HipMamaB Lit: My Favorite Read of the Summer So Far

Candice: "Beth. I hate you right now."

Me: "What? What did I do?"

Candice: "That book you told me to download yesterday..."

Me: "Remember When? Oh, yea. You were up until 3 reading, huh?"

Candice: "5. I didn't sleep at all. I now I downloaded book #2 so I don't know when I will sleep again. Bitch."

 *actual conversation between Candice and I a few weeks back...

I love those books that you somehow stumble upon and fall madly in love with. Even better is when you tell your friends about them and they love them as much as you. 

Remember When, the first in the Remember Trilogy, is that book. 

So first off, if you are one of those people who can't sleep when they are engrossed in a good read, then please make sure you have adequate daylight hours to spend reading this book before downloading. I don't want anymore hate letters. And this book is addicting.

It's a fast-paced, amusing story of a 1990's high-school romance told from the view of the Layla Warren - a somewhat popular New Jersey girl who falls head over heels for the new boy Trip Wiley. Trip is beautiful and engaging and every girl in the school is desperately trying to get his attention... Oh yea, and in the future he turns out to be a Hollywood IT BOY the likes of Brad Pitt or Johnny Depp. 

Ever wonder how often Brad Pitt’s high school girlfriend must ponder jumping off a bridge? Ever think about the girl that had her hooks in George Clooney before he took off for TV stardom? How about Leonardo DiCaprio’s ex, or Johnny Depp’s first groupie, or any number of young women who got left behind when their boyfriends set off for greener pastures and eventually achieved unfathomable Hollywood fame?

My name is Layla Warren and I don’t need to wonder about any of those things. I already know. Because years before Trip Wiley could be seen on movie screens all over the world, he could be seen sitting in the desk behind me in my high school English class.

OMG. Can you imagine? But it had to have happened. There is some girl out there that was Brad Pitt's first kiss, or that went to prom with George Clooney. This is that story. And it's SO GOOD.

This summer, book #2 in the trilogy came out. Reuniting Trip and Layla 10 years later, book #2 is defiantly the sophomore book of the series, but still tells a fabulous story of how a first love will never really die. 

Put your shirt down Austin Moon!My ONLY issue with the book is as I was trying to imagine the characters, in my head the person playing Trip kept defaulting to Ross Lynch from Disney's Austin and Ally. Which isn't bad, until it came to the sex scenes.. because then I felt like a total perv. 

So my advice, look up a picture of a young Brad Pitt (and don't listen to "Heard it on the Radio" on repeat with your kids for days before) and start the book when you have at least a 12-hour period you can dedicate to reading... and you will come back to thank me later. 

The Post-trip Post: Where I Get All Sentimental and Girlie #Imagelogger Real Time Explorer Trip

Did you go to sleep away camp as a kid?

I loved camp. My first year going to camp at CIMI, I didn't know anyone and by the time the boat docked 2+ hours and 26 miles across the sea later, I had already begun to form amazing friendships with people that I would never have met in other circumstances.

Leaving San Francisco on Saturday morning after a whirlwind trip with Samsung as part of their Imagelogger program, I felt the same way. Happy to have had the experience. Loving the new friendships formed. Sad that I will probably never see the majority of the people again. 

“Do one thing every day that scares you.”

― Eleanor Roosevelt

Just a little background on the dynamics of the trip. First, I was the only female "Imagelogger" there (But there were two wonderful women from Samsung on the trip as well!). Second, I was only one of four Americans on the trip. All the other invited guests were men, from as far away as Hong Kong, Korea and Italy. Third, I was the only one that is not a "real photographer." And by "real" I mean professional or even good enough to be considered "amateur." And while I know that as a mom I represent 90% of the household purchasing power in the US, and as a blogger I'm fairly influential, it was still a daunting thought going into this trip knowing that I was the lone girl shooting on automatic. 

But you all know me - I'm cool like that.

I can go with the flow and always have a good time. The trip itself was exhausting and amazing. Being the one that always is planning, and prepping and thinking about what's happening next, it was really nice to give up almost all control of my choices for 4 days. The only thing I had to think about was what I was going to wear in the ever changing microclimates of SF and maybe choose an item off the menu for lunch. Seriously, I made 2 choices a day for 4 days, and it was wonderful. If I wanted a new lens to try, I just asked. If I needed a battery for my camera - there was one waiting for me. I was told where to be, how much time I had and when I had to move along. And? It was heaven. If you were following me on Twitter or Facebook, you got a glimpse into everything I experienced. From wine tasting to the races to hang gliding to ferry cruises to a Giants game - we DID San Francisco. 

Life is about experiences - people come into it, even briefly, for specific reasons. Each and every moment of your life changes you just a little and adds to you in a particular way. The people I met on this trip have now all added something to my life, and I love them all for it. 

My heart is full because I got to know them all and share this experience with them. 

And yes, there are still more pictures coming. 

 

Skater Boys, Pride and Flying High: #Imagelogger Real Time Explorer Trip Day 3

Day 3 had us up and out at 9:30 AM rolling all over the city in search of some more amazing shots. This bright and sunny morning found all of us imageloggers out at a local skate park, snapping pics of the skater boys, the street art and all the park had to offer. It even found a few of us swinging... as in playing on the toys normally reserved for children. 

This was a series of monsters all done on the columns of the amphitheater of the park. One of the park maintenance men mentioned that they were done by a Brazilian artist. 

The Action Freeze mode on this camera works amazingly well. I loved being able to capture so many fast shots quickly and with ease. 

I have a thing for street art and this park had some great graffiti decorating almost every surface. The sayings mixed with the colors gave these images an almost gritty, yet eye popping, feel. 

And there there was the huge swing and the fish eye lens fun... 

Next stop was the Castro... and with recent news, how great is it to see this flag flying high and proud? 

After the Castro, we rolled on over to one of the most famous intersections in the USA...

And from there over to the coast to check out people getting even higher than they were in The Haight...

 Another amazing day in San Francisco... Thank you Samsung!

DISCLOSURE: This was an all expense paid press as part of the Samsung Imagelogger program. All images in this post were taken with the Samsung NX300 SMART camera. Samsung provided me with a camera to participate in the #Imagelogger program. All opinions and photographs are my own. Over the next few months I will be sharing images taken with the NX300 SMART camera on Twitter, Facebook and here on my blog. If you want to follow along and check out some of the images the other Imageloggers are taking - just follow the hashtag: #Imagelogger.   

The Sights of San Francisco: Samsung Imagelogger Trip Day 2

Yesterday was the first real full day of the "Real Time Explorer" Imagelogger trip. Imagine a full day of taking pictures of some of the most famous sights of a picturesque town. I've also gotten to know my fellow Imageloggers a little better. While there are only four of us from the US program, we have been joined by Imageloggers from Italy, Korea and Hong Kong. All of my campions are professional photographers, being the sole "mom blogger" of the trip, it quickly became evident that I bring a different skill set to the table. My photos are focused more on people and food - I've dubbed myself the party photographer of the trip. It was a long, but amazing day....

DISCLOSURE: This was an all expense paid press as part of the Samsung Imagelogger program. All images in this post were taken with the Samsung NX300 SMART camera. Samsung provided me with a camera to participate in the #Imagelogger program. All opinions and photographs are my own. Over the next few months I will be sharing images taken with the NX300 SMART camera on Twitter, Facebook and here on my blog. If you want to follow along and check out some of the images the other Imageloggers are taking - just follow the hashtag: #Imagelogger.   

The City By The Bay: Exploring San Francisco With Samsung NX300

This week I'm in San Francisco with Samsung as part of the #Imagelogger program. Daily, I'm going to be posting images of some of the most beautiful sights the city has to offer. Hope you enjoy the city through the view of my NX300 lens!

Here's a few I snapped yesterday after arriving...

DISCLOSURE: This was an all expense paid press as part of the Samsung Imagelogger program. All images in this post were taken with the Samsung NX300 SMART camera. Samsung provided me with a camera to participate in the #Imagelogger program. All opinions and photographs are my own. Over the next few months I will be sharing images taken with the NX300 SMART camera on Twitter, Facebook and here on my blog. If you want to follow along and check out some of the images the other Imageloggers are taking - just follow the hashtag: #Imagelogger.