So far so good with this new G-Free lifestyle: I don’t eat as much (which is weird/great), don’t need coffee (which is a MIRACLE) and am so much more relaxed! It’s wonderful!! Tonight, however, is my first night out as a g-free 20-something and I’m a bit nervous.

I plan on sticking to drinks I know, as I found this great list on Celiac.com. I also plan to stick to the number one rule: if your tummy says NO, STOP EATING/DRINKING immediately.

Let me know what you think below, I’m curious about others’ experiences with this.

The aim of every college student should ultimately be to find a job, but to do that you often have to find an internship first. So where do you find them? Well, there are several Web sites that I personally have success with and ultimately it just comes down to one small word: APPLY! Apply to each and every internship you can because you can always turn one down, but you may not always have that option. Read this article »

Free Tilly: Should Wild Animals Be Kept in Captivity? | Studentstuff.com.

I wrote this article on StudentStuff.com, and wanted to share it with my readers over here. It’s such an important issue–– check it out and comment on studentstuff, I’d love to hear what you have to say!

And of course, FREE TILLY!

Your online profile might just be the ticket to getting a job. Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and other sites are the BEST way to get a job in today’s digital age, but they could also make it impossible for you to get a job. How do you avoid this and have the most positive online experience? Clean up your online identities before beginning your job/internship hunt in order to allow all information “googled” to be positive and helpful to your search. Read this article »

My cousin goes to UChicago and I’m pleased to announce that they have a g-free care package and ideas that they send out to newly diagnosed people! Check it out, it might help. Also PAMELA’s Choc Chip Cookies ROCK!!!

In order to be irreplaceable people must notice you and to be noticed in this industry–the lovely industry I call “home”– that means you have to write, network and communicate your thoughts to a TON of people. It also means to you need to Intern.

I used a capital “I” because being an Intern is a big job, but someone’s gotta do it, as the saying goes. Interning is often a thankless occupation: you work for little or no pay, work long hours generally speaking and often find that at the end of the day you still don’t know how your boss feels about you. I’m lucky, I intern for a great company and like what I do, but years ago I found myself wondering how, if ever, I would break into this industry and where I would Intern. This question has led me to create this series and category: The Giornalista Files, Intern Edition. Read this article »

After cleaning out my fridge on Sunday–and my toaster, microwave and stove in order to avoid cross-contamination with my previously wheat influenced life-style–I realized today that I seriously needed to get on shopping for my new g-free lifestyle.

As Hasselbeck says in her book, shopping the first time IS scary. You are almost afraid to eat anything except the few items you’ve come to rely on and buying things is even more nerve-racking. I looked over labels about 800 times and can’t believe how many great items DON’T HAVE GLUTEN!!

Read this article »

My column on UniversityChic today focused on a new obsession of mine: being gluten (or G) free. This weekend I discovered that I am a Celiac. That means that I am allergic to wheat, barley, and other “bread” products, which basically made up my entire diet. At first I was afraid, and nervous, but then I read Elisabeth Hasselbeck’s book and was SO HAPPY to discover that all these awful symptoms could be cured by cutting gluten out of my diet. Sounds simple, right? Well it is and it isn’t.

As explained in this week’s The Last Word, gluten can have life-threatening consequences if you eat it and are allergic to it, and honestly if 3 million people are allergic to it, should anyone be eating it? I think not. Check out my post and continue to check back here for my journey to being irreplaceab-ly gluten free! =)

This Old House magazine has created (with the help of yours truly and one my favorite associate editors, Tabitha Sukhai) a new installment of an old favorite–wild and wacky homes. These homes are on land, sea, and some even bring you back in time. There is a home in this group for everyone, no matter how wild your tastes may be.

Check them out and send any leads on more wacky homes (or movie style inspired homes) my way as we are always looking for the next version of this fan favorite.

Or perhaps it’s more of a fight? I’m not sure, but whatever it is, it most definitely takes a lot of work!! I’m talking about becoming irreplaceable; something that it today’s world is worth it’s weight in gold.

Companies are replacing people left and right, however, some people still have jobs. Why is that, you may inquire? Well it’s because they are irreplaceable. They have made themselves so worthy of their salary; so knowledgeable in their field that no one (and quite frankly that includes no economy) can shake them from their cubicles.

This goes for your personal life as well. For example, divorce rates in America are at roughly 50%, and yet there’s another 50% of the population that is blissfully content in “wedded bliss.” So what are they doing different? They have each become irreplaceable to one another.

Okay, so by now you probably think I’m insane, but that is SO not the case. The quote on this blog, and one that I try to use as a guiding force in my own life, is by Coco Chanel– “In order to be irreplaceable, one must always be different.” Now I don’t know if she was talking about her fashion designs, or life in general, but she (in my opinion) was on target either way. I mean think about it; seriously think about it– if you are irreplaceable at work you will always have job security and if you are irreplaceable in your relationships you will always have persona security and POOF! you will always be a satisfied person.

So how do you become irreplaceable? Well, that’s something I’m desperately trying to figure out and hopefully can use this blog and my many other writing gigs to explain it. I’m going to try really hard this week to live this way– in a way that makes you be you, the best “you” you can be.

Rawr, class is starting need to go…more later on this soon to be fascinating topic