Jess Lively

As most people start to prepare for this week’s Super Bowl parties, Mr. Lively and I are starting to get ready for our trip to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico! We will be gone Friday through Monday for a romantic weekend trip that doubles as my Christmas and Valentine’s Day present (I’m a lucky lady!). I [...]

The best thing to do with a blog is share the most useful thing you have. And sometimes that useful thing doesn’t always come from yourself. This afternoon, the best thing I can do is share a wonderful insight from Haley of Tiny Twig, called 100 Golden No’s. I don’t want to give her idea [...]

I hope you had a great weekend! I spent my days off relaxing with Mr. Lively and watching Downton Abbey. We are hooked on the drama, intrigue, and dialogue. I can’t be sure, but I think I had a dream that I was part of Downton Abbey myself last night. Right now I’m headed out [...]

As promised, Life with Intention consulting is live! If you look at the nav bar at the top of MML you’ll see the Life Consulting tabs (if it doesn’t show right away, try refreshing your page). Along with the introduction, process, and pricing, you’ll see a rare glimpse of Mr. Lively! Have a great weekend [...]

Recently Ryan Gosling has become somewhat of an internet meme. I thought I’d share his enthusiasm for all those MML readers working on their dream job after the day job ends. We can all use a little encouragement, right?   original photo credit, current state via MML  

Earlier this week I announced the three chosen to work with me one-on-one in Life with Intention consulting. Though I wasn’t able to work with everyone who reached out, below is a brief summary of one of the stories I heard and my response. I hope it is helpful for others in similar shoes as [...]

Today I’m sharing my goals, vision for my life in five years, and other little tidbits you might not know about me over on Vmac + cheese in Victoria’s Behind the Scenes guest series. I also share my love for “fluffy cloud island” which hasn’t made its way onto MML just yet. And in other [...]

After reading through the emails I received in response to the Life with Intention consulting I will be starting shortly, I am more convinced than ever that I am on the right track in my life. The emails of those who wanted to be considered for the three free consultation calls were incredible. I was [...]

Last Wednesday Jess LC went from being a sole proprietor business to an S-Corporation. I mentioned this on Twitter and several people asked me about the decision and the process itself. Though I by no means am going to tell anyone what is best for their company structure, I can share a bit of what [...]

Forgive me, I’m feeling a bit feisty today. When I started MML and seriously began to design my life with intention, I focused on exfoliating items that I didn’t need, use, or love. And the content on MML reflected my clutter-free focus as well. But as I continued to pare down my possessions to those [...]

This is a guest post by Amber from Blonde & Balanced, a blog about striking a balance in life, health, and money. 7 Ways to Love Intentionally This June, I wore a fitted, white, satin gown as I walked down the center aisle of my church to marry my then-boyfriend of 4 years.  We met [...]

Thank you all so much for the kind words on MML’s third birthday! I am so thankful for them and plan to refer back to them whenever I need a pick me up! Your encouragement is also extremely well timed as I am working on a new layer to MML and pursuing my purpose: life [...]

Three years ago today, I started MML. January 19th, 2009. It’s hard to really wrap my head around. When I started the blog (back on Blogger) I had no intention of anyone ever reading what I wrote. I was using it as a way to create a book proposal called Makeunder Your Life and was [...]

Since I just did my big exfoliation a few weeks ago, I thought it might be good to share ways to decorate and organize using items that might already be sitting around. These little touches around my apartment make me smile each time I see them.   *Tip 5 came from Nate Berkus, but obviously [...]

For those in Chicago, I hope you can stop by for tonight’s Business in the City event! As I’ve mentioned: it is free it has great free food is the perfect place to ask business questions and get answers meet cool people with businesses or business ideas it is extremely low key All in all, [...]

We got a few things back from our photographer which happen to be sold out. These puppies are the last of their kind. So feel free to snatch ‘em up before they are gone for good! And in other news… Have you seen the new Rue Mag out today? I spotted our Merci note cards [...]

While talking with my consulting clients about sales and most importantly, increasing them, I often find myself advising them to do one thing before all else: Pick just two major income streams and stick to learning and growing those avenues first. You see, there are thousands of ways to make money. And in most businesses, [...]

Though I don’t normally post many any recipes on MML, today I thought I’d share one that has been my new go-to meal for dinner and lunches lately. Admittedly this could easily be a tasty side dish, but I often end up re-heating it on it’s own when I need a light dinner after work. [...]

To follow up on my intention to create more positive focus points in my life, I have found two ways so far I’m making my work and money thoughts… lovelier. My first step is to make a more defined line between work and life. Last year I was shocked to realize I was working 119 [...]

download full-size image I am sorry that this January’s wallpaper is coming two weeks into the month, but better late than never, right? To make it just a bit sweeter, I made two options this time. The first is more traditional MML wallpaper style, and the second, is a more artistic one using a faded [...]

This post has been swirling in my head since I made my intentions and wrote my 2012 Future Letter. What I didn’t expect was to be in such dire need of this advice myself at this very moment. You see, I digest a lot of spiritual, self-help(ish), business, and intention material. About 40% of the [...]

To wrap up the Throw Out 100 Things of 2012, I have the second half of the 100 items below. It’s been great to hear how many people are doing some pretty major exfoliations in their own homes. If you blog about your purge, please feel free to share a link to it on the [...]

Discount codes and winner will be announced January 19th on the Jess LC FB wall.    

Over the holiday break I took a day to compile a collection of 100 items in my apartment that I don’t need, use, or love. I have done the Throw Out 50 Things challenge many times (again, and again) over the past three years. It is inspired by Gail Blanke’s book, Throw Out Fifty Things. [...]

Though I normally don’t work over the weekends, this last one was an exception. Mr. Lively generously devoted his Saturday to helping me spruce up things on MML. Since moving to WordPress.org two and a half years ago, I’ve made tweaks to the blog look, but nothing this major. Last week the blog looked something [...]

We have our new dates lined up for the next three months of Business in the City! The next one is this Wednesday, January 18th from 6:30-8:00 and the next two events are as follows: As I’ve mentioned in the past, Business in the City is a meet up group I run in Chicago at [...]

Up to this point I have been a devoted paper to-do list and calendar girl – because when my palm pilot in ninth grade lost all of my information, I vowed only to use ink. However, over Thanksgiving I thought that I lost my planner on a train back from St. Louis which caused a [...]

One of my 2012 intentions is to start a Miracle Book (inspired by Joyce Meyer). When starting a business (or taking on any new risk), there is a ton of uncertainty and fear of the unknown. There are always doubts about what can be accomplished or if ends will meet. But in my four years [...]

A few weeks ago I got my first iPhone (with a white and gold polka dot case from Kate Spade) and a fancy-schmancy camera. I felt unbelievably lucky and blessed. For 48 hours. After the first two days, the wonder and excitement wore off much quicker than I expected. I mean, I really wanted these [...]