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Jen A. Miller Consulting

Category: Living

  • Guide to All Things Makeup

    Guide to All Things Makeup

    8 links to everything you need to know about caring for, throwing out, and storing your makeup

    makeup
    PHOTO: Cupcakes and Cashmere.

    Spring cleaning is often attached to cleaning out your closet. As we move into fall, it’s time we give our cosmetics some much needed attention. Because they’re so sneakily small, we often take for granted the little space they take up in our living spaces. Products build up, and we can easily forget they’re there. However, with this round-up of articles from trusted beauty sources, devoting time to cleaning your brushes, tossing out products from your makeup bag, and re-organizing what you keep, you are on your way to a vanity area that will make your getting-ready routine worthy of a red-carpet entrance.

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  • An Outdoor Cardio Circuit You Can Do Absolutely Anywhere

    An Outdoor Cardio Circuit You Can Do Absolutely Anywhere

    Never Miss a Sweat Sesh with this Customizable Cardio Circuit Routine

    Your Do Anywhere Cardio Circuit

    I’m the kind of person that must fit a workout into my day. There’s something about the rush of endorphins and the cleanse of a good sweat that my body has come to crave. On days that I can’t convince myself to crank out a bout of exercise, I  always pay for it later on. My appetite is off, I can’t fall asleep well at night, and overall I just feel a bit off.

    While my preference is to hit up a class, this option isn’t always available, particularly while traveling. This summer, on a trip home, I found myself in this situation. I wanted to get my workout in but didn’t have access to a gym. I’d attended enough workout classes and done enough at-home workout videos to have picked up a thing or two about stringing together my own sweat sesh. The result was the creation a cardio circuit routine that has since become my go-to workout anytime I can’t get to the gym or simply want a break from it.

    The beautiful thing about circuit training is that you can shorten or extend the length of your workout to suit the time you have available. I recommend starting with 2 rounds of cardio circuit and 1 round of the ab/upper body circuit with 1 minute dedicated to each exercise. However, if you’re short on time feel free to cut out a circuit or to shorten the amount of time spent on each activity. Likewise, if you have a bit more time and you’re up for the challenge go through the circuit an extra time.

    Besides being able to customize this routine to fit into your schedule, another thing I love about this workout is that you can do it pretty much anywhere. No equipment is needed other than a good pair of gym shoes. The cardio bit is based on time not distance so you can reverse direction as many times as needed to fit each workout into the space you have.  The ab/upper body section is intentionally plank-centric as these moves don’t require you to have a soft surface to sit on. If you’ve got access to the outdoors then you should be good to go.

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  • Wake Up with the Perfect Cup of Coffee

    Wake Up with the Perfect Cup of Coffee

    All You Need to Know to Brew the Best Cup of Joe

    cup-of-coffee

    In general, I would consider myself a fairly good cook in the kitchen. Give me a recipe and a little room for creative interpretation and I’ll whip you up pretty mean meal. Yet, despite my kitchen finesse when it comes to cooking, there has been one menu item that has remained outside of my capabilities. I have been plagued with an ineptitude to brew a great cup of coffee.

    At first glance, the process seems simple enough. Pour hot water through coffee grinds until it turns into a black liquid, sweeten up with milk and sugar, and serve. Though, time and again my attempts turn out less than satisfactory. I can’t seem to get the water to coffee ratio correct; always ending up with a drink that taste watered down or far too bitter.

    These epic fails have resorted to the use of a Keurig to get through my morning ritual. I have a love/hate relationship with my Keurig. I love it for its simplicity but hate it for what it stands for–my complete ineptitude to master the most basic of kitchen skills. The latter seems to have been more pronounced as of late and has me stirring to break out of my training wheels. After experiencing the cafe culture of Vienna I decided to do a little research and attend a tasting at my favorite coffee shop to learn how to step up my coffee game.

    Though the practice has just begun, I’ve already picked up quite a few helpful tips that have taken my coffee capabilities from a few notches up. Whether you’re a brewmaster or just getting started, read on for the tips that will help you too to serve up the perfect cup of coffee.

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  • How to Pick the Perfect Running Shoes

    How to Pick the Perfect Running Shoes

    4 Things to Consider When Shopping for Your Next Pair of Sneaks

    Favorite Running Shoes Fall 2014

    I started running when I was thirteen. In those days, a long run maxed out somewhere in the neighborhood of two miles. Literally, somewhere in the neighborhood. When I started high school I joined the cross country team under the counsel of my mom who had warned me that getting involved would be the only way to make friends. My long-runs crept up for two mile sprints to eight mile hauls. Come college I stepped up my game from 5K races to full marathons. It was in the training for 26.2 miles of pavement pounding that I truly felt I could consider myself an expert in the sport.

    As someone who had now been running for over a decade (when did I get so old?), I know that the my shoes can make or break a run. Unlike a new pair of pumps, this is not the time to choose your shoes based on aesthetics. If you truly want to have a great running experience you need to follow the advice you’ve probably heard your mother dish out– look for comfort over all else. 

    Here, to help you pick out the perfect pair, I’m sharing 4 things you should consider when shopping for your next set of running shoes. And just for fun, I’m throwing in a round up of the latest batch of running shoes to hit the shelves because, lets be honest, good advice is easier to follow when served up in style.

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  • Experience a Taste of the Cafe Culture ft. on The Hungry Traveler

    Experience a Taste of the Cafe Culture ft. on The Hungry Traveler

    Coffee Addicts Rejoice! A Look at the Cafe Culture of Vienna

    cafe-culture

    At age 26, with over 30 countries added to my passport, I’d consider myself a fairly well-traveled girl. While I’ve hit the standard tourist stops across Europe– Spain, France, Germany, UK–one country that had someone managed to miss my path was Austria.

    If I’m honest, I’ve never had a strong desire to visit Austria. Aside from knowing it as the setting which brought Fraulein Maria and Captain Von Trapp together (Sound of Music fans anyone?), I knew very little about the country. Yet when the chance to pay a visit to Vienna came up, I jumped on board, fully excited to step foot into the city of Do Re Me.

    Within minutes of arriving to the city I’d fallen in love with Vienna. Beautiful architecture surrounds you in every direction, classic music is seemingly always playing in the background, and perhaps best of all, on nearly every corner you can find a delightfully quaint coffee shop. Vienna is a city with a rich heritage of cafés and there are many waiting to lure you in with their magnificent smells wafting out from within its doors.

    Of all the coffee shops one could visit, the most famous is Cafe Landtmann. Head on over to The Hungry Traveler to get the scoop on this famed spot and to learn a thing or two about indulging in true Viennese cafe culture.