I am so bad. I have been so busy since I got back, I am finally now writing about this awesome event. I was contacted about this the day before my birthday (I know, what a great birthday present!!!). Sony wanted to talk to 15 mommy bloggers and give us some cameras (I didn’t know this last part till the day before I left for the trip!). All expenses paid trip, how could I say no?
I flew out on April 16th to San Diego. They got me an a flight through Midway (which I seriously needed since Midway is only 15 minutes away and Ohare is about an hour). Sitting in the airport always sucks, but I made due. My plane flight there sucked. A little girl screamed the whole way. This is why I don’t fly with my kids. I am terrified that is going to be me. The mom was by herself, and she walked up and down the aisle for the four and half hour flight. I felt so bad for her.
We then got to San Diego and I had a limo driver waiting for me. He had my name on a sign. It was super cool. I know I’ll never see that again. He took me to the La Valencia Hotel in La Jolla (it was about a half hour drive). The hotel was awesome (I’ll be writing about it on my travel blog, so I won’t go into too many details here). Sony had boxes set up in our room (to use to Fed Ex our cameras back). They also had left us headphones for our kids, a rose, and two chocolate candy bars. They obviously know the way to a woman’s heart. We were on our own for Wednesday night (though we did have a $50 certificate to use at the restaurant). I met up with Deanna and Anne Marie , and we went to dinner. I had filet mignon. It was super yummy. It was one of those steaks that you didn’t even have to chew it — it just melted in your mouth.
The next day we had to be at breakfast at 9:00. We had a buffet breakfast (which was awesome). This is the view we had from the room we were in. Beautiful, isn’t it? We spent the first two hours after that introducing ourselves. We then had lunch out in the beautiful sunshine. We were only out there for about an hour eating some of the best food ever and I got sunburned!!! Here’s a list of all the awesome ladies who were there (if you have more blogs that I haven’t listed, let me know and I’ll get them added):
After lunch, we got to learn about Sony and the impact of women on their business (Let me tell you, we have a huge impact!!!). We then got to start playing with the cameras we got. Oh wait, I didn’t show you the cameras yet —-
Camera #1: Sony Cybershot
Camera #2: Sony DSLR-A300K
Camera #3 – Handycam HDR-SR10
Yes, Sony gave us all three cameras! They also set aside time for us to work with their trainers so we could learn how to use them!
We then got instruction from photography expert Me Ra Koh. She gave us shooting instruction and tips of how to get specific results. She was really nice and she’s a blogger too!
We then got to go out to the beach and play with the cameras!
We then got a little bit of time to run up to our room and get ready for dinner. I took these pictures from my room!
We then met up with Sony and went to dinner at the Azul Restaurant. I got back to the hotel between 10 – 11 and went to bed.
On Friday, (April 18th), we met again for breakfast. Me Ra took some of our photos and critiqued them for us. She told us how to make our photos better. We then had a presentation from Rocket XL (the advertising agency who helped pull this all together). Us mommy bloggers ended up taking over that session with our opinions and thoughts.
After this session, we were able to do whatever we wanted till we caught our plane. Sony also gave us certificates for the spa, so I went and had a deep tissue massage. I then ate lunch and then had to get on my plane.
I leave on Wednesday for this. I am starting to get super excited. Granted, it isn’t going to be as good as going on a royal caribbean cruise. However, a couple of days of no husband and kids is a good thing, right? I checked the hotel out online, and it looks awesome. This whole trip just looks like it is going to be a ton of fun. I have already emailed and talked to several of the other moms who are going to be there. Everybody sounds really cool. I love that they are giving us time to blog while we are at this event. Now, do I bring my Kodak camera? LOL
I don’t normally write too much about celebrities on here. However, I was interested in the Health Ledger autopsy results. It is so sad to see someone with so much potential die young. I watched The Patriot the other night and got all teary eyed when I saw him.
“Mr. Heath Ledger died as the result of acute intoxication by the combined effects of oxycodone, hydrocodone, diazepam, temazepam, alprazolam and doxylamine,” medical examiner’s spokeswoman Ellen Borakove said in a statement. What that means is that he died from an accidental overdose of prescription drugs that included painkillers, sleeping pills and anti-anxiety medication.
He would have turned 29 on April 4. My thoughts and prayers go out to his family and especially his little girl.
Ok, it seems like a couple of people are having a problem getting the video to play including my sister who I actually put this online for, so I am going to try another video uploading program and see if that works better. I swear that running on a treadmill would be easier than this. However, next time, this should be easier (I hope!). In the prior post, I also have the video, so you can watch it there too! It is 13 minutes, so I really don’t expect anybody besides family to watch it. If you do take on the adventure, great! It was a cute concert.
I messed up and missed posting this last week when my computer exploded. I am posting this today and will have another hero up for tomorrow.
Spc. Josiah H. Vandertulip
21 years old from Irving, Texas
2nd Battalion, 7th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division
October 14, 2004
Louise Vandertulip fussed at her son about his spending. He bought wild, overpriced hats that had flames on them or horns coming out of the top, she said.
While in Army basic training, he bought portraits of himself. His mother told him to save his money.
She’s glad he didn’t listen.
The hats and the pictures are all a part of her memories now.
Spc. Josiah H. Vandertulip was killed in Baghdad when his patrol came under small arms fire.
Josiah Vandertulip joined the Army right after his graduation from Irving High School in 2002. He spent a year in South Korea before being stationed at Texas’ Fort Hood in February. Against his mother’s advice, he volunteered to go to Iraq. She told him to wait, to go to college.
“When he was determined to do something in his heart, he would do it and hell or high water couldn’t keep him from it,” she said
By going, he knew someone else with a young family could be saved from serving, relatives said.
He always had the important things right, Louise Vandertulip said.
“There’s a lot of rest in knowing that he died doing what he believed in and doing what he thought was right,” she said.
“We have a much more real sense of the cost for the freedom that we enjoy now,” said his father, Robert Vandertulip.
“Josiah was the first brand new soldiers I recieved as a dismounted team leader in Korea. He was one of the Best soldiers I have had the honor to train and work with. He loved being a soldier as much as any guy I have met. He was a great leader in the absence of his superiors. I could always count on him to make sure the mission was accomplished. I watched him change over the year I had him from a goofy kid, to a hard charging soldier.”
Sgt. Nickolas Faul
These brave men and women sacrifice so much in their lives so that others may enjoy the freedoms we get to enjoy everyday. For that, I am proud to call them Hero.
We Should Not Only Mourn These Men And Women Who Died, We Should Also Thank God That Such People Lived
This post is part of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll. To find out more about Wednesay Hero, you can go here.
The next day we had to be at breakfast at 9:00. We had a buffet breakfast (which was awesome). This is the view we had from the room we were in. Beautiful, isn’t it? We spent the first two hours after that introducing ourselves. We then had lunch out in the beautiful sunshine. We were only out there for about an hour eating some of the best food ever and I got sunburned!!! Here’s a list of all the awesome ladies who were there (if you have more blogs that I haven’t listed, let me know and I’ll get them added):
I checked the hotel out online, and it looks awesome. This whole trip just looks like it is going to be a ton of fun. I have already emailed and talked to several of the other moms who are going to be there. Everybody sounds really cool. I love that they are giving us time to blog while we are at this event. Now, do I bring my Kodak camera? LOL
