FOUR YEARS. I can’t believe that this little project, cooked up on a whim based on a love for writing that started with a family newspaper operation out of my living room at age 11, has turned into the very center of my life and career.

Starting a blog is easy — buying a domain, setting up WordPress, making a few tweaks. Writing quality content week-over-week, cracking yourself open again and again, coming up with original ideas, and exposing your innermost thoughts for public review and scrutiny, is not. But damn is it rewarding.

About this post:

In these round-ups, I outline my favorite and the most popular posts of the year, give statistics about blog traffic, and share personal milestones and achievements. It’s the best way to get a view of the entire blog on fast-forward and the full year in review.

I hesitate every year to publish these because it seems so self-indulgent, but it feels like the best way to honor all the work that goes into the blog. I hope that by the end of this epically long post that you learn something new, feel inspired or catch some helpful content you might have missed.

Previous Round-ups

• First post ever! (December 17, 2007)
• 2008 - Happy Birthday to Life After College: Letter from the Editor
• 2009 – Happy Two-Year Blogiversary to Life After College
• 2010 – Happy Three-Year Blogiversary to Life After College

The 4 Most Important Lessons I’ve Learned in Four Years of Blogging

1. Big projects become successful after thousands of micro-steps taken regularly and consistently over time. Everyone starts somewhere. While some bloggers seem to skyrocket to success over night, I have taken an alternate route with my blog. I have never once had an explicit goal to grow my traffic. Partly because my day job kept me very busy for the first 3+ years, and partly because I don’t like to force things or “over-effort.” My mission has always been to focus on delivering the best content I can muster as consistently as I can each month. When people look at my blog today, they may not realize that it’s has been a four-year process of making micro-revisions, one tiny little adjustment at a time. The first version was a design hack-job I did myself, and it wasn’t until three years later that I paid a professional to clean things WAY up. The categories, format, posts, about page — every single sentence, piece of content, widget and plug-in has been tried and tested and tweaked dozens of times, over time. There is no way I could have done it all at once, and you shouldn’t expect yourself to either. Start somewhere. Then fix while flying.
2. Constantly push yourself to be more vulnerable and transparent than you’re comfortable with. This is the hardest lesson to practice, and though it has gotten MUCH easier over the years, I still have to frequently ask myself what I’m afraid to write about and then GO THERE. My most popular posts without question are the ones in which I reveal struggles, flaws and bumps. We bond through shared struggle, and while that doesn’t have to be the sole focus of a blog, it is a great service to others if you can allow yourself to open up more.
3. Make real connections with people. Blogging should really be referred to as an “insta-friend generator.” Blogging has introduced me to the most wonderful network of friends and readers — I am absolutely rich with relationships because of it. However it still isn’t a magic bullet; relationships — online and off — take work to cultivate. They require setting aside time, proactively reaching out to people, and keeping your commitments.
4. Don’t forget to thank the hand that feeds you. I see some newer bloggers who are hungry to make it big, land a book deal, and/or strike it rich. While those are all nice dreams, of course, that tunnel vision it creates forgets that blogging is really an act of service. It doesn’t often pay well, if at all, and the most successful bloggers remember that their readers are everything. At least to me. You are not a means to an end in my life — you are my life. You are the reason I was able to quit my job at Google and break-even after my first six months of running my own business. You are the reason I got a book deal, and get asked to do speaking engagements and can create meaningful courses and content to help you gain clarity and take action in your life. Don’t forget where you came from, and don’t forget to thank the hand that feeds you — whether you are a blogger, an employee, a company, or frankly . . . a living, breathing human being.

Personal Milestones

• After two years of intense work, the Life After College book was released March 27, 2011! It has 88 reviews on Amazon and has sold about 7,000 copies to-date which is about halfway to earning back my advance (after which point I can start getting royalties).
• It has been such a joy to hear from readers who are inspired to improve their lives after reading the book — I am humbled by and grateful for every reader who has helped bring the book to life.
• I took a three-month sabbatical from Google to go on a self-funded 10 city book tour.
• As part of the book tour, I spoke at spoke at TEDxCMU (April 2011), appeared on the BetterTV Morning Show (May 2011), and delivered my very own Authors@Google talk on 10 lessons I learned during the publishing process.
• When it came time to go back to Google, I realized there was no way I could effectively juggle both any more. It wouldn’t be fair to Google and my teammates, and it wouldn’t be fair to my projects and big dreams. I wasn’t willing to give up the latter.
• I gave Google my two-weeks notice on June 15. It was one of the hardest decisions of my life, but deep down I knew what I needed to do, if only I could overcome the fear of uncertainty and failure.
• I became an official no-strings-attached solopreneur on July 5, 2011.
• Seth Godin mentioned my 15-tab Book Marketing Spreadsheet on the Domino Project Blog; it got over 6K downloads in the first month.
• I moved to New York City on September 11 and haven’t looked back since. I document most of my love affair through Tumblr.
• I launched my first course, Make Sh*t Happen, two days later despite massive fears that no one would be interested and my hopes and dreams as an Internet entrepreneur would be crushed. The course sold-out in less than 24 hours.
• I decided to slow things WAAAAY down in Q4 by saying no more and only scheduling meetings on one day a week. It has worked out so well I plan to keep things this way.
• I’m also excited to share that I’m one of Brazen Careerist’s 20 Brazen Young Professionals to Watch in 2012 (announced today!), one of eHow’s first annual Shift List honorees, and ProBlogger’s (!!) 20 Blogs to Watch in 2012. Thank you so much!

My Favorite Posts

The Life After College Book Journey

• Video: Life After College Book Debut!!
• What I’m Afraid of…and What I Know
• “Failed” Online Date Leads to Friendship…and a Book Trailer
• Life After College Launch: Mid-Week Report
• Life After College Book Launch: Post-Game Analysis (What Worked, What Didn’t)
• Authors@Google Video: 10 Lessons I Learned During the Publishing Process
• Book Tour Kick-off: 8 Days + 25 Moments
• With Gratitude: Book Tour Best Moments (that can’t possibly do the whole thing justice)

Speaking

• 8 Ways to Practice and Improve Your Public Speaking Skills
• 10 Lessons Learned from Almost Panicking in Front of 500+ People at TEDxCMU
• Video: My TEDxCMU Speech (Career in the Age of the App)

Big Goals & Finding Your Path

• Kick-off to 2011: Mind-Maps, Passion and Pancakes
• 6 Ways to Manage a Side Hustle Without Going Insane
• Act As If
• Just because you’re not seeing progress doesn’t mean it isn’t being made
• What’s your soul-on-fire superpower? On Seth Godin, Spreadsheets and Creepy Crawlers
• Caught a Case of The Jealousies? 4 Ways to Do Something About It
• Conquer Your Fear – an Epic ePic by Mars Dorian

Breakdowns & Important Reminders

• Table for Two: Human Magic and a Hot Mess
• Are you a hypocrite?
• You can’t make everyone happy. So stop trying and start LIVING.
• On Habit Change and The Itchy Scratchy Art* of Saying No
• On Not White-Lying by Omission: 12 Mini Confessions
• Courage isn’t always glamorous. Actually, it almost never is.

My Big Leap

• I’m a Free Agent: From Six Figures to Suitcase
• Free Agent Part Two: On Big Decisions & Very Real Fears
• 20 Lessons from 2 Months of Solopreneurship (Part One)
•  20 Lessons from 2 Months of Solopreneurship (Part Two)
• New York, New York + Personal Updates
• The best decision you can make for your business — that has nothing to do with money

Blog Statistics:

• Visits - In the last month I received 21,767 visits (45,959 page views) from 134 countries, about double from last year’s 11,580 visits (20,532 page views) from 110 countries and 2009′s 7,000+ visits (13,500 page views) from 97 countries. The total visits for 2011 was just over 124,821 uniques (365,449 page views) from 180 countries, up from last year’s 100,000 uniques (200,000 page views).
• Top Keywords - In 2010, the keyword “life after college” sent 12,769 visits (up from last year’s 8,773 visits). “Jenny Blake” was the next highest search query with 4,793 (compared to last year’s 1,199 visits).
• Quirky question keywords (always fun) – is female and male viagra the same? (I have no clue), is it hard to date after college? (you are asking the wrong girl), is it normal to be lonely after college? (yes, for sure — we all have ups and downs), is it possible to keep everyone happy? (no!), is it unprofessional to skype interview in your bedroom? (I’m gonna go with…YES), is it worth experimenting after college for your dream? (HELL YES!)
• Best “Jenny Blake” keywords - how old is jenny blake (28 folks!), jenny blake kickboxing free aerobic lesson (ummm…last I checked I don’t offer those), jenny blake millionaire (YES! Where do I sign up??), jenny blake naked (sorry to disappoint…none of that here), jenny blake ninja (::blushing:: I like to think so), jenny gets kicked in the ass (ouch! really?), i love jenny blake (aww, thanks!)

What’s on the docket for 2012?

• In general: to slow down, relax and ENJOY my life. This is not going to be a year of massive striving — any big leaps or opportunities that occur will be nice surprises. This is my year to practice being fully present, grateful, intentional, graceful and positive.
• More freedom– I’m putting the “lifestyle” piece square in the center of my lifestyle business. I want to design a business that is not intended for crazy growth, but rather to allow me to live my days in ways I love (which typically involves reading with a cup of coffee in the morning, going for a run, going to yoga class, doing strategic and/or my best creative work, and hanging out with friends).The parts of my business that I love are speaking, coaching, writing and my new baby, the Make Sh*t Happen course (which will re-launch in January).
• Building out my store page — One important part of a lifestyle business is adding products that will help my audience AND allow me to scale myself and my ideas. In addition to offering services that involve trading time for money (ie 1:1 coaching) I’d like to keep building evergreen products that can sell while I sleep. I hesitate to call this passive income because there’s nothing passive about the work that goes into them, but they do eventually become self-sustaining (if built with adding tremendous value in mind). On that note, stay tuned for another awesome course that Emily Smith (my MSH Angel) and I are putting together based on my book!
• My biggest personal goal is to finish my yoga teacher certification and start teaching Geek Yoga classes in NYC for my entrepreneur friends (and anyone else who would like to join!). I’ve been taking classes 5-6 times a week since I moved here; now it’s time for me to stretch outside of my comfort zone (no yoga pun intended!) and TEACH, even though I’m often intimidated at the thought of it. The funny thing about yoga is that I don’t know exactly what form it will take in my business moving forward . . . all I know is that it is my rock in life. It keeps me sane, grounded, and true to myself, and I am thrilled at the prospect of sharing that gift with others and creating a place for my community to congregate.

THANK YOU EVERYONE for making this such a memorable, incredible year. I look forward to serving you to the very best of my ability in 2012 and far far beyond. Happy holidays, and see you in 2012!

One of my favorite dad paintings - dancers in a jazz club - via JimBlakeArt.com

Happy Sunday, Everyone! Today is my 28th birthday and I’m thrilled to kick it off by celebrating with you

Last night my friend Nick graciously hosted a bunch of blogger friends on his rooftop terrace for BBQ, dancing, mojitos and yes — cupcakes — and it struck me how grateful I am to have a vehicle that allows me to meet and interact with so many awesome, incredible people on a regular basis.

I feel awkward wishing myself happy birthday on my own blog, but I’d like to use this opportunity to ask two small favors of you — and share some gems from my dad, Jim Blake, on going after big goals.

Two Small Requests:

1. Help me blow-up my friend Jeremy Orr’s DonorsChoose.org request for laptops for his sixth grade class.I’ve known Jeremy for over 10 years but we were never all that close until he discovered Twitter. Twitter reconnected us and served as a catalyst for finding one of my now closest friends.Jeremy is humble, kind, and would never ask me to do this — it was hard for him to even ask his friends in an email for some help. He is a teacher, and in the last year his car was stolen, his storage locker was broken into (and all the computers he used in his classroom were stolen) and he was pink-slipped from his job because of a stupid California lottery system, not because of anything to do with his abilities (I happen to think he’s one of the best teachers on the planet). Jeremy is now back teaching sixth grade and loves using technology in the classroom — last year he had his students Skype with entrepreneurs, and had various blog friends call in from all over the world for National Reading Day.So here’s what I would LOVE to happen: Jeremy has currently raised $622 from 12 donors, with $448 remaining to purchase laptops for his class. If 200 people give $2, he’ll be all squared away with replacement computers for the year. If you can give just $2 — that would be amazing. $5 and you’re a rock star. Any more than that? Jeremy and I will surely love you forever! It would be the best birthday gift to me to know that we’ve helped a friend and dedicated teacher — and awesome if by the end of the day (or week) his DonorsChoose page was maxed out.

   Update: WE DID IT! Jeremy’s page was successfully maxed out by the end of the day You all made my day — and his — I cannot thank you enough!

2. If Life After College (the blog or book) has inspired or helped you take action in some way, would you leave me a comment describing how? I asked this question last year and was so grateful and moved by all the thoughts people shared. Even if you don’t comment often, I’d love to hear from you and say hello!

***

8 Pearls of Jim Blake Wisdom

The other day in an email my dad wrote, “A question: What would be your TOP 5 all-time single sentence words of wisdom for goal seekers?” I came up with a few nuggets that I share often in speeches and with clients:

• Live/dream big but don’t be afraid to start small
• Ditch “all or nothing” or “if then” thinking — start today, even if the conditions aren’t perfect
• You’re capable of so much more than you think you are
• Expect doubters — of course they don’t see your vision — that’s what makes it YOUR vision!
• The bigger the goal, the bigger the fears — take them as a great validator

Then he promptly blew me out of the water with his list!! I feel very fortunate to learn from him and with him on subjects near and dear to my heart, most recently on Making Sh*t Happen. Without further ado, my dad’s reply on some gems he’s been honoring while working on a screenplay (these often come to him during his 16-mile nightly walks):

You can read more of my Dad’s thoughts at his blog (and book of the same name), The Bliss Engine, and check-out his amazing art work at JimBlakeArt.com.

***

Contest Winners from Last Week’s Book-a-Day Giveaway:

Thank you all for the AWESOME comments on last weeks’ question prompts, and for sticking with me through daily posts! I’m very excited to announce our winners (chosen via Random.org) — if you’re name is below, please send me an email at jenny [at] lifeaftercollege [dot] org so I can get you your shiny new book!

• Lead Without Followers (by Dave Ursillo) – Meredyth
• The Big Enough Company (By Adelaide Lancaster and Amy Abrams) – Ricardo Bueno
• Uncertainty (by Jonathan Fields) – Therese Schwenkler
• The Education of Millionaires (by Michael Ellsberg) – Mozart
• Blind Spots (by Alexandra Levit) – Meredith Hawkins
• Life After College (by yours truly!) – Johan Woods

I’m typing this post with a heart full to the brim of gratitude. The sun is rising, and I’m reflecting on my last official book tour stop in Los Angeles on Tuesday night — a room full of bright, warm people and blog friends (new and old) that my Dad and grandma described as “smart as a whip.”

YES. That’s what every stop has been like.

In Los Angeles at Urth Cafe -- planning my final book tour speech

I remarked the other day that I feel rich with friends. Above all else, that’s what this book tour has taught me. I am rich with brilliant friends, readers and community — in every city, including the ones I haven’t had a chance to visit (yet!).

People often ask Chris Guillebeau if his self-funded 50-city book tour was worth it and he always says yes. Mine — albeit a little smaller scale (coming in at 10 cities) — was absolutely worth it too.

I’ve never felt more inspired or more ALIVE. I sometimes resist doing recap posts because I hate the thought of leaving someone important out of a link round-up and I don’t want anyone to feel left out. So this post may not contain a lot of names….but you know exactly who you are.

You know if you purchased a book, came out to my book launch party, a bookstore event, an after party, a conference; sent a tweet, a text, an email, a Facebook note, a picture, or commented on a blog post these last three months. If you did any one of those things — or even just quietly followed along through this blog — I am grateful. You have given me wings.

Below are some book tour highlights from every city. If I left your name out, just know that it isn’t because I don’t love you!

1. Austin Texas — SXSW: a giant dinner hosted by Nick Reese with 20+ awesome people, the first official book launch party, hosted by Betty Jean Bell with my first ever cupcake sponsor. Late night Philly Cheesesteaks with Andy Drish talking about business and big plans.

2. Las Vegas, Round 1: Cancelling my flight home (despite a mile-high to-do list just two weeks before my book launch) to hop into a car for a spontaneous 19-hour drive to Vegas with Sean Ogle, Ryan Martin and Jenna Forstrom — all friends I had met just days prior.

3. Bay Area, CA: Doing my first two book store readings; looking out to an audience of friends and family, feeling like a REAL author while signing books, realizing that the whole writing journey was absolutely worth it. Receiving quite possibly the nerdiest-but-most-awesome gift ever from my high school friends — a framed picture of my book’s ISBN number.

Spotted! LAC with my college roommate's brother, Patrick Connor.

4. The Internet at Large: Having you all tweet, email, comment and share your love as you helped me launch the book (check out the post-game analysis of how it all went). Getting tweets with picture of the book on bookshelves across America at Barnes & Noble (and on the beach in Hawaii!).

5. TEDxCMU: delivering the opening speech to a live audience of 500 people; almost panicking when my slides went out, then feeling proud of the recovery while watching the video back; hanging out with Charlie and Amber and supporting each other as we helped show the audience what is possible for their lives and careers; having giant margaritas with the whole TEDx student organizer-crew after the event.

6. Making an appearance on my first Morning Show (Video ~2 Minutes)

Heading over to the BetterTV studios in NYC on the morning of my book launch party to film a two-minute video segment. Being swept into the green room where every other guest waited with their personal assistant and/or handler; watching the girls from Jerseyliscious do their thing. Feeling as nervous about those two minutes as any major speech (with only one take to get it right), but being really happy with how it all turned out and keeping fingers and toes crossed that it helps The Today Show find my phone number!

7. An Epic NYC Book Launch Party (with 2-minute Video)

Having over 200 people attend the book launch party in New York City. Receiving a larger-than-life cake from my NYC Angel Ann Turi; dancing and connecting with friends throughout the night; signing 200 books for the gift bags with Allie Mahler’s help; doing my version of a Sex and the City Photo Shoot with photographer Galo Delgado. {Full Flickr set here} Click on photos below to enlarge.

Here’s an awesome two-minute video-recap from videographer Bryan Ridgell (big thanks to NY Creative Interns, Victoria Monsul at Wix Lounge, and Ruth Ann Harnisch!!):

8. Converging on Las Vegas for a second time to attend Bloggers in Sin City (hosted by the amazing Nicole Antoinette): Meeting Grace Boyle in person for the first time (after knowing her for almost three years online), catching up with old friends, making new ones, having “business breakfasts” with Molly and the brilliant Bob Calise, and Jenn and I dancing our hearts out at Pure on the last night with a new friend that we picked up on the walk there (who clearly made the best decision EVER to ditch his friends hang out with 60 crazy bloggers instead). 

9. My last bookstore event in Seattle, WA: Being greeted at the airport by the fabulous Molly Hoyne, having Derek Shanahan come down from Vancouver to hang out and shoot-the-shit before my book talk, meeting an awesome crew of readers and friends (including Seattle host Mike Krass), giving a talk at the bookstore where my dad grew up (check out this great recap from Devon), heading around the corner for drinks with the awesome people who showed up and sharing our scariest can-barely-say-them-out-loud “secret” dreams and big goals with each other.

10. An amazing weekend in Portland for the World Domination Summit: with far too many great memories and new friends to count. Exploding with inspiration and possibility as I thought about all the ways I can grow Life After College. Morning techno dance sessions in the hotel room with my roommate Andy, catching up over a glass of wine with Doniree, meeting Dave for the first time in person by running into him in the elevator (telling him “my heart’s going to explode!” in the coffee shop the day after the conference ended), meeting the bow-tie master himself Mike Ambassador Bruny, Sunday night shenanigans at Dante’s Sinferno (h/t Sean Ogle!), countless strategy and tip-sharing talks over lunch, learning from people I’ve long-admired like Jonathan Mead, Charlie Gilkey and Corbett Barr, making many new friends (major girl crush alert!) and deeply feeling what it’s like to be surrounded by 500 people who would call you crazy for NOT following your biggest dreams.

The coolest latte design I've ever seen - at Urth Cafe in LA. Tweet tweet!

11. Los Angeles, CA: The final stop with the most energetic group of book tour attendees yet! Organized by Scott Asai and generously hosted by his friend Melissa in the “Hall of Fame” room at the New York Life offices. Writing a new speech an hour beforehand on fear, change, and big leaps; having my grandma attend one of my speeches for the first time (since high school graduation); meeting two incredible women (and several others) who traveled two hours to be there; and seeing what an inspiring group of people make up the LAC community; going out to dinner with my family afterward to celebrate and trying not to look ridiculous staring as we spotted the judges from American Idol at a table nearby (Randy Jackson, Ryan Seacrest and Steven Tyler).

12. Plane ride to NYC: Jumping back on a plane for a whirlwind trip to NYC to present at a conference; reflecting on the last 3 months of memories, blissful moments, worn out nights, living out of my suitcase, and knowing that every single minute and every dollar spent was absolutely, unquestionably WORTH IT.

As I was writing this post, the Black Eyed Peas’ The Time (of my life) song came on. This book tour has absolutely been the time of my life, and I have every one of you to thank for it. I am rich with friends, I am rich with community, and I bow to you in gratitude.

Thank you for giving me wings. There are some big updates ahead — inspired by you — and I can’t wait until it’s time to share. In the meantime, Namaste (I bow to the divine in you) – and cupcake CHEERS! To great things ahead for all of us

Blog disclaimer for the near future: With so much happening right now due to the book launch in ONE WEEK (!!!), I am likely to increase my posting schedule a bit and talk more about the book than I normally would. I’m juggling the desire to share everything that’s going on while being mindful not to overwhelm or bombard. If the increased posting schedule bothers you, feel free to “mark as read” or (gasp!) unsubscribe for the next few weeks — but I’m hoping you’ll stick around, of course

8 Days + 30 Moments

I just returned from an amazing week in Austin, Texas for the SXSW Conference, which was also the first official stop on the Life After College Book Tour (followed by a last minute detour to Las Vegas).

Even if you didn’t attend the conference, there are some awesome people on this list that I look forward to introducing you to! And now, a recap of my 25 most memorable moments:

SXSWi – South by Southwest Interactive (aka Geek Spring Break):

1. Getting picked up at the airport by Kristi Richey, one of my earliest blog readers (seriously – second only to my parents) in her red pick-up truck. Catching-up and gushing over the box of books that had arrived at the hotel.
2. Dancing and hanging out with my boys J-Money and Nate, the founders of Love Drop — a company they started after I introduced them to each other a year ago. AMAZING guys. Meeting their fabulous friends, Danielle Smith and Alli Worthington.
3. Selling book number one at Chris Guillebeau’s Best Party in Austin event. Signed, stamped, sealed and delivered…I really felt like an author! Taking a picture with my “mantourage” which included Scott Hale, Andrew Osborn, Andy Drish, Ryan Stephens, Norcross and @Kenny. Seeing the bright smiling faces of Monique Johnson and Stacyann Forrester.
4. Ryan scheming to make sure he was the very first Amazon review for my book. Success! I’m blown away by the reviews that are already up. Ryan — thank you for kicking things off
5. Buffet brunch with Sydney Owen at Moonshine talking about her newfound love and big leap into professional freedom. (Hi Sydney!)
6. Attending exactly ONE panel the entire week: Tony Schwartz on managing your energy. I call it the $500 panel since that was the cost of the conference pass. Hey – at least it was good!
7. Actually having a CUPCAKE SPONSOR for my book signing event at Icenhauer’s in Austin – I need a NEW WORD for thank you to express my gratitude to the incredible Betty Jean Bell who put on the entire event; complete with bottomless mimosas and tacos! Event photos by my good friend Benjy Feen (who also has a dating advice piece featured in my book).
8. Sitting at a table signing books…absolutely surreal. Chatting with new friends; honored and humbled by all the of the support as each new person walked through the door. Thrilled to share the spotlight with Josh Kaufman (Personal MBA).

9. Chatting with Tony Hsieh (Zappos founder) on the Delivering Happiness bus with Andy Drish and Amber Rae, followed by cupcakes at Delish.
10. Sipping wine at Halycon Cafe in Austin with Andy, Amber, Nick Reese (Becoming Bold), and Sean Ogle (Location 180); talking about life, business, dreams and big plans. Brainstorming a joint book launch/Revolution.is party in NYC with Amber on the back of a napkin.
11. Catching up with Pam Slim (Escape from Cubicle Nation) and others over dinner at 10 Oak. Awed by the energy of getting a group of 25+ incredible people together at the same table, thanks to The One and Only Nick Reese.
12. Missing Willie Jackson tremendously and talking with others about whether we were introduced BW (Before Willie) or AW (After Willie).
13. An epic 2-hour long slumber party call with my BFF Elisa (Ophelias Webb) during which she calmed me down from a complete book tour overwhelm meltdown. Decided that canceling all end-of-week meetings and going to Las Vegas would be a great decision, despite the rapidly multiplying to-do list waiting for me back home.
14. Getting a tour of Adam Baker‘s Man vs. Debt RV during his Adaptu breakfast meet-up (more free tacos!)
15. Hanging out with an amazing crew of people at Nick and Markus Urban’s (Living on Impulse) rented loft in Austin. Meeting awesome bloggers like Cody McKibben (Thrilling Heroics), Karol Gajda (Ridiculously Extraordinary), Jenny Leonard (Where is Jenny), Tyler Tervooren (Advanced Riskology), Benny Lewis (Fluent in 3 Months) and Adam from the UK (Magical Penny). Catching up over drinks with Michelle Ward (When I Grow Up Coach).
16. Attending Kevin Smokler’s always-unforgettable 9th annual Kookies with Kevin dinner with literary industry professionals and other creatives on the last night for the second year in a row. Having an amazing conversation with Keith Arsenault, who happens to be a sales rep for Perseus (the parent company of my publisher, Running Press).

VEGAS…ROAD TRIP!

17. Canceling my flight home from Austin in lieu of a 20-hour road-trip detour through Las Vegas with Jenna “Badass Animal” Forstrom, Ryan “Impossibly Good Looking Man Candy” Martin and The One and Only Sean Ogle.
18. Doing my best to be the “stay-awake-company-keeper” for each of the drivers (I had an allergic reaction the night before and felt like a stampede of bulls were running across my stomach for 24+ hours).
19. Cracking up with Ryan at 3 a.m. as we updated Sean’s Facebook status while he was sleeping — to the effect of, “SO excited to dance with leprechauns down Las Vegas Boulevard!” We tried to announce that he was “OMG OMG so excited to see Celine Dion!!! <3!” a few hours later, but were thwarted due to lack of service through the Arizona mountains.
20. Teaching everyone in the car how to play highs and lows (each person says a high, low, and something they learned for the day or week) – and sharing our best SXSW moments.
21. Dancing, talking and sipping on drinks under the moonlight at Tao Beach.
22. Laying out at the pool in my underwear because I didn’t bring a swimsuit to SXSW. Hoping no one noticed, but not really caring if they did.
23. The four of us huddling up to stay warm while watching the Bellagio fountain show (to Elton John music) in a total Ocean’s 11 moment.
24. Late-night meals (in bed) with Jenna. Pizza and spaghetti – the best leftovers to come home to after a long night of dancing!
25. Smiling on the plane ride home (eyes drooping, voice gone) at how great it felt to be spontaneous, live in the moment and hang out with incredible people for eight straight days.

Stay tuned for a soon-to-follow post chock-full of book updates, early reviews, and upcoming events. The final countdown is on! 1 week, 1 day and 7 hours. Many of the pre-orders have already shipped…INSANE! And so exciting

Forgive me for the somewhat random post today — I’m in the process of wraping-up my last week at Google before sabbatical (I am taking 3-months of unpaid leave to go on my self-funded/self-planned book tour — dates here).

My last day is Thursday, then I hop on a plane to Austin first thing Friday morning to head to SXSW and kick off the book tour! I can’t even believe I’m saying that out loud. It’s right around the corner, people. The official book-release countdown is — drumroll please — 3 weeks, 1 day, and 8 hours (at the time of this writing); pre-order price still hovering at a bargain cost of $9.10 — less than 3 Sprinkles cupcakes!

3 years, 3 cupcakes. Get in my belly.

It’s been a great year here at Life After College. Better than great. SO GREAT that I was going to skip doing this round-up post because it feels self-indulgent, and I much prefer to give you thought-provoking new content.

However, my blog turned three years old this month and without my blog, my life dream of being an author would not be realized. So it’s only fair that I celebrate this little corner of the Internet!

By the way – I think blogs age in dog years – 3 years feels like a lifetime…in a good way. I can’t even imagine my life without this outlet and the friends and readers I’ve made because of it.

For more “best of” content: see the Happy Blogiversary posts for Year 1 and Year 2, or check out my shiny brand new “New Here?” guided tour.

Personal Milestones:
I am humbled by everything that made the items below possible. I still have to pinch myself, and I only hope that I can give back to the world in equal if not far greater amounts for the gifts I’ve received.

• March – Attended SXSW for the first time
• June – Got a BOOK DEAL and signed the contracts
• July – Traveled to Brazil for work; Completed my life coaching certification 2.5 years after I started CTI’s coach training program. I’m now officially a Certified Professional Co-Active Coach (CPCC)! Revamped coaching programs coming soon.
• September – Made my first TV appearance in a 30-minute interview for my friend Gopi’s Change Makers program.
• October – Completed Yoga Teacher Training at the White Lotus Foundation in Santa Barbara.
• November – sent the book to press after two years of writing and editing
• December – got the first galley copies of my book (Check-out the “collector’s edition” cover that serves as a reminder to fight for what you believe in!)
• Other – Completed a one-year term on the Board of Governors for the International Coaches Association, hosted Pam Slim and Chris Guillebeau for Authors@Google talks, delivered coach-training to dozens of senior-level managers and launched a global drop-in 1:1 coaching program at Google – a long-time professional dream in the making.
• More 2010 reflection on travel, memorable moments and highs and lows on my Tumblr for #reverb10.

My favorites and the most popular posts of 2010:

• January – 10 Reasons I Love my Cubicle
• February – SUZE ORMAN KNOWS WE EXIST!!! (Video), and Empty Spaces and Moving Past Loneliness
• March – Domesticating Jaguars: Let’s all learn from my crazy dream, Career Development for Gen Y (Video)
• April – Memo: You are not your job, Promotions: 10 Tips for Moving up the Corporate Ladder (Audio), Life is Like a Box of Cupcakes + Outtakes (Video)
• May – What if I was just myself?, My Sandboxed Life, 8 Ways to Organize your Life with Google Docs
• June – Success Demons…and a Signed Contract (+ Video), Guest Post: How I Outsource my Life to Over 13 People
• July – The Sweet Sting of Rejection, 20 Life Lessons I Learned on the Rogue River
• August – Live for the Dip
• September – An Open Letter to Love: It’s Not You, It’s Me (most commented/re-tweeted post of the year)
• October – Overwhelmed by your inbox? The case for email parties
• November – Book off to press!!! Blogger Speechless, On Limerence…and a Break-up Template
• December – A Letter from my Future Self

Blog Stats:

• Visits - In the last month I received 11,580 visits (20,532 page views) from 110 countries — up from last year’s 7,000+ visits (13,500 page views) from 97 countries. The total visits for 2010 was just over 100,000 uniques (200,000 page views).
• Top Keywords - In 2010, the keyword “life after college” sent 8,773 visits. “Jenny Blake” was the next highest search query with 1,199 visits.
• Quirky keywords (a personal favorite stat) – bad cubicle position, can limerence be broken? (don’t I wish!), can you rent a real live jaguar?, do you stop having fun after college?, it’s not you it’s me letters, I’m too sexy for my cube, limerence is a bitch, running with cupcakes, tell myself I love my job, and possibly my favorite – it hurts to throw away an empty box of Sprinkles cupcakes.
• Best “Jenny Blake” keywords - jenny blake cover model (I’ll take it!), jenny blake engagement ring (looks over both shoulders – none here), jenny blake exercise videos (nope, sorry!), jenny blake sexy (okay I like that one), jenny the cat woman secret lives (damnit, I liked the sexy keyword better).
• My most popular content in 2010 (according to Analytics) – 8 ways to organize your life with Google Docs (6,054 pageviews), How I Stay Organized (5,869 pageviews), A Day in the Life of My Paycheck (3,096 pageviews), and the Life Checklist Template (2,576 pageviews). I think many of these made it to StumbleUpon, which really helped drive traffic.
• Most Popular Templates – Four-Step Budget (2,285 users), Professional Development Strategy (2,158 users), Life Checklist (2,255 users), Job Interview One-Sheeter (2,333 users)

Last but certainly not least, THANK YOU.

Thank you for:

• Being here
• Being awesome – the best readers I could ever ask for
• Reading, engaging, commenting
• Making all of this possible

One of my mentors, Chris Guillebeau, often says he gets paid in nice emails. I feel exactly the same way. I am richer every day from amazing reader emails, new friends, community, and gratitude. Thank you from the very bottom of my heart.