Things have finally calmed down! After several days of uncharacteristic crankiness I think I've figured it out (fingers crossed!)...
Rather than waiting for her to get a bit crabby before I put her down, as soon as the first yawn happens I swaddle her as quick as I can and put her into her crib. If I get her down as soon as she shows signs of being tired, she goes right to sleep, or at least after 3-4 mins of fussing.
If I miss out on that window, she gets VERY overstimulated VERY fast and it is almost impossible to calm her down. She'll nurse and nurse b/c sucking makes her feel better, but as soon as she falls asleep and stops sucking she'll wake up again freaked out. Eventually, several hours later, she'll crash and sleep, but until bath and bedtime she won't sleep more than 30min and has an AWFUL day!
So - I can't really go out for longer than an hour with her, but for now that's a price I'm willing to pay for a happy baby and a quiet home!! Hopefully she'll be ready for longer awake times in the next month or so!
Hope this helps someone else!