1. We are currently in San Francisco, but very happy about moving to North Carolina this summer!  Since we are from the south we will be happy to be closer to our families, and we are thrilled for the gluten-free dog to finally have a backyard to roam in!

2. My fav. new toy–a coffee grinder. I have been grinding things like crazy for the past two weeks. Best recipe yet is to grind equal parts of macadamia nuts, flax seeds, sesame seeds and almonds, adding in 1 tsp. vanilla extract, almond extract and a few Enjoy Life chocolate chips. I pat it down into a 1/4 thick on a greased pan, then bake on 220 for 20 minutes.  YUM!

3. In my earlier 20s, I wrote nightlife reviews for AOL–for fun! The pay was unfabulous, but it was great fun, an excuse to go out every night and earned the occasional free drinks.

4. We had a wonderful day at the beach today, and it was actually the first Saturday in a while that I have put work/ the computer down.  It was really, really nice.

5. The one product I really cannot live without–okay, two products: 100% Pure’s Healing Balm (for face, and even sunburn) and Amelia’s Soaps. Can’t live w/o great moisture!!

6. My g/f “idol” is Shauna of Gluten Free Girl. She is so talented on so many levels, and has helped bring gluten-free to a level that I am not sure any author before her had.

7. On a whim, we drove 9 hours north to Oregon to adopt our gluten-free dog after learning about him via Petfinder.com  We met (and adopted!) him on Saturday, and turned around and drove right back home to get our boy situated that same night.

So here are the seven bloggers who I am tagging:

1. Gluten Free Optimist

2. The Gluten Doctors

3. Gluten-Free Inspired

4. Buen Provecho

5. Gluten Free Travel Site Blog

Back to Naturally Dah’ling

Though there are some amazing gluten-free resources out there, I don’t typically take the time out to mention them.  I just wanted to recommend taking a look at some of these excellent gluten-free news resources.

Celiac-Disease Author Kyle is very much in tune with celiac new and happenings, his site is updated remarkably often, linking to blogs, articles and resources alike that you may not yet know about.

Texas GIG’s Google News Feed For newsworthy updates of global gluten-free information, this site is certainly worth bookmarking.

GIG or Gluten Intolerance Group of North America is a site I recently learned about, with is great for staying in the national loop of all events gluten-free.

And if you haven’t yet, please check out a new site that my boyfriend, Search Engine Consultant (and Expert) and I recently built.  GlutenFreeFox.com is the world’s first gluten-free search engine, customized to give better, more helpful gluten-free results than your average Google Search Engine.  I also welcome any feedback and suggested sites to add to our search engine!

Have a wonderful New Year’s!!

Kristen

This does have me thinking, obviously gluten-free is going to be a big food trend in 2009, but what about make-up trends?

So here are some of my favorite picks for make-up tips in 2009:

-Lengthened Brows

-Exaggerated Eyeliner

-Pop Lip Color

I’ll be working on some video demonstrations and pics to upload soon!

Here is the first of what will be many videos to come demonstrating the use of ELISA Tek’s EZ Gluten Test Kit, a simple, effective way to test foods and products for gluten.  In this first video I tested Dr. Hauschka’s Natural Lipstick (which was previously verified gluten free via the Dr. Hauschka company). And was able to proudly confirm that yes, it really is gluten free!

Here’s my demonstration–and during the testing I really didn’t know which way the test would go!

My boyfriend and I have been working day and night to create a brand new, gluten-free resource site.  The site is called Gluten Free Fox.  It is the world’s first gluten-free search engine!

So now, instead of blind internet searches that don’t always result in the best or most current gluten-free results, when you simply visit www.GlutenFreeFox.com, you can type any gluten-free search term into the search box and will find the most applicable, valid search results in answer to your questions.

Now that the site has launched, I will be back to posting regularly, but do be sure to check it out!  Also, we are SO excited about the organic and natural fiber t-shirts being sold though the Gluten Free Fox Store!

The patient’s undiagnosed celiac had caused dangerous malnutrition, resulting in her insanity which eventually killed her baby and left her with stomach cancer.  It was one of those heart-breaking episodes, but what is so important is that they did cover this disease and the severity of it.  Due to lack of understanding, most people dismiss the idea of a sensitivity to gluten from wheat, barley and rye causing any real problems.

What people do not understand is that celiac disease and severe gluten intolerance cause the body to attack itself when gluten is introduced.  And these attacks prevent an individual from properly absorbing nutrients leading to a whole host of problems, some as sever as cancers and osteoporosis.

Everyone has a total and complete right to his/her opinion, but it does upset me when I am accused of simply “being picky” because I know the ramifications of gluten on my body, I’ve experienced some of them, and others I hope never to have to.  The general public is becoming more and more aware of celiac disease and the danger of food intolerances, and I sincerely hope that this trend continues.