Just Call Me Little Miss Sign Seeker

Kristina and I were talking the other day about my vascillating back and forth on whether or not to move to DC after I take the Bar. I told her how when I visited law schools in Boston it was so clear that I was supposed to be there (so very clear that I sometimes wonder if I would have gotten into Harvard if I had applied just based on the sheer "Kelly needs to be in Boston" factor). I've come to DC looking for something like that...some sort of sign. She said, "Well, you know what happens to people who ask for signs. You tend to get your house blown up and stuff like that." And I really don't think my roommates would look too kindly on me if our place got blown up because, Ooooo, Kelly needs a sign. Isn't she special?

Well, the lesson I learned yesterday is that sometimes signs DO happen.

I had a meeting with someone on the Hill on Friday, right? While we were talking about networking and connections and all of that stuff, he asked me where I'm from and told me you have to take advantage of EVERY connection to get anywhere. I told him where I grew up and he said, "Oh, I think there's a new Congressman from there." I said the Congressman's name and he said, "I think that's him." He looked up his name and confirmed that I was right. I said, "Yeah, I went to high school with his daughter." He looked excited and said, "See! That's the kind of connection I'm talking about!"

My graduating class was pretty small, only 164 students or so, and we all knew each other. Still....it seems kind of skeevy to contact this girl after 11 years about job stuff. So I was mulling that over in my head when I went to the Hill again yesterday to meet with someone. This person's office was actually in the House and can I just tell you how cool I felt with my visitor nametag, walking past the No Tourist barriers? Of course I had to ask 4 different people which way the office was because it's confusing in there, so I wasn't quite as cool as I could have been, but whatever. I was in a suit and I was in the House.

After we chatted I walked back to the Metro station. I was supposed to call a friend who works in Maryland about getting together, but there was no answer on her cell. Down from the Metro station, I noticed a couple of restaurants and decided to stop for lunch (since it was 2 PM and all) and wait and see if my friend called. She did eventually and we met up later. Anyway, I had lunch at a Subway and sat there for about a half hour, just reading a magazine and sipping my Diet Coke with Lime (which I still contend is infused with crack). As I was getting up to leave I glanced over at the two girls who had just sat down at the table behind mine.

OK, I'm going to let you guess who one of those girls was. Come on, just guess.

Yes, you're exactly right. The daughter of the Congressman who I went to high school with. The last time I saw her was 11 years and 2 states ago.

I stood there for a second, feeling completely flabbergasted, and then said her name, we'll call her Marisol, with a little question mark at the end. Marisol looked up and said, "Kelly? Oh my gosh!" So we hugged and chatted for about 10 minutes or so about what we're doing and why we're in DC (she's working here) and who we've heard from. We exchanged emails and phone numbers and she told me to get in touch the next time I'm down here.

Now while I still feel skeevy saying something like, "Help me find a job," now that we've bumped into each other, I feel perfectly fine with emailing her and asking for her advice.

Can. You. Believe. It?!

Me neither.