Guest Post ... Tienna from The Halfords.

Hi ya’ll!! 

Ok, that feels weird. I’m not actually a person that says “ya’ll”, even though I’m from Oklahoma. But I feel like people EXPECT me to be the type to say “ya’ll” since I’m from Oklahoma, and I didn’t want to start out on the wrong foot with anyone. Of course now I feel like we’re starting off on a lie. Awkward. Let me back up…. 

Chelsea and I were paired up through Mallory’s Blog at from California to Kansas for a fun little networking series called Bigs and Littles. It’s been a lot of fun just getting to know Chelsea and getting some words of wisdom regarding this whole bloggy blog world.  

It’s always hard to think of things to talk about on other people’s blogs. On my own blog, I just assume that people reading it know my entire life history already, mainly because I think it’s only close family and best friends that read it, so there’s no need to fill in the blanks on my day to day life. But, since you all don’t know me from Adam, I thought it would be a good idea to just list out a few reasons why you should stop by my blog and say “hi”…or “hi ya’ll” if you really want to be cool, like I tried to do, but failed. 

1. I’m occasionally funny. Sometimes life is a little serious for me and I forget that I’m a funny girl in a funny world, but then ridiculous things happen in my life that reminds me. Like that time I finally got Zumba for my Wii and then used it once and wanted to die or that time that I started posting about my dad’s health and my best friends scary birthing experience but ended it talking about my husband’s battle with Gophers. 

2. I quote Friends a lot. Generally just in my mind, because people never seem to get it. I spent many a year without cable, so I’ve seen every episode at least 5 times. So basically every situation I’m ever in warrants a Friends quote. 

3. I’ve kind of recently become a fan of Jesus. All through high school and college, I considered myself a “non-Christian”. And then I begin to struggle with infertility, and I was desperate for some peace. My journey led me to Church, which led me to God. It’s quite the roller-coaster sometimes, but I truly feel like it’s better to believe in a something, then to believe in nothing. 

4. I love my dogs like they’re my children. Even with their crazy shenanigans. 

5. I think marriage is the best thing on Earth. Mainly because my husband is awesome.  

6. I like to eat. Too much. Especially Mexican. But don’t expect any recipes on my blog. One might wander in on accident, but really I only mentioned the food thing because I wanted to explain the photo. ;)

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Guest Post ... Elle from My Dearest Friend.

Hello everyone! My name is Elle and you lovely webmistress has graciously allowed me to write a quick little  blogger highlight so that you all can get to know me and my blog! Now, if you'll recall, Chelsea and I were partnered up for the Bigs and Littles Network, and she was so sweet, kind, and supportive. I honestly learned so many amazing little blogger tips that I hadn't even thought about or considered before meeting her. And even though our partnership for the network has finished, we still email back and forth every week which I love! So, when she proposed writing a blogger highlight, I felt so touched and excited. I hope you all enjoy!

1. I LOVE Chatelaine magazine. Love. Love. If you have never heard of Chatelaine, it is a Canadian lifestyle magazine that I had always thought was geared toward a mature woman, but let me tell you... Chatelaine has changes so much. It's been modernized and stylized to perfection so that it appeals to a younger audience like myself. They are currently celebrating their 85th anniversary!

 2. I collect tins! It started off with that olive green tea tin you see in the picture above and it has slowly grown to contain a variety of vintage tea tins. That tin in particular is from the 1870s England! Now, I really love doing research on where the tea tins were from and what was going on in history during that time. It's a fun hobby!

3. Style! I love it. Love. It. It is the majority of what I blog about, so it helps, haha. I specifically love street style. I am so inspired by seeing how other girls style certain pieces in their wardrobe and finding an affordable option that I can rock. Most recently I've started writing a feature on Style Clashes, looking at how different styles, that should clash, actually work beautifully together! You can check out the first post here!

4. Should I be ashamed to say it's one of my favourite things to do? No! Haha, I love imagining things, new creations for the blog, dreaming up things for my shop (coming soon!), writing stories in my spare time, sketching, thinking up design and home decor ideas.... it goes on as I'm sure you all can relate to. I love using creativity as much as I can which led me to create the Dear Parcels Monthly Swap on my blog! It's a really great way to promote blogs, meet some wonderful new friends, AND get creative with cool monthly prompts! I'm so excited about it.

5. I make silly faces... A LOT. It's just apart of my quirk personality. I love smiling and laughing, so if I can make others laugh and smile it feels so amazing. And so I make faces randomly, haha. 

Alrighty, I hope you all enjoyed learning a little more about me! I would love to get to know each and every single one of you so feel free to shoot me an email or visit me over at My Dearest Friend! I'm always looking for guest bloggers so if you've been looking to give it a try, please email me! If you like to sign up for the Dear Parcels May Swap click here! I hope you're all having a lovely week!

Thanks Elle for taking over my blog today!! 

I hope you all take a few minutes to check out Elle's lovely blog, My Dearest Friend!

Guest Post ... Laurie from The Brotherton's.

Hey hey! I'm so excited Chelsea asked me to introduce myself to you. I'm Laurie Brotherton. My better half is Mitch. We have two fur babies, Kodi & Maggie. They fill our hearts with so much joy & take up most of our time. Now that spring is in full swing here, we can be found outside on the lake, grilling out or hiking the mountains of northern georgia, where we currently live.

I'm returning to school this fall to study photography. My cousin was in a fatal car wreck last month & ever since then I've realized what's truly important in life. That life is too short to be wasted on things other than your passion. So back to school for me & to say that I'm excited about it would be an understatement. I can't wait to learn more about the art of photography, lighting & poses. If you ask M, he would make a stab at my asian blood, & say something like "you're asian side comes out when you take pictures"or "you look like a tourist". Yeah, yeah, thanks babe. Yes, I love my camera & capturing whatever I can with it. 

I'm no pro, please don't think that I know what I'm doing, cause I don't -- that's why I'm going back to school. But I have been asked what camera I use & my shooting process {which flatters me greatly}.

I use a Canon Rebel T2i for all my pictures. I have no ill words for it. I love this camera. I hope in a couple years I'll be able to upgrade to a full frame camera like this beauty. I have the standard 18-55mm lens that I use rarely. My favorite lens to use is my 50mm lens. It has a low aperture, so it's great for indoor shooting & photos of products. Because my fantasies aren't real & there isn't a photographer that follows us around, whenever M & I take pictures we have to use a tripod. We probably use this 90% of the time for our picture a day project. I have a camera bag insert that fits perfect in all of my medium to large purses.

From experience {& as a reminder I'm not a pro. these are tips from my personal past experiences} the more natural lighting the better.  Natural light gives off a cleaner light that looks fresh & things don't turn out yellow. Take lots of pictures. As a kid I played basketball. My dad coached me for a few years & he always told me to take lots of shots. Even if I missed most of them, the more I took the more likely I'd score. So I carried that over to picture taking -- the more you take, the more likely there's going to be a goood one. So be sure to take your camera with you when you leave the house. Don't be afraid to pull it out anywhere. Be prepared to be disappointed. Once I wrote all the things I thought I needed to know to capture those breathtaking photos on an index card & carried it around with me. I changed all my settings to the "correct" points but nothing turned out like they were supposed to. Let's say I was bummed. But that leads me to my next point -- learn what works for you. I've yet to master my camera, but what I do know how use properly, I use that as an advantage. & most importantly, find your theme. If you find someone's pictures you like, you may notice all their pictures have a similar feel to them. This is something I'm still working on. It's not something you can establish other night & I hope as I continue to learn I'll be able to find my niche.

Thank you so much Chelsea for asking to share with your readers. I hope this was helpful to many. I'd love to meet you, so please stop by & say hello!

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Thanks Laurie for taking over my blog today!!

Guest Post ... Heather from Fiery & Opinionated.

Confession… I've never written a guest post before. Being new-ish to blogging, I don't really know the 'rules' for this sort of thing. But I love Life Unpublished and was so excited by the invitation that i had to give it a try!

After asking her what i should write, Chelsea said she really enjoyed my post about what i learned about myself when my boyfriend, chris, moved in. That was one of my favorites, too. I probably get more enjoyment than I should out of making fun of myself (and him).  Unfortunately for Chris, today I'll only be making fun of him.

Chris is completely useless at finding things. I know men in general aren't good at finding things, but seriously mine is the worst.

'have you seen my sneakers?'

'do you know where my red sox hat is?'

'where is the trail mix?'

… fill in the blank. The kid finds nothing on his own. If he needs to lift something to find it? Forget it. Even in plain sight things can still be lost.

One of my recent favorites involved an iPhone charger. We were staying in a tiny studio apartment temporarily after our cross-country move and he 'lost' his phone charger. 'What did you do with my iPhone charger?' were his exact words. Excuse me? I have one of my own, thank you - I did not touch your charger. He was unconvinced. I had to go to work, so I left him there looking for it - sure it couldn't be THAT hard in a place that was a 14'x14' box.

how do you not find something in here?

A few hours into work he gchats me asking where I think he should look for it. Ok, now I'm getting annoyed. Where am I possibly going to tell him to look that he wouldn't think to check? The place is tiny! But I caved… 'look on the coffee table, look under things on the coffee table, look under the coffee table, look in your backpack…'

And then he finds it. Plugged into the wall next to the couch. Right where he sits to work from home. Of all places you'd look for something you plug into the wall to send electricity to an electronic device, surely one would check the electrical outlet.

We promptly made a rule that he has to actually try to look for things first before asking me again.

Thanks so much to chelsea for having me today!

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Thanks Heather for taking over my blog today!!