Jen A. Miller Consulting

Category: Travels the World

What I Love About My City | Berlin

Jessica Buenaventura tells us why Berlin is “poor but sexy”… plus her tips on overcoming homesickness abroad

PHOTO: Pinterest.

Welcome back to What I Love About My City—a series in which our favorite single girls dish on everything from the best places for a single girls weekend to the secret spots only the locals know about. If you’re thinking about moving or just planning your next trip, we’ll fill you in with all the essential details on the cities our crew knows best.

Germany as a whole seems to be underrated to us in the States, so after hearing from a few close friends just how amazing the country is I was eager to get the lowdown from someone who lived there for an extended period. Born and raised in Los Angeles, Jessica Buenaventura attended UC Santa Barbara and studied abroad in Berlin, Germany. After a semester as an international student, Jessica fell in love with the city and looked for opportunities to stay post-graduation. Here she sheds light on the different layers of Berlin and its inhabitants and dishes on the must-see sights and sounds awaiting us in this German stadt… as well as shares her tips on avoiding inevitable homesickness while living away from your friends and family.

Berliners are the work-hard, party-hard generation whose affinity for travel, impressive knowledge of global politics, and nonchalant hipster style make you ogle at how freaking über cool it is to be living in Berlin.

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March 19, 2014
Single Girl Stays | ACE Hotel Downtown Los Angeles

Catherine reports on her experience at the ACE DTLA and shares tips on planning a “staycation”

PHOTO: Catherine Abalos.

I love everything about staying in hotels… fresh sheets, fresh towels, a mountain of fluffy pillows, the option to order food straight to your room, the free Bible. A couple years ago I made my first trip to Palm Springs and was introduced to the ACE Hotel. I was an immediate convert to the laidback, urban cool vibe of the compound and have considered visiting new cities in order to stay at the ACE. The ACE is purposely a little undone and can feel like glamping. I was fortunate to take refuge in my sister and brother-in-law’s room at the ACE when all of us were stranded in Manhattan after Sandy hit. When I heard that they were opening up in Downtown L.A., I vowed to book a night for some personal R&R. A staycation is a mini vacation from your life, without the inconvenience of leaving your town. A solo version should be purposeful and a way for you to invest in yourself.

A solo staycation has been on my to-do list for a long time. To have an immaculate suite to myself for one night (or more) to relax on thousand-count sheets is more luxurious to me than a day at the spa. However, when I mentioned my weekend plans to people, four times out of five their first response was to ask whom I was going with. For some, the idea of staying in a hotel by yourself for pleasure is comparable to eating alone at a restaurant or going to a movie theater alone. It sounds scary, you would feel judged, you may judge people who are doing it. When you find the courage to face your fear of being alone in any situation, you have the potential to liberate yourself from the constrictions of popular opinion and discover something new about yourself. One night away from my living space filled with material possessions and the figurative weight of the current ups and downs in my life gave me refreshing perspective.
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February 24, 2014
What I Love About My City | New Orleans

Sarah Walsh shares how The Big Easy called her home, plus her insider tips for Mardi Gras

PHOTO: Deconcrete.

Welcome back to What I Love About My City—a series in which our favorite single girls dish on everything from the best places for a single girls weekend to the secret spots only the locals know about. If you’re thinking about moving or just planning your next trip, we’ll fill you in with all the essential details on the cities our crew knows best.

Originally from San Rafael, California, Sarah Walsh is a hair, makeup and food enthusiast living in New Orleans and loving every second. I had the pleasure of meeting Sarah in high school in San Francisco. She was a swimmer. I was a dancer. What has kept us connected since 2005 despite never being in the same city since (and aside from the outbreak of social media in our generation) is our obsession with and absurd ability to quote the TV show FRIENDS. A natural long-distance friendship was inevitable. I have yet to meet someone my age who, like Sarah, is so connected to a new city and feels indubitably that it has been and always will be the place she calls “home.” This is Sarah’s NOLA, and after hearing her vivacity in talking about this fair city, it is now on my shortlist of new places to visit.
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February 20, 2014
10 Ways to Show Your Love this Valentine’s Day

Inspired by Celebrations of Valentine’s Day Around the World

Here’s a fun fact, did you know that Valentine’s Day is celebrated in nearly every country across the world? The exact date and the name of the holiday may differ but almost unanimously our global society recognizes a day to celebrate love. For some nations the focus is on romantic love, for others friendships or family. Yet, at the heart of every celebration is a desire to show and grow our love for each other. Pretty spectacular when you think about it.

By now you’ve probably run through all the traditional ways to celebrate V-Day—quirky cards, boxes of chocolate, teddy bears. This year, why not approach Valentine’s Day not just as a reason to give a gift but as a reason to sincerely show your love for all the people you appreciate in life? The holiday may seem frivolous at first, but with the right mindset it can be an annual reminder to have fun, celebrate life, and enjoy the gift of loved ones.

If you’re looking for a little inspiration, here are 10 ways you can show that special someone you care, inspired by different celebrations around the world.

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February 14, 2014
How I Maui’d Myself: A Lesson in Flying Solo

A breakdown at work led Catherine Avendano to a breakthrough in her personal journey

PHOTO: CATHERINE AVENDANO.

I paused at the door to my office high rise and took a deep breath to combat the palpable dread in my gut. One long deliberate exhale later, I reached for the handle and grimaced as I walked inside.

Last month I realized that I had hit a critical tipping point—I had woken up too many days in a row dreading going to a work. My old CEO once told our team to use that as a barometer for deciding to stay or leave a job. It had been a tough year: I had worked under four different bosses; I could count 30 people I had seen let go or quit with more on the way; our teams were cobbling their way through the ”are you good enough to make it” tests under the newest executive team; every process and system we’d created seemed to get undone and redone again so that when you looked back at your last 6 months you felt like you accomplished nothing.

And when you work for a startup, it is a lifestyle, not a job, so the emotional stuff really starts to seep into your skin. We were in a thick muck and I could feel it’s full weight. I was unhappy and considered whether or not it was time to stay or go. I got through 1.5 meetings that morning before our VP of Sales said, “You really are overwhelmed, aren’t you?”

Crushed that I couldn’t better mask my feelings at work, I returned to my desk and tried desperately to busy myself and not burst into tears of stress, frustration, and spiritual fatigue. “Catherine, go home. You’re not going to solve anything by working harder. Do not cry at work. Get up and walk away,” my good friend told me when I let on how I was actually feeling.

This was one of the best pieces of advice I’ve ever gotten.
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February 5, 2014