so... funny story.
there was nothing wrong with the card. it just wont mount right away.
after leaving my phone charging for about 20 min, i came back to it, opened file browser and there it was...

but if i just pop the card in and run:
Nokia-N900:~# mount -t vfat /dev/mmcblk1p1 /media/mmc1
mount: mounting /dev/mmcblk1p1 on /media/mmc1 failed: No such file or directory

mmc1 exists, but /dev/mmcblk1 does not.

plug the phone into the wall charger and TADA! microsd mounts and /dev/mmcblk1 shows up.