parking lot . `` The first night , I think , in the Walmart parking lot was the scariest , '' she told CNN . `` I was panicking , and I was just afraid . '' For comfort , she had her mastiff named Fezzik . And she had her laptop computer . As she spent five months looking for jobs and blasting out resumes , often spending hour after hour at a coffee shop to take advantage of its free Wi-Fi connection , she also started blogging . The result , the Girl 's Guide to Homelessness , chronicled the ups and downs of her new life . She reminisced about adopting her dog , named for a character from the movie `` The Princess Bride , '' and mulled the pros and cons of having a pet while homeless . She recounted details from failed job interviews and offered tips for other homeless women . `` I was trying to stay positive and cheerful , '' Karp said . `` I started writing the blog in a tongue-in-cheek way to kind of laugh about my circumstances , keep them chronicled . I did n't think anyone would
-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- It may have a fairy tale ending -- a story of perseverance and second chances that 's playing out live on the public stage of online networking . Brianna Karp 's trailer now sits outside a friend 's home near Los Angeles But 24-year-old Brianna Karp 's story started as a nightmare . In a rocky economy , Karp was laid off from her Irvine , California , job as an executive assistant in July 2008 . She got by for a while on temp jobs and unemployment benefits . But when her savings dried up , she was no longer able to afford her rent . The only answer she saw then was a trailer she 'd inherited from her father -- a man she barely knew who had recently committed suicide . `` I was left with a truck and this camper , which I was going to sell but coincidentally this happened to me , '' she said . `` I thought , ` Well , I have this . ' '' Karp , who writes that she is also estranged from her mother , ended up camped in a Los Angeles-area Walmart