The past few weeks ushered in milestones, lessons learned, odd requests and fun events. July was busy and productive! Here are the highlights:

My niece was born!

Check it out, folks! The world’s cutest baby, Beverly Emmeline, was born on July 19 and I get to paint her toenails pink VERY soon! Congrats Pavis and Dave; I can’t hardly wait to teach her show tunes and jazz hands:

Photo Credit: Dave Cone or Jon Fletcher; not sure which one of those guys took this, but I’m sure Pavis will let me know when she reads this.

My MacBook died.

I was minding my own business, watching an old episode of Bones on Netflix when my beloved MacBook just up and died. And with it, took every photo, document, file and Christmas card list I’ve ever had. Even our honeymoon pictures. The fault is all mine; Dave has often encouraged me to run a copy of my data on an external drive, but I never did. Lesson learned: back that asset up, people. Read More…

I’m so happy I have a contact form on this website. I get a steady stream of mail from you folks; mostly with questions about breaking into the public relations industry, how to handle various PR issues or a comment about one of my Her Nashville columns.

Today’s question comes from new reader JM:

I’m a recent graduate who just moved into the Nashville area from California and have found myself to be one of the millions of fish in the employ-me-sea. Any advice/tips for a upward minded new guy?

FlackRabbit says:

Dear JM: You’ll love Nashville. I was born in raised there. I moved to D.C. a year and a half ago, but Nashville will always be home. Family and friends are still there; I still write for Her Nashville magazine; many Nashville folks believe I still live there. Here’s three ways a recent grad can stand out in Music City:

Talk to strangers: many fantastic job opportunities are discovered by word-of-mouth, so start meeting folks! A great way to meet fellow recent grads and potential employers is through Meetup.com. That’s where the Nashville Flacks PR happy hour lives; the first meetup is Tuesday, August 10 in downtown Nashville.  If you don’t find a Meetup group that suits your fancy, start your own. That’s what I did when I moved to D.C. and DC Flacks now has 270 members! After you meet someone new, stay connected with them with LinkedIn. Read More…

My hometown of Nashville boasts an abundance of talented PR firms, but D.C. is truly bursting with fabulously useful PR events.

This week, I’ll be attending two flack-tastic gatherings. The first because I’m hosting it, the second because it features a rockin’ panel of D.C. journalists I’d like to get to know. And because the hostess makes for a delightful coffee date.

So, if you are a Washington D.C. PR pro (or just wanna hang out with cool people who like to talk a lot), I hope you’ll show your face on:

Wednesday, January 13 at 6:30 p.m. — it’s time to resume our monthly DC Flacks happy hour at the District Chop House downtown. Join us for cheap beer (a near-impossible find in this town), talented PR, PA and Web professionals, and onion rings. We’ll see you at the upstairs bar; membership is free. Read More…

In keeping with my recent streak of firsts, I created a Meetup group this evening! If you are a PR flack in the DC area, I really hope you’ll join us for happy hour on August 18 at the Chop House upstairs bar (it has its own bathroom!).

I recently accompanied Dave on two Meetup happy hours:  DC Bloggers and DC Photography. Their respective organizers have polar opposite visions for their groups:

The DC Bloggers Meetup was a blast – cool, funny people – but the gal running it has since made it clear the causal attendee isn’t her target audience.  That’s her prerogative, of course, but I just want to MEET UP with folks, not take on a part time job. (sigh) It honestly made me sad to learn folks like me aren’t welcome. Oh, well – at least I got introduced to the DCBlogs dude!

But tonight’s DC Photography Meetup, led by the fabulous Jim, ROCKED. Great turnout, sincere and talented folks – and the entire point really was simply to meet up and get to know each other. And look: the photo dudes have already posted a pic of me and my baby! I had so much fun, it inspired me to start my own for PR peeps.

Right now, the only members are me and hubbs (thanks, baby!). But even if it’s just the two of us who show up, it will still be a fantastic adventure for me, the Meetup newb.

Are you active in Meetup? Do you find them fun or beneficial? Have you ever started a one?

It’s time for an update! First though, let me say that I’m really sorry I’ve been neglecting my Flackrabbit reporting duties. I realize that if you don’t know about Picalicious, or if we don’t stalk each other on Facebook or follow each other on Twitter, you might not be aware of how much I TOTALLY love DC.

So let me tell you: I TOTALLY love DC.

Over the past three weeks, lots of great stuff has happened for Team Newman; sure, it’s scary – just picking your life up and moving – but it continues to feel right. Everything that we have been stressing or fretting over keeps working itself out. It truly is a blessing.

Things I’ve been meaning to do for years, I’m doing. Like changing banks. There is no US Bank here in DC, so I’ve switched to SunTrust. Let me just say that I’m really, really enjoying their customer service and user-friendly website. I highly recommend them. I even earn interest on my checking account.

I’m really loving my gig. Again, I won’t be going into detail about it on this blog, but I keep pinching myself. I’m very blessed to have this opportunity and I love the pressure that comes with knowing they really took a chance on me, so I’ve gotta deliver. That may sound odd, but I dig it.

Dave moved up last week – and he loves it here. I’m so blessed to have him. He moved his whole life and business up here for me; I don’t know how I’ll ever repay him for that. Thanks, baby! In related news: Dave did Karaoke last week and I have proof! Just had to share.

Georgia is settling in well; of course, she’s got Dave, so she’s got that going for her, which is nice.  However, we are confused about why she’s starting to act like a real dog now. Exhibit A: she lays on the floor at your feet. That’s just weird.  We think the wall-to-wall carpet – that I hate -  is very empowering to her.

We continue to walk around awe-struck that we actually live here. We can walk out of our apartment and buy produce at the farmer’s market, or buy a bottle of wine at the little place across the street, or take the metro to the zoo, or just mosey across Pennsylvania Ave and hear free jazz in the sculpture garden. All without a car.

In other news:

• Team Newman is sad to report that Rebecca is leaving us right when we got here. We are uber happy for her and her fabulous new job in Dallas – but we are sooooooo sad to see her go! Be sure to check Picalicious on Sunday for pics of her going away party.
• Team Newman is happy to report that we have not been completely lost in the city yet, nor have we felt unsafe. You folks seem to be particularly curious about the latter half of that statement. We feel fine here! Swear!
• Team Newman feels obligated to report that it rains a lot here. Like all the time. We’ll be purchasing trench coats in the neat future.

And finally, don’t forget to pick up the June issue of Her Nashville! This month, Chic Geek answers some for your frequently asked questions – check it out!

Dave and I are starting to get excited about (as opposed to freaked out by) our upcoming DC adventure. We are reading, Googling and researching our new hood. We really appreciate all of you who have reached out and offered advice/help/guidance.

We’ve had several folks look at renting the Nashvegas condo – crossed fingers, prayers, happy thoughts and positive vibes appreciated… hope to have her rented soon.

Can’t believe I’ll be a DC resident in just two weeks. INSANE!

Posted via email from margienewman’s posterous

Check out our new hood, yo! We are thrilled to call ourselves soon-to-be residents of this fabulous building in Penn Quarter. And when I say “we” I mean me and mom, since Dave has not actually seen the place yet. But he’s excited anyway.

The best part: one block walk to work!

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