The Urban Darling

Our New Sofa Sectional From Rove Lab

By Esperanza on October 30, 2024

Rove Lab, sofa sectional, Rove Lab Sofa Sectional, sofa, neutral style, modern style, modern neutral, boho modern, boho chic style, boho home, modern home, neutral home, interior design, lifestyle blogger, fashion blogger, mommy blogger, baby boy, dog, Phoenix, Phoenix blogger, The Urban Darling.

Andrew and I have been living in our rental home with Sage and Arlo for a month now; I can’t believe how fast that went by! We recently received our new sofa which we have been so excited about. It’s the M1 Sofa Sectional from Rove Lab, which conveniently arrived at our house in boxes, and it was so easy to set up. The sleeper sofa that we had been using temporarily has now been moved to our guest room, and the new sofa totally ties the whole space together! I really wanted the neutral cream color, but after going back and forth, we decided a colored sofa would be a safer bet with a dog and a baby in the house. I was a little nervous about the bold color at first, but after decorating it in our space, I realized it was perfect with the rest of our aesthetic and design style.

Visiting The Pumpkin Patch & Animal Farm

By Esperanza on October 20, 2024

Phoenix, couples, pumpkin patch, pumpkins, animal farm, couples photography, family photography, family, couples style, family style, baby style, baby boy, baby boy style, neutral style, retro style, desert style, desert vibes, desert plants, fashion blogger, lifestyle blogger, The Urban Darling.

I was really excited for the holidays to come up this year because I knew it would be so fun experiencing them with my baby boy Sage for the first time! Andrew and I took Sage to his first pumpkin patch last week and even though it was soooo hot here in the Phoenix area the day we went, we had a ton of fun. The farm we went to had a little petting zoo with goats, cows, horses, sheep, a llama, and even zebras! Sage does seem to love animals, especially Andrew’s dog Arlo, but he wasn’t nearly as excited about them as he was the big orange pumpkins! Those really put a sparkle in his eyes lol.

My Life | My Style

Life Update: My New Relationship & Fresh Start

By Esperanza on October 16, 2024

I have been waiting to share this news for a few months now and I decided that I was finally ready to open up about my new relationship! Andrew and I met in an unexpected way on a dating app and hit it off right away. He was living in Portland but the app changed his location to Phoenix while he was here for a few day’s interviewing for a position (he is a chef/food consultant). It happened to be the day I created my profile otherwise we would have never matched! He came to visit me about a week later and we started officially dating.

My Life | My Style

My Passion For Supporting Small & Local Businesses

By Esperanza on

Small business, local business, passion, ethical, sustainable, local, Phoenix, Phoenix business, local Phoenix business, ethical style, sustainable style, desert style, desert vibes, boho chic style, fashion blogger, lifestyle blogger, The Urban Darling, Redemption Market, Apolis, Paper Anchor Co, Leah California, Nomad Design Co.

I have always been an entrepreneur at heart. When I was 18 and going to college in Spokane, WA, I started an Etsy shop re-selling vintage clothing as well as my first fashion blog! I would share the photos I took for my shop on the blog. I was inspired by this small consignment boutique in downtown that I loved visiting and from there I started discovering record shops, thrift stores, and other small boutiques. They did not have these kinds of shops in the small farm town I grew up in! I think that’s where my love of small & local businesses began. I love sharing small & local businesses that I visit on my travels or here in my current hometown of Phoenix, AZ on my blog and socials. I like to think it’s my way of giving back and supporting those businesses, especially because I too am a small business owner as a blogger/content creator!

My Life | My Style

Life Update: We Moved Into A Modern Rental Home

By Esperanza on October 5, 2024

Open Spaces, Onsen, waffle towels, move in sets, kitchen organization, bathroom organization, Sezane, Sezane style, modern interiors, modern kitchen, baby boy style, neutral style, neutral modern, first time mom, single mom, rental house, Phoenix house, lifestyle blogger, Phoenix blogger, milestone, life update.

My son Sage and I recently moved into a beautiful new rental home, which is a huge milestone for me personally after living with my parents for a year while I was finishing the last half of my pregnancy, giving birth to Sage, navigating postpartum, and getting over a bad breakup. It’s been almost 2 weeks and we are finally unpacked, finished quite a bit of decorating, and had my parents over for dinner! It’s a 3 bedroom house so Sage has his own nursery, we have a garage, a nice sized back yard, and the interiors are gorgeous. The place has a neutral modern feel to it, the owner remodeled about 4 years ago and the previous tenant kept everything in great condition. It was by far the best place out of the 13 homes I toured. The minute I stepped in, I knew it was perfect for us!

Baby | Baby Style

Sage Wylder’s Five & Six Month Baby Update

By Esperanza on September 23, 2024

Baby, baby update, baby boy, newborn, newborn baby, first baby, new mom, first time mom, baby style, neutral style, neutral baby stile, baby milestones, baby photography, boho style, sustainable style, neutral nursery, desert style, desert vibes, lifestyle blogger, fashion photography, lifestyle photography, The Urban Darling.

I can’t believe Sage is now almost 8 months old! I am so behind on getting his 5 and 6 month baby update up because I have been busy with travel content from our Central Oregon trip, brand campaigns, and packing for our move which I will be sharing more about on here soon. So here is a quick recap of Sage’s milestones during these months! He has gotten so much gigglier but he can definitely be very serious and knows how to let us know what he wants lol. I sometimes think to myself how lucky I am to be this special boy’s mom during little moments throughout the weeks. He is changing so much everyday… it really does go by so fast!

Bend, Oregon, USA | Travel

A Mini Travel Guide To Bend, Oregon

By Esperanza on September 12, 2024

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I am finally getting around to sharing what we did in Bend during our Central Oregon visit with my parents. I have come to terms with the fact that as a momma, it takes me a little while longer to get things done and that’s totally ok lol! During our week in Central Oregon we stayed at Eagle Crest in Redmond and drove to Bend to spend the day. I have been to Bend a few times over the years and loved it so I was excited to check it out again and share some spots I loved. I’m so lucky that I have been able to do so much traveling with my baby boy Sage Wylder! I love that I am making and capturing these special memories with him. I have been sharing our family travels in these “mini travel guides” where I like to highlight where we ate, where we shopped, and what we did which I hope you guys enjoy and find helpful for your travels!

My Life

Life Update & Dating As a Single Mom

By Esperanza on September 3, 2024

I have been meaning to share a life update on here for several months now but life has been so busy! For those of you that are new here, I was in a relationship with Sage’s father Schyler for almost 10 years, but we split up a little over halfway through my pregnancy due to his mental health issues. I held out a lot of hope that if he was able to get help, we would somehow be able to be a family again. Although he was able to get help eventually, and is doing better, it became very clear that would not be possible. It’s not something that I ever thought would happen before I got pregnant and this whole situation has been very tough to share, but unfortunately that has been my reality.

Sisters, Oregon, USA | Travel

Mini Travel Guide To Sisters, Oregon

By Esperanza on August 19, 2024

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Towards the end of July, Sage and I flew to Oregon with my parents to spend time with my brother and his family who live in Salem. We stayed at Eagle Crest in Redmond and during our week there, we spent a day in Sisters. My dad is from Oregon so growing up we would do a lot of road trips, camping trips, etc. all over the state. I remember visiting Sisters when I was a little girl so it was really cool getting to re-visit the western style town with my son Sage. I vividly remember eating at Sisters Saloon which I was happy to see is still there! I also found so many cute boutiques and this adorable coffee shop to check out during our time there. The town definitely attracts a lot of tourists and seemed to be thriving! I’m sharing the spots we checked out in this blog post.

Breckenridge, Colorado, USA | Travel

A Mini Travel Guide To Breckenridge, Colorado

By Esperanza on August 11, 2024

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I’m finally getting around to sharing my last mini travel guide from the Colorado trip that Sage and I took with my parents back in May! As a single mom, I’m finding that it takes me much longer to get things done and that’s ok. Since then we have also taken a trip to Oregon that I can’t wait to share with you guys soon! In this blog post, I’m sharing some of the spots that we checked out during our time in Breckenridge, Colorado. Breckenridge is a very popular, family friendly ski town in Colorado that is fairly small and easy to get around. Plus, the Rocky Mountain setting is gorgeous! We visited in the Spring so of course there wasn’t any skiing going on, we were mainly visiting for the setting. I discovered some very cute boutiques which you guys already know I love, and we popped into the this adorable bakery that had the most delicious pastries. I’ll be featuring these spots below!