family blogger Archives - The Urban Darling

Staying At The Ace Hotel & Swim Club In Palm Springs

By Esperanza on April 25, 2025

Palm Springs, Ace Hotel, Ace Hotel & Swim Club, hotel review, hotel stay, Palm Springs hotel, hotel vacation, family vacation, family trip, Phoenix blogger, family blogger, family travel, family style, mommy blogger, lifestyle blogger, baby boy style, mommy style, retro style.

Palm Springs was one of the stops on our big California trip. Andrew had never been, which is why I wanted it to be one of our stops, and I had been years ago with my family. I have always loved retro, mid-century vibes and Palm Springs is known for that, of course! During our time there, we stayed at the Ace Hotel & Swim Club, a hotel I have always wanted to go to. This hotel definitely had that retro feel to it! With two restaurants, a pool, and that iconic Palm Springs scenery, it was the perfect hotel. I will be highlighting more of our experience staying at the Ace Hotel in this blog post.

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Family Travel Style In Joshua Tree National Park

By Esperanza on April 24, 2025

Joshua Tree National Park, Joshua Tree, family travel, family style, family trip, family vacation, travel style, California, California style, national parks, family blogger, travel blogger, lifestyle blogger, baby boy style, dad style, men's style, mom style, women's style, boho style, The Urban Darling.

We just got back from our first big trip as a family to California about a week ago. Our first stop was Joshua Tree! I wanted to explore the town a little more, and I also wanted to take Andrew to Joshua Tree National Park. I had already been there before several years ago with my family, and thought it was so beautiful. We were on a really tight schedule, but we had just enough time to drive through Joshua Tree National Park and stop at a few spots!

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Phoenix, Arizona, USA | Travel Style

Staycation At The JW Marriott Desert Ridge In Scottsdale

By Esperanza on April 8, 2025

Scottsdale, Desert Ridge, JW Marriot, JW Marriot Desert Ridge, hotel review, hotel stay, hotel vacation, staycation, hotel staycation, Phoenix blogger, family blogger, family travel, family style, mommy blogger, lifestyle blogger, baby boy style, mommy style, retro style.

This past weekend, Andrew, Sage, and I did a “staycation” at the JW Marriott Desert Ridge in Scottsdale. It was a much-needed getaway for our little family with lots of fun activities in a beautiful desert setting! This was our first staycation together, and I have to say, it’s a super convenient way of “getting away”. We may have to do another in the future, maybe in the summer here in the Phoenix area, to take advantage of the pool! I’ll be sharing more about the hotel, its amenities, and what we did during our quick stay.

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Family Style | Travel

Our Family Trip To Payson In Northern Arizona

By Esperanza on April 4, 2025

Northern Arizona, Arizona, family style, travel style, baby style, family trip, family travel, baby style, baby boy, Payson, winter style, outdoor style, hiking style, family blogger, fashion blogger, lifestyle blogger, men's style, women's style, first time mom, new mom, young family, family, Phoenix blogger, The Urban Darling.

My parent’s invited us to come with them to Payson in northern Arizona for a hiking trip! The cooler weather was super nice for a few days, and I’m glad we were able to do a few more hikes before it’s too hot here in the Phoenix area. One of the hikes we went on was a total of 8 miles with Andrew carrying Sage in our Ergobaby the whole time! We were both very tired after this trip and needed several days to recover when we got back home. My favorite part of the trip was the epic view from the rim where we shot these photos of our little family! It was nice spending some family time on this quick getaway.

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Baby | Baby Style

Sage’s Wylde One In The Woods First Birthday Party

By Esperanza on February 21, 2025

Birthday, first birthday, baby birthday, birthday party, birthday party decor, DIY party decor, baby boy, cake smash, birthday backdrop, birthday decor, camp theme, camp themed party, camp themed birthday, party food, party decor, family blogger, lifestyle blogger, vintage style, baby boy style, The Urban Darling.

We celebrated Sage Wylder’s first birthday party a few weeks ago and I’m so happy with how his party turned out! I knew I wanted to do a camp theme, and Andrew helped me come up with the ideas for “Sage’s Wylde One In The Woods”. The decor for his party was DIY, thrifted, or items that we already had. We worked on projects like the signs and banners a little bit every day for a few weeks to get everything done on time! We invited around 30 guests and about 25 of Sage’s guests were able to make it. My brother, his wife, and his nephew as well as my sister and her boyfriend flew in so my whole family was able to be together which was really special. A few of my mommy friends and their babies came and it was so cute watching Sage interact with them. The party went super smoothly and everyone had a great time!

Family Style | Holidays

Valentine’s Day Photoshoot With Baby Sage Wylder

By Esperanza on February 11, 2025

Valentine's Day, Valentine's Day photoshoot, couples Valentine's Day photoshoot, Valentine's photoshoot, Valentine's photography, baby photography, fashion photography, vintage photography, creative photography, vintage style, retro style, baby Valentine's photos, DIY Valentine's garland, DIY Valentine's decor, mommy and baby style, mommy blogger, family blogger, lifestyle blogger, The Urban Darling.

How could I resist taking a few sweet photos with baby boy Sage Wylder for our first Valentine’s Day together?! I shot some photos with Andrew and I as well as a few of just Sage a few weeks ago (linked here), but I had a vision for some mommy and me Valentine’s photos and I love how they turned out! We used the same paper heart garland from the other photo shoots, and I picked up a simple bouquet at Trader Joe’s for only $5.99! I actually had picked out two bouquets that we held up for Sage to grab so he got the final say. I love the pretty peach color he went with! I wrapped the bouquet up in packing paper to give it an old-fashioned feel.

Family Style | Holidays

Vintage Inspired Valentine’s Day Photoshoot

By Esperanza on January 21, 2025

Valentine's Day, Valentine's Day photoshoot, couples Valentine's Day photoshoot, Valentine's photoshoot, Valentine's photography, couple's photography, fashion photography, vintage photography, baby photography, vintage style, retro style, baby Valentine's photos, family blogger, lifestyle blogger, The Urban Darling.

I had a vision for some cute Valentine’s photos I wanted to capture with Andrew to remember our first Valentine’s Day together! On a recent thrift trip to Goodwill, we thrifted this adorable red gingham fabric for Sage’s 1st birthday party which is coming up at the end of the month, along with several other camp-themed finds. It has a vintage feel to it that I thought would be so cute for a Valentine’s themed photoshoot! I did a quick DIY paper heart garland with twine and a hole puncher to use as a prop, which turned out perfectly. We shot these during Sage’s 1st nap, but I couldn’t resist taking some Valentine’s photos of him when he woke up!

Baby | Baby Style

Our Favorite Baby Products From Lalo

By Esperanza on

Lalo, Lalo baby products, baby products, baby toys, Lalo baby toys, baby play kitchen, play kitchen, baby tower, play tent, high chair, first bites kit, baby, montessori, montessori bay, neutral baby style, baby boy style, family blogger, mommy blogger, lifestyle blogger, The Urban Darling.

Before I became a mom, I would see these adorable wooden play kitchens and I knew that I wanted one for my baby one day! I am so excited that Sage is finally old enough to play in his baby play kitchen from Lalo. When Sage and I were living with my parents, he loved watching his abuelita cooking. Now, he loves watching my partner Andrew in the kitchen. Andrew is a chef, and we have already started involving Sage in the kitchen when we are cooking. When he is old enough, he has a wooden tower that will allow him to work at the counter with us. For now, he seems to really enjoy banging around his baby play kitchen with his food and toy sets he got for Christmas!

Gift Guides | Holidays

My 2025 Valentine’s Day Gift Guides For The Family

By Esperanza on January 10, 2025

I thought I would share a roundup of Valentine’s gift ideas for him, her, and for toddlers! As a first time mom, I was the most excited to put together a Valentine’s gift guide for toddlers. I had a lot of fun working on that one, so I hope you guys enjoy it! It’s always a little tricky finding things that aren’t just candy or a little too cheesy. As always, I try to offer ideas for gifts that are classic and timeless. There is something for everyone’s budget as well!

Couples Style | Holidays

Getting Dressed Up For Our First New Year’s Eve

By Esperanza on December 28, 2024

New Year's Day, New Year's Eve, New Year's photoshoot, New Year's, New Year's photography, couples photography, fashion photography, New Year's photography, lifestyle photography, lifestyle blogger, family blogger, fashion blogger, couples style, party dress, vintage dress, mens suit style, mens style, dressy style, party style, The Urban Darling, Phoenix blogger.

Not only have we been celebrating all of Sage’s first holidays, but Andrew and I have been celebrating all of our first holidays together too, which is really special! I can’t believe that after 4 months of dating, we didn’t have a single photo of just the two of us. It was about time to correct that, so we thought we would get dressed up in honor of our first New Year’s Eve together. It was really fun seeing each other in our fancy party attire, and I think we look pretty snazzy if I do say so myself!