Phoenix 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.

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.

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.

Home Inspiration | Urban Darling Home

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!

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.

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!

My Life | Sedona, Arizona, USA

Visiting Sedona With My Baby Sage Wylder

By Esperanza on June 7, 2024

Sedona, Arizona, mother, baby, mom, new mom, first time mom, first baby, baby boy, family photography, maternity photography, baby photography, fashion photography, desert, Oak Creek Canyon, Phoenix blogger, fashion, style, lifestyle, desert vibes, desert style, neutral style, baby style, sustainable style, mommy style, The Urban Darling.

My parents invited me to visit Sedona with them a few weeks back where we visited a lot of the same places from our previous trip when I was 6 months pregnant. I was excited to get the chance to re-visit these places, but with my baby boy Sage Wylder in tow this time. On our last trip, my parents and I said we would have to come back again with my baby boy, but I never realized it would be so soon! My mom had taken some maternity photos for me on our last trip to Sedona, so we decided to capture some photos with Sage and I in the same spots as a comparison. I’m so glad we did because these will be so cool to look back on over the years and show Sage when he’s older!

Baby | My Style

Sage Wylder’s One Month Desert Photo Shoot

By Esperanza on March 5, 2024

Newborn, one month old baby, baby, baby boy, baby boys style, newborn outfit, newborn style, neutral style, matching style, mommy and me style, desert style, desert, sustainable style, Phoenix, Phoenix blogger, lifestyle blogger, The Urban Darling.

Sage Wylder is a month old?! It makes me so proud and so sad at the same time because I know he will never be this little again… Taking care of a newborn, especially as a single mom, is not easy but he is thriving! He gained 2 pounds and grew 2 inches at his one month wellness check, which makes me feel like I am doing a good job as a momma. I always felt I would be in my heart and now I feel validated lol! I’m going to credit it all to the breastfeeding and of course mama’s love 😉 Anyway, I wanted to take some cute photos in the desert to celebrate his first month of life!

Baby | My Life

Our Hospital Birth Story & Baby Name Reveal

By Esperanza on February 14, 2024

Hospital birth, labor & delivery, c-section, birth story, our birth story, newborn baby, newborn, newborn baby, newborn, newborn photography, baby photography, new mom, first time mom, baby boy, lifestyle blogger, Phoenix blogger, The Urban Darling.

At 41 weeks of pregnancy, I still wasn’t dilating or having strong contractions. My doctors wanted me to be induced before 42 weeks, so they scheduled me for an induction on Sunday January 28th at 10 pm at Chandler Regional here in the Phoenix metro. I was disappointed because I really wanted to be able to go into labor naturally, but I was also worried about waiting and any complications that could arise if I did. So my mom and I packed up the car and headed to the hospital with as much positivity as we could muster. I was excited to know that at least we would be leaving with baby boy. Unfortunately, everything that could go wrong with my labor, delivery, and everything that followed after, did… In this blog post I am sharing a recap of our birth story!

My Life | Pregnancy

15 Must Haves During My Pregnancy

By Esperanza on January 3, 2024

Pregnancy, first pregnancy, pregnancy must haves, maternity style, maternity outfits, third trimester, third trimester outfit, must haves, boho chic style, boho bedroom, boho nursery, first time mom, neutral nursery, lifestyle blogger, The Urban Darling, neutral room, neutral bedding, pregnancy must haves, Phoenix, Phoenix blogger.

As I am writing this blog post, I am actually at full term (37 weeks) which is so crazy! This pregnancy has felt so long, but also very fast at times as well. I wanted to share some of the products that really got me through my pregnancy for all the other first time mommas out there who are curious about what they will need. These are my top 15 pregnancy must haves although I left a lot of things of this list that I only used for a little while or in a certain trimester, etc. Check out my first trimester recap and my second trimester recap for more tips and check back for my third trimester recap as well!