The Gem Atop Nob Hill: 4 Reasons to Stay at the Intercontinental Mark Hopkins Hotel in San Francisco

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On recent trip to San Francisco, I had the opportunity to stay at the InterContinental Mark Hopkins Hotel in the heart of the Nob Hill neighborhood.  This was my second time to stay at this luxury property, so I knew that it would be perfect for my special getaway “race-cation” for the San Francisco Marathon. … Read more

Palace By The Sea: The Resort at Pedregal, Cabo San Lucas

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Cabo San Lucas, Mexico is an incredibly popular tourist destination for Americans.  The fun and friendly Mexican atmosphere combined with beautiful blue waters, incredible offshore fishing and a desert climate, all make it the ultimate oceanside getaway. 

I decided to take my husband, Ryan, to Cabo to celebrate his 40th birthday.  One of his bucket list items was to go offshore fishing in Cabo, and another was to go on a relaxing vacation and basically be waited on hand and foot.  So you can imagine my level of excitement when I figured out a way to accomplish both of those things all wrapped up in a kid-free trip to Cabo San Lucas.  Here’s the story of our adventure.

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Family Trip to Cali: Hollywood & Beverly Hills With Kids

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Originally published 6/25/18 on BritneyCrosson.com. Ryan and I have been to Southern California together, just the two of us, many times.  But we’ve never taken the kids before (thank you, grandparents), until now.  For our big family vacation this summer, we decided on a Disneyland focus with some other Cali experiences sprinkled in.  I was … Read more

Family Road Trip to Dallas

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Originally published 3/22/18 on BritneyCrosson.com.

I used to watch Spring Break shows on MTV.  You know, the ones where they had a big stage set up on a beach somewhere with hundreds of young people in the crowd screaming and cheering and waiting for their big moment to get on stage and play a game that surely involved swimsuits and whipped cream?  Yeah, those.  Loved ’em.  Do they still have shows like that?

Fast forward to 2018 where I’m a married mother of two.  Neither swimsuits nor whipped cream are a big part of my life.  And I certainly don’t just sit around and watch MTV for 5 days straight.  But I did still manage to squeeze in some spring break fun, even if it was pretty tame and rated G (mayyyybe PG, in bits).

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Parents Getaway to Miami – What To Do

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Originally published 2/7/18 on BritneyCrosson.com.

There was so much to share about our parents getaway to Miami, that I had to write this second blog post about it.  You can read all about the Miami hotel and restaurant highlights on my previous post, here.  Now it’s time to chat about fun things to do in Miami on a kid-free parents getaway.

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Parents Getaway in Miami – Where to Stay & What to Eat

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Originally published 1/28/18 on BritneyCrosson.com.

Fun, Exciting, Beautiful, Wild – these are all of the adjectives that popped into my head when I first considered a getaway with my husband, Ryan, to Miami.  I said, “We’re still young. Going to Miami now is a good idea.” That was my way of justifying the trip to him. To be quite frank, I hope I’m up for trips to Miami even when I’m not young anymore.  But, whatever.  I made my point. He agreed to go. We live close to our kids’ grandparents who are more than willing to watch them if we go somewhere.  It was happening.  I was ready to ‘party in the city where the heat is on’ as Will Smith had preached to me for the past 20 years.

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New Orleans, Table for Two

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Originally published 12/22/2017 on BritneyCrosson.com. Thank god I love gumbo. I ate it 4 times in the 48 hour time period that my husband and I were in New Orleans celebrating our 13-year wedding anniversary. To say that gumbo is a pretty big deal in New Orleans would be an understatement. Actually, delicious food, in … Read more

The Ritz-Carlton New Orleans: Classic Luxury, NOLA Style

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Originally published December 14, 2017 on BritneyCrosson.com

When my husband and I arrived at The Ritz-Carlton New Orleans to celebrate our 13-year wedding anniversary in a city that neither of us had visited before, we actually felt a sense of comfort. You see, this was our second stay at a Ritz-Carlton property (the first being in Orlando).  It was good to “be back” under a roof that we were confident would be clean, lovely and full of excellent service (an extra special treat for busy parents). When you stay at a property of this caliber, you discover what luxury truly is. Some folks may be intimidated by a fancy schmancy hotel, but I can assure you that intimidation is not a part of staying at The R-C NOLA.  In fact, I’d say it’s quite the opposite. The staff was welcoming and warm, and it was filled with guests from all walks of life.

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Cool Luxury: Hotel ZaZa Houston Museum District

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Originally published September 18, 2017 on BritneyCrosson.com.

When my husband asked what I wanted to do for my 37th birthday recently, I said, “I’d love to stay the night at Hotel ZaZa” to which he replied, “Okay, well let’s check to see if they have a room available.”  He didn’t know that I had already checked, and they did.  In fact, they had a great offer that included valet parking, breakfast for two and two drink vouchers.  I had it booked in 5 minutes.

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