The Urban Darling

Our Stay At High Country Motor Lodge In Flagstaff, AZ

By Esperanza on November 22, 2024

High Country Motor Lodge, hotel review, hotel, Flagstaff, Flagstaff hotel, hotel design, hotel lobby, hotel experience, lobby design, boutique hotel, family travel, travel blogger, family blogger, The Urban Darling.

We had the best time on our trip to Flagstaff and an amazing stay at High Country Motor Lodge! Formerly a roadside motel, the property has been renovated into a beautiful 4 star boutique hotel. It’s located minutes from downtown Flagstaff which made it really easy for us to sneak back for Sage’s naps in between exploring the city. It was the perfect hotel for our first family trip! With a unique nordic spa experience in a mountain setting, a cocktail bar & lounge, and it’s convenient location I couldn’t recommend this hotel more for your visit to this Arizona mountain town. In this blog post, I am sharing our experience at the hotel!

Decorating Our New Home & Brands We Love

By Esperanza on November 18, 2024

Decorating, home decor, interior design, The Urban Darling, Bloomscape, Caraway, The Citizenry, Minna, Noon & Moon, Plant Addicts, houseplants, bedding, linen bedding, silverware, dinnerware, ceramics, baskets, linens, plants, cookware set, neutral, neutral style, neutral home, neutral decor, boho style, Spanish style, bohemian style, modern home, modern neutral, lifestyle blogger, Phoenix, Phoenix blogger, desert style, neutrals, earth tones.

We have been living in our rental home for a few months now, and it has been so fun decorating our place together! Andrew moved down here from Portland, OR, with only what he could fit in his car, and I had previously been living with my parents for a year, so I didn’t have a ton of furniture either. We both love decorating, so we were super excited to make this house feel like home. I would describe the style of our home as modern Bohemian with natural decor pieces, Spanish-style elements, and unique vintage finds. The setting is mostly neutral with hints of bold colors like terracotta and green (our favorite colors!). I finally feel like our place is really starting to come together, and I wanted to share some of the brands that we love, and pieces we have incorporated into our home in this post!

Beauty | My Life

Mommy Makeover | New Hair, Fillers, & My First Wax

By Esperanza on November 7, 2024

Mommy makeover, mommy, makeover, self care, hair makeover, new hair, hair before and after, fillers, botox, waxing, brazilian wax, hair removal, Lady & Wolf Salon, Giovanni Med Spa, Opal Raw Beauty, Phoenix, beauty, Phoenix blogger, lifestyle blogger, mommy blogger, The Urban Darling.

At 7 1/2 months postpartum, it was time for a little mommy makeover! I needed a boost in confidence and some self care after many months of sleep deprivation and non-stop mommy duties lol. I wanted to get my hair done (dye & fresh cut) at my favorite salon in Scottsdale. I wanted to freshen up with some botox/fillers at Giovanni Med Spa and I decided it was time to try getting my first wax at Opal Raw Beauty! In this blog post, I am sharing more about my experiences at these local Phoenix businesses.

Holidays | My Life

Our First Family Halloween Costume

By Esperanza on October 31, 2024

Halloween, Halloween 2024, Halloween costumes, family costumes, family Halloween costumes, baby costumes, avocado, baby Halloween costumes, family photography, baby photography, couples photography, lifestyle blogger, family blogger, mommy blogger, lifestyle, family, fashion, The Urban Darling.

A few weeks back, Andrew and I thrifted the cutest baby avocado costume to dress Sage in for his first Halloween! I was just going to dress him up, but then I realized it would be really easy to do a family Halloween costume with that theme. Baby Sage was an avocado, I was an avocado tree, Andrew was an avocado farmer, and Arlo was the farmer’s dog, although he wasn’t feeling very photogenic that day, so we only got a few photos with him lol. I think it turned out so cute for our first Halloween together as a family, and I can’t wait to see what we come up with next year!

Home Inspiration | Urban Darling Home

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.

Baby | My Life

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!