Packing tips and tricks for a week long trip // MarleyIlly Luggage

Hi Dolls,

I am SUPER excited to finally share this travel post with all of you. I've been working on this for awhile now and I really hope you enjoy it. I will be sharing how I will be packing for my week long trip to Miami that includes tricks to save your make up from breaking, your jewelry from getting all tangled, and so much more!

Our Palm Springs Getaway Recap

Welcome to another Ashley Travels blog post! My last travel post was when my Husband and I went to the Super Bowl in Houston, TX. Just a heads up that I didn't go into this trip with intentions to create a blog post for you ladies. I am doing this because I got SO MANY questions from my Insta Stories while we were there. I am sharing the few snaps I did take while I was there.

This was my first time ever visiting Palm Springs and we literally stayed at our hotel the entire time because that's why we went there. I think the next time I go I will venture out more and explore this beautiful place. I cannot say enough great things about the JW Marriott Desert Ridge Hotel. It is one of the most family friendly hotels I have been to in awhile, minus our trip to Disneyland of course. The hotel staff is incredibly helpful and friendly. From the moment we stepped out of our car to the time they helped me load my car to leave, I was beyond impressed.

 The lobby was under remodel when we were there so it wasn't anything to snap a picture of. Ha! The inside of the hotel is just beautiful. My son was obsessed with the boats and my daughter was soaked they had a Starbucks inside...I've trained her well. ;) The hotel offers boat rides around the property for free with your hotel stay. We rode them a handful of times and it was so fun! You can take the boats to the different restaurants they have on the grounds as well. They also have flamingos in front of the hotel when you drive up!

One of the restaurants on the grounds was a major hit with the kids because they could feed the fish and ducks right there on the patio while we ate. Which was amazing because my Mom and I could enjoy our cocktails, chips, and guacamole in peace. The sunsets were just incredible from every part of the hotel. 

My kids are FISH whenever there is a pool near by. This pool was just prefect because it was about 2 feet deep for a GOOD part of it. Which is freaken amazing for those kids learning to swim and for the parents so we can literally relax and enjoy our cocktails! Also you can bring your own blow up toys. I wished I would have gotten this memo before we came because it would have been a lot nicer for my kids. The poolside service was just awesome and the food was so delicious. We literally stayed at the pool the entire day and it was just fabulous. They play family friendly music as well, which was just the cherry on top of our pool day. 

There are three pools on the grounds and also an 18+ up pool where you can rent a cabana. They have so much seating around the pool areas as well. So nice because you don't feel like you are on top of each other. Plus tons of shade for yourself and the kiddos. 

You don't have a successful getaway without a little room service, am I right?! We celebrated my son's very belated birthday with some goodies. Of course he took two bites and was done. HA! So us girls happily finished off his cake for him. Waking up to this view and enjoying coffee on the patio was so refreshing. My Husband always gives me crap about living in the hotel ropes on our trips. Clearly he didn't get the memo about that's what girls do on getaways! It's apart of the experience.

If you are planning a Palm Springs get away, I highly recommend checking this hotel out. I cannot wait to get back there and relax with my family again. My Husband is itching to play the course when he goes and so is my son. HEHE I just love that my son is into golfing at such a young age, it's so cute! My daughter and I want to hit the spa next time for some mani/pedis. Also they have a shopping area in the hotel as well. We didn't get to that part because we were to busy taking boat rides, feeding the ducks, and soaking up the sun.

I hope you ladies enjoyed our little Palm Springs recap. I have another trip coming up in October and I will be doing a full recap on that as well for you ladies. I am so excited to visit Florida because I've never been!

Super Bowl Trip // Recap

Hey Babes!  

Heads up..... major pic OVERLOAD on this post!! I got a ton of questions on how we scored this trip, so I'll be answering those questions on this post. :) 

First,  this trip was sponsored by Sprint and JBL Audio. My husband works in the retail industry and EARNED this trip. He worked his butt off for months to win this trip and I could be prouder of him! We left Friday morning before Super Bowl Sunday and as soon as we landed in Houston, you could feel the spirit of the Super Bowl in the air. Everyone was pumped up for the game and so welcoming! The entire Houston Airpot staff was SO nice and helpful we couldn't believe it, I mean who is ever nice and helpful at the airport these days?! HA! The airport was bananas!! Police everywhere, k-9's doing their thing (which was adorable to watch and made me miss my Champ so much) and the drivers waiting for the big wigs from all the media outlets. It's truly amazing how much goes into the Super Bowl and the led up to the game. 

Once we checked into our hotel, we headed downstairs to check in with our JBL Audio group that we would be hanging out with for the entire trip. I have to say, JBL Audio has the NICEST people working for them. We were given our goodie bags and our schedule for the trip. My husband won this trip last year as well and our goodie bags were about the same as the year before. The clear bag is for Super Bowl Sunday, because you have to have a clear bag to get into stadium. The football is to bring to all the events we would be attending because they had NFL payers and NFL alumni for us to meet and have them sign our football. The jacket, headphones, and gift card are extra goodies. That jacket is seriously the best and it's super soft! 

Ladies, I didn't really get good snaps of my outfits during the trip. Mainly because the lighting in the hotel room was awful and when we got downstairs to start our days my husband was not going to snap pics for me LOL which I don't blame him because he had handful corporate heads always around us. So I apologize for the lack of outfit snaps! HAHA 

The first night we had a Chalk Talk with Dan Patrick. He had three guests on his panel. First was one of the four guys who create the NFL Schedule, which I thought was pretty darn cool! He explained how secretive it is and who takes part in it. The second guy, was an Executive from the Miami Dolphins and the third guest was recently retired NFL play Steve Smith Senior. He was really nice and funny!!  

I met Dan Patrick last year and Howie Long, they are super nice!! My husband listens to Dan Patrick all the time and we were listening to him on the radio on the way to the airport and then meeting him that night was surreal!!

 After our Chalk Talk Dinner, it was off to see Burno Mars at club Nomadic!

 It was FREEZING that night and I'm so happy it was nice a cozy inside!

If you get the chance to go see Burno Mars in concert, GO!! He is incredible and puts on a memorable show. The best part of the evening was sneaking into VIP ;)

Room Service has to be one of my favorite parts about traveling. We diffidently took advantage of the VIP section the night before, so we were a little slow going the next morning. My poor husband had a mandatory breakfast meeting the following morning so I ordered room service and stayed in bed...someone's got to act like we are on vacation! 

Saturday morning was our free day. We were able to go over and check out the NFL Experience area and it was really fun. I think my favorite part was the outside portion of the event. I didn't snap any pictures inside because it was INSANELY crowded and we only stayed in there for a few because of the crowds. It was really cool tho, lots of stuff for the guys to do but the lines were SO LONG!! 

We are a Dallas Cowboys family and we stayed in like for 20-30 minutes to take this photo! HAHA The only lines for the helmets were Cowboys and Patriots. :) 

Later that night we had our JBL 70th Anniversary Party to attend at Las Velas. I have to say this venue was the most romantic location I have ever seen!!!

Such beautiful little details. 

Inside the venue was as equally stunning!! It almost made you feel like you were in another country. We had cocktails for the first hour and then we went and grabbed our dinner. Outside, they had a cigar rolling station, where you could pick out a cigar to take home or enjoy on the courtyard. We decided to enjoy ours outside because how could you not?! It was so beautiful outside and the company was amazing! Now I'm not going to name off who was all there because for one I don't remember all these NFL guys names. So, just go show your boyfriend or husband this photo and ask them! HAHA

We brought our footballs to have the NFL Alumni sign them. There were a good handful of these guys and my husband had me stay in line to get all their signatures! I'm like, babe I don't know who they are and you should work for these darn signatures. HAHA! The lighting in the venue was on point as you can tell. ;)

The surprise performance was by GRACE! She is only 19 years old and has the most incredible voice!!! If you follow me on SnapChat, then you saw some of her songs. Her current hit is "You Don't Own Me ft. G-Eazy" I have her album on repeat right now. Go check her out!

This trip really couldn't have come at a more prefect time because our 7th Wedding Anniversary was on this amazing day/night. The prefect venue to have a great night with my amazing loving Husband!

The next morning was GAME DAY!!!! 

But first BRUNCH!.....The NFL Alumni Tailgate Brunch that is! 

That was the hotel the Patriots were staying at. The hotel was surrounded by Police and it was just a block away from where we were having brunch.

The morning Chalk Talk was pretty fun to listen too and also hear all these guys discuss what could happen durning the game. I think my favorite part was meeting Riverboat Dan...The head coach of the Panthers ! He was soooooo nice!!! The restaurant put on a beautiful and tasty breakfast for everyone. We had red velvet waffles and endless mimosas along with some other tasty things!

On our way to the Super Bowl, our charter bus had a police escort and to the game. Those two white buses are the Atlanta Falcons heading tot he game! It was so cool to see the Police officers clear the entire freeway for these guys.

On our way into the stadium!! The Houston Stadium was so nice and I loved how there were so many bathrooms HAHA! Zero lines for us ladies!

Our seats were pretty amazing this year and I loved how it was a dome stadium. 

Lady Gaga killed the halftime show and I loved every second of it!! 

My FAVORITE part of the game! The moment the winning team wins!!! Queue the massive confetti cannons!

Cheers to an AMAZING and memorable weekend!!!! 

Now that I am a dog Mom HAHA I saw so many working dogs at the airport and Super Bowl. Made me miss my little Champers.  

Heading home to see our babies!! We were both so exhausted from all the fun over the long weekend, we had our favorite shows going during the ride home LOL This is major relationship goals! Love this guy with all I have. <3 <3

Thanks for checking out my post ladies. I know it was a long one and I'm sorry it wasn't up sooner. Wishing you a great weekend. We are having so fun in California with my Mom for a couple of days.