Jen A. Miller Consulting

Category: Reviews

Single Girl Reviews | ClassPass, San Francisco

Catherine shares her one-month experience on ClassPass

Already available in New York. Los Angeles, Boston, and Chicago, ClassPass launched last week in Washington, D.C. ClassPass hit San Francisco by storm in August. In the land of the start-up, ClassPass had the city jumping at the chance to tour and support the boutique gyms and fitness studios that generally require dedicated membership at each respectively. Now we all had an excuse to check out a studio or a class that we had been meaning to. Hate the gym? Like to mix up your fitness routine? Shopping for a new studio to call home? ClassPass is for you. Read on for my experience on ClassPass and my visits to studios around the city.

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October 15, 2014
My Day on a Juice Cleanse

Catherine shares her experience with a 1-day juice cleanse from Project Juice

PHOTO: Project Juice.

I’m a craver… boba, pizza from Fresh Brothers, a caprese sandwich from Bay Cities, kale salad from Tender Greens. I like to indulge, so when I signed up for a juice cleanse I knew the challenge that was in store for me. I actually tried a 3-day juice cleanse when they first started popping up in L.A. some years ago but failed on Day 2 when I decided to have a hot dog at Abbot Kinney’s First Fridays. C’est la vie. This time around, only committing to 1 day seemed much less daunting.

Having learned from Project Juice that a successful cleanse begins with prep—slowly cutting out meat and only eating raw food the day before, I did my best to ease my intake a couple days before. I could’ve been better about it had I read their guide online, but 24 hours prior I ate a ThinkThin bar, grilled chicken and kale from Tender Greens, almonds, and a Trader Joe’s salad though I did impulsively splurge on sugar at lunch. Despite that little slip, I went to bed early to mentally prepare. Read on to see how I fared.

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October 10, 2014
Single Girl Reads | Gone Girl

Four reasons you need to read Gillian Flynn’s Gone Girl before it hits theaters

If you haven’t seen the trailer for Gone Girl, click through and scroll down. You’ll have chills down your spine, and not the Grease kind. The movie starring Ben Affleck hits theaters October 3rd, which means you have three weeks to dive into this psychological thrilling novel. It may seem like an endless read when you pick it up, but trust me: you won’t put it down. Sure, going straight to the movie instead of losing 3 days of your life reading non-stop cover to cover seems more efficient, but you will be missing out. But you don’t have to take my word for it…

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September 12, 2014
Single Girl Reads | The Jesuit Guide to (Almost) Everything

9 reasons you need to read James Martin, S.J.’s Jesuit Guide to (Almost) Anything

When Jen and I were developing the idea for The Single Diaries, we agreed that our main focus would be on relationships: romantic, platonic, familial, but most importantly the one with self. One major life influence for each of us is spirituality, and it may be for many of you as well. Regardless of your self-described religion or spirituality, I highly recommend The Jesuit Guide to (Almost) Everything as a way to incorporate that part of your identity into real life. This book is applicable to anyone looking to deepen their spirituality, regardless of their main belief system. As Martin S.J. states, “Just as there are insights from Zen Buddhism that are useful to me as a Christian, so there are practices and techniques from Ignatian spirituality that can help the Zen Buddhist. And the person who is Jewish or Muslim, too. Anyone can use these practices to better his or her life” (393).

In Twenty-Seven | What I’ve Learned This Far, I cited this particular book as a wonderful starting point for anyone looking to reflect and deepen their knowledge of themselves on this level. I tend to read books with a pencil in hand, but this one is impossible to get through without one. It took me a really long time to get through it, not because it was uninteresting… on the contrary, while the material James Martin S.J. covers is dense and requires a lot of reflection and processing, he writes in true Jesuit fashion making the teachings of St. Ignatius accessible for all with more than a few moments of real laugh-out-loud humor. Whether your goal is to get to deepen your sense of self, learn more about St. Ignatius and his friends, or get a better understanding of Jesuit teachings, here are 9 points that Martin, S.J. makes… and my arguments for why you should pick up a copy and start the trek through this book today, if not sooner.

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August 22, 2014
The Timeline Project

A New Tool To Help You Reach Your Goals

“Whatever you want to be or be a part of, you know that leaving it to luck, to chance, to fate, probably isn’t going to get you there. You’ll need to plan and focus and work really hard. That’s where The Timeline Project™ comes in to help. It’s all about capturing your dreams, zooming them into focus, prioritizing and making them actually happen. It’s an online tool that’s part journal, part mood board, part info-rich resource. And it’s all yours to play with, get inspired, update, and share as often as you want.”

I hadn’t planned to post about The Timeline Project this week. Actually, the truth is quite the opposite. Until just a few days ago I had never even heard of it. Like many things that are simply meant to be, The Timeline Project inexplicably fell into my path. During my daily ritual of browsing through my favorite blogs, I came across a headline announcing the arrival of this newly formed platform for millennial women. Needless to I was intrigued enough to read more.

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August 15, 2014