I can see why you would be reluctant to contact the woman. It seems far more likely to me that she simply hasn't looked at them yet. Can you contact your friend? I wouldn't send any emails assuming that she has already decided that you're not a good fit - she may misread them and think that you are saying you don't want to work with them after all.

I guess I would probably send something along the lines of 'my vacation was so refeshing, now getting back to work, just touching base re: the samples, excited about prospect of working with you, i bring x, y, and z to the table, thank you so much for talking with me last month, etc.'

And hopefully you know from your friend exactly which x, y, and z will have the greatest impact.

My friend actually sent me an email I want to print out and frame - she wrote a novel about all of the strategic points I should include in my thank you/follow up and how my experience relates to them. It was extremely flattering. I had no idea how much she wanted me to work there. She has seemed sort of ... detached at times.

It was too late - I'd already sent something - but I am going to incorporate some of what she wrote into an email I send to the owner, since the last was just addressed to the guy badly managing the interview process.

I really like the idea of practicing conversations! I'd love something like toastmasters, where instead of practicing presentations, you get to practice plain old talking to people. I just don't come off the way I want - and sometimes feel like no one wants to meet me, like at that board meeting. Is it because I look sort of dumpy? Or something I say? I don't get it.

I'm glad that you've found so much support at work - that's such a good sign, and just a good feeling to know that other people care about your happiness - and think that it's the worth the time to invest in you and your job satisfaction.