.com/spa-fitness/

Eau Palm Beach Resort & Spa, Manalapan; eaupalmbeach.com/explore/eau-spa/