Day 2 of 30 for NaBloPoMo. Whew, I’m really beat. I trekked into the city today for two meetings. The first was an informational interview with an account exec at a social good communications firm. Last week, I had researched her company on LinkedIn (my newest stalking tool), and when I searched for a professional contact/connection, sadly, the magic search engine spitted out no one. Ah well, a minor obstacle for a persistent fool like me. I honed in on this lady: she had an interesting profile, and she’s been there a few years, so after some rather basic Googling, I got her email. Then, in the style of my new emboldened, big-dreaming-ass self, I emailed her out of the blue. Yup, when LinkedIn fails to make a connection, I gots to find a new route, you know what I’m saying?

Obviously, I wasn’t creepy about it or anything: I explained that I had left my previous workplace and I was currently in discovery mode, trying to pinpoint what was next. To my giddy surprise, she agreed to meet for an info interview!! Yahoo!! So today, we met in person. What a lovely, helpful, honest professional. I’m telling you, these info interviews have been amazing! I have met so many generous, supportive people– people who have candidly shared their own career paths and experiences. I cannot say enough how insightful these meetings are.

After that, I had lunch with a contact from my last workplace. A few months ago, he left his previous employment (of 9 years) and joined a new place in July. He’s super hard working, and just always plugging away on something cool, so it was great to catch up over lunch. Suddenly, it was 2 p.m.– time to make the trek down the peninsula before rush hour. Like a dumbass, I made the stupid mistake of skipping a restroom pitstop prior to boarding. Long story short, I couldn’t last all the way home, so hell, I stopped midway in San Mateo “to use the restroom at the mall.” Haha. Yup, took that opportunity to drop into a few stores and chill at the Barnes & Noble. Holy crap, I had totally forgotten about B&N! I mean, after the demise of Borders (facilitated, in part, by my ridiculous addiction to Amazon), I was certain these bookstore/coffee shops were a thing of the past. Yeah, I felt a tinge of nostalgia even. Those spots were definitely an old favorite in my younger years.

Whatdadya know, tomorrow’s another busy day. I’ll be heading out to the ranch for a ride and meeting to talk business development and marketing. I am liking this self-scheduled lifestyle!