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Jen A. Miller Consulting

Category: Expert Advice

  • Another Year Single

    Another Year Single

    Catherine shares 5 ways she’s grown in being single

    PHOTO: Tara Freese.
    PHOTO: Tara Freese.

    A year ago, I wrote about the benefits of investing in yourself as a single girl. A year later, I’m still single! We talk about being superbly single, but we’ve stressed the status to include all independent women. Today I want to delve deeper in actually being single, unattached, not in a relationship. As I’ve mentioned before, I have never had a serious boyfriend. So if you’re looking for an expert at being single, I am that.

    When I share my status out loud, or I make a joke like “How is this girl still single?” or “Wouldn’t it be funny if I’m the next cousin to get married?” even if I’m the only cousin who isn’t dating anyone, it may seem like self-deprecation to save face before someone reminds me that I’ll “meet the right person when it’s time”… but truly I’m proud of my eternal singlehood. Of course, like anyone else, I have my moments of freaking out about turning 40 and not being married. But for the most part, I’m happy with the choices I’ve made for myself.

    I’ve reflected on and written about many revelations I encountered the past year in regard to living in the moment and finding the message in every obstacle. Starting The Single Diaries has pushed me to live superbly single, consciously and unconsciously. It’s been a year of growth: I recognized unhappiness in my life and came face to face with it. I spent time trying to remedy discontentment with more side projects, more social outings, more play when what I really needed was complete quiet.

    Among those remedies to try to increase the fun and counter the stress was online dating in the form of fun and easy apps. What I learned from my short stint of serial dating was what we all know but don’t acknowledge: For those of us who desire monogamy and marriage, dating is a way to audition or interview to find the “right” partner. It’s also a way for us to understand what we want and merely who we are as individuals.

    Sure, there are lessons I have yet to learn from being in a committed relationship, but I think there are just as many in learning how to be alone. Here are the ones that have been most important to my personal growth.

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  • Career Lessons From On-Screen Leading Ladies

    Career Lessons From On-Screen Leading Ladies

    7 lessons in building a career from favorite on-screen characters

    career lessons

    We are encouraged at an early age to declare what we want to be when we grow up. Some of us followed that path through college: we picked a corresponding major and a post-graduate career goal. If you were a liberal arts major, chances are you ended up doing something you had no idea you could or wanted to do. I am a big supporter of self-discovery as long as you are progressing with direction. In an era when young people average 2 years at a company, many are unsure of what’s next. Whether or not you’re at that crossroads, these 7 on-screen characters inspire career lessons that may push you to take your next step.

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  • The Single Diaries Guide to Online Workout Videos

    Four free fitness channels to follow on those busy days

    If you want something done, give it to a busy person. When I left my full-time job, I thought I would have all the time in the world to do everything I wanted to do: read books, soak up some sun, and work out twice a day. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen. Class times often just didn’t fit into my funemployment schedule. However, I realized that doing 15 minutes of focused activity is enough on days when you just want to move your body. There is a ton out there, so here is your starter kit to free videos that are good enough to add into your weekly routine.

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  • Single Girl Reads | All’s Fair in Love & Wardrobe

    Why you need to add Stephanie Simons’s All’s Fair in Love & Wardrobe to your shopping cart immediately

    all's fair in love and wardrobe
    If you love The Devil Wears Prada, read Vogue religiously, or know every episode of The Rachel Zoe Project, you MUST pick up this book. Written “to all the girls who’ve ever wanted to shop, dress, eat, party, travel, and Instagram like a fashion editor; now you can date like one.”

    With a crash course on how to date like a fashion “editrix” (“channel a front row state of mind—don’t settle for being a back-row babe who’s constantly shuffled around and buried out of sight under the proverbial exit sign”), guides to the 7 phases of waiting for him to call and throwing the pity party of the season (“do create a stellar guest list; don’t open less than three gift registries”), a history of the relationship between love and fashion, how to master the “signature walk” of shame, a collection of closet confessions (assumedly Simons’s own dating anecdotes),  and over 100 cheeky rules, All’s Fair in Love & Wardrobe makes you want to makeover your wardrobe, your romances, and your life to appear as casually cool and easily put-together as an editor off-duty. Here are 5 points why you should pick up a copy, read, reread, and personify All’s Fair.

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  • Spring Trend Report + Spotlight on Steps to Steelo

    Spring Trend Report + Spotlight on Steps to Steelo

    Your spring trend report and an exclusive Q&A with Cara of Steps to Steelo

    spring trend report
    Spring is in the air, and we’re excited to change up the pile of clothes we reach for every morning. With a little help from Cara Ramos, owner and founder of fashion truck Steps to Steelo (they’re celebrating their 1 year anniversary this Saturday in San Diego!), we are getting a healthy dose of springspiration to get us up and at ’em. Read on for your spring trend report, plus a Q&A with this savvy fashionista about the lessons she’s learned from building her own business.

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