Pre-travel acts of the Divine:

Cancun
a. I never win anything.
b. I never enter drawings at work events.
c. Event organizers encouraged me to enter the drawing at a hotel grand opening. First prize: 4 days/nights in Cancun courtesy of a local travel agency.
d. I won.
e. Because of personnel changes at the travel agency, we couldn’t schedule our trip.
f. I lost it. After a teary night of stress and overall frustration, we decided a pre-move trip to D.C. was imperative.
g. I asked the agency to change the tickets.
h. They did--no questions asked. Plus, they gave us the cash allocated for hotel stays.
i. Chris scheduled a trip to D.C. (I scheduled a trip home in October for my mom’s birthday).

Patent Law
a. After passing the patent bar in early summer, Chris flooded his resume to any and all D.C. patent firms. (He worked as a chemical engineer for a medical device company but never for a law firm).
b. A friend moving from D.C. passed Chris’ resume to a partner at the firm he was leaving.
c. According to the partner, the firm had no openings.
d. Chris received an e-mail from another partner at the firm.
e. The firm needed a “chemical guy.”
f. The partner interviewed Chris over the phone.
g. Chris planned a trip to D.C. with his Cancun ticket.
h. The firm wined and dined Chris.
i. Chris got a job.

The Apartment
a. Renting a one-bedroom closet-sized apartment in/around D.C. costs more than my parent’s mortgage.
b. Finding an apartment online is ineffective and frightening (never read apartment building reviews – yikes).
c. I insisted on an in-unit washer and dryer.
d. Chris spent 24 nearly sleepless hours traipsing across D.C. in search of an apartment.
e. There was no other way.
f. I trusted Chris.
g. Chris had one shot; a bad decision meant he had to live with the consequences (me).
h. Chris found an apartment – Hotel Wickstrom was born.

D.C. PR
a. I hate job searching.
b. Before arriving with all my belongings in August, I'd never been to D.C.
c. Through amazing people who helped me even though I was a complete stranger, I found a job opening.
d. I applied.
e. They called for an interview.
f. I spent a painful hour on the phone answering spit fire questions off the cuff.
g. I felt like an idiot. I gave up.
h. The Association called me back and set up another interview.
i. I high-tailed it to D.C. (see trip overview below)
j. Upon arriving, I had an interview. They asked me why I should be hired in spite of my lack of experience.
k. I have no idea what I said.
l. I got the job.