When I saw the title of this thread, I thought - when did I post that? (That's the plan for me to do, as well, once I finish grad school!)
Anyways, Amanda, I'm going to try and get a hold of my friend who is currently living in CT, and see if she has any advice and would be willing to be an email buddy that you can probe for ideas. If she agrees, and you PM me your email address, I'll get the two of you "in contact" with one another