Jen A. Miller Consulting

Tag: hacker

Apartment Design Inspiration | Single Girl at Home

Jen Shares How She Turned Her New House into a Home

Last month my boyfriend and I made the big decision to move in together. We weighed the pros and cons of living with one another and in the end, felt that it was the right step for our relationship. Once we had made our decision, we turned our attention toward finding the perfect place. In LA finding a home that fits your budget, is in the location you want, and is some place you actually like is a tall order. We were fortunate to find a place that checked all the boxes- an idyllic home nestled just steps from the sand in Venice Beach.

Two big decisions down, one to go–how to decorate our new home. Since this was the first time we were living together we needed to find a way to design our space in a way that we both found suitable. That meant no dark leather bachelor pad as he would have it nor a pretty pink palace as my old place had been done up.

Here I’m sharing the process we went through to turn our house into a home we both love–not too manly, not too girly, just right.

(more…)

October 16, 2014
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 by singlediariesxo on Polyvore

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.

(more…)

October 1, 2014
Wake Up with the Perfect Cup of Coffee

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

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.

(more…)

September 29, 2014
Experience a Taste of the Cafe Culture ft. on The Hungry Traveler

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

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.

September 25, 2014
Surprise! Those Home Workout DVDs Do Work (ft. P90)

An Experiment in Fitness and Nutrition with P90

Ermahgawd I’m a before and after photo. (Pause for a moment of disbelief).

When I moved to LA the most valuable thing I packed was an open mind. I told myself I’d be up for whatever experiences were thrown my way. Auditioning for a reality TV show– check! Dancing in the desert at a musical festival– check! Eating raw food and green juice– check, check! Testing out a new home workout program….hold up. Let’s say I didn’t see that one coming.

While there were many things I anticipated getting the chance to do, becoming a before and after “model” was not one. Yet, when the opportunity presented itself, I dove in and stayed true to my commitment to embrace the unexpected. This leads us to the aforementioned picture. A side-by-side comparison of my flawed imperfect normal self put on display next to a ‘New and Improved!’ version.

Normally sharing these photos would fall outside of the sphere of things I’m willing to do. Appearing on reality TV fully clothed is one thing. Sharing half-naked pictures of myself a whole other and exponentially frightening endeavor (IMOP). Particularly frightening when one of those photos makes me look like I’ve smoked a pipe of opium and eaten a wedding cake while hibernating in a remote arctic cave. It’s not exactly the selfie I want on display for all the world to see.

One of the things The Single Diaries has taught me, however, is not to let fear get in the way of opportunity. When these photos were shared with me, I knew there was an opportunity to share the story behind them with you. So what exactly is that story? How did I end up as infomercial material and what does it have to do with you? Let’s start from the beginning.

(more…)

September 15, 2014