Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas, everyone! I hope your day was fantastic! We had a super wonderful day. We started with opening gifts with just the two of us! I got so many wonderful movies, comfy jammies, socks and lots of other goodies! We spent this morning with my family and went to his parent's house later on in the evening. I stuffed myself silly today.. so full right now! Here are a few snap shots of the day!

In all of the pictures we took today, I'm in some sort of pajamas. Haha! I just got this set from Brett - I'm sitting in pure comfort right now.. chomping down some Milk Duds and watching one of the movies I got, Easy A! Brett is like.. half asleep right now, half giggling at the movie. Hehe! If you haven't yet seen our two black cats, here they are! Sargeant Death and Ultra Mega; aka Sarge and Meg ;)

Good night, everyone! Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas!

The Guy Behind the Camera: 12th Edition!

Welcome to the 12th edition of Guy Behind the Camera! I'm always excited to show five lovely bloggers and their guys behind the camera. First, I'd love to showcase Deepti from Diptea-esque-ish. She credits her husband to the visual appeal of her blog 100%. He is always helping search for the perfect spot for outfit locations. He is the only one that can make her look good on camera! He is always cool, super understanding and game with new ideas. He doesn't scare easy! Their picture sessions are their 'time' together where they have conversations, intelligent discussions and eventually.. a dinner date! So cute!

Second, we have Lynzy from Sparkling Footsteps. Her guy, Ryan, deserves this because he's a dedicated medical student who works ridiculously long hours, yet still finds the time to throw their Nikon around his neck and shoot outstanding photographs. He makes her feel like a princess in front of the camera and is great at giving direction (maybe he will become a photographer on the side, wink, wink!) She could not ask for a more supportive partner.

Third up, we have Leah from Vintage with a Twist. She wanted to submit her husband A.J. for the feature because he is a wonderful help with her blog. He is in the Army and they are stationed at Forst Bliss, TX (El Paso) and when it's not blazing hot outside and she's not using her self-timer, he is there to help! They are high school sweethearts and are now currently three months pregnant! Congrats to the both of you!

Fourth, we have Eleanor from Bonjour Bbydoll. I love reading her blog and seeing her gush over Morne. Eleanor says that when she first started asking him to take her pictures, there was a lot of complaining, but now he gets really into it - jokingly tell her to 'smize' (smile with her eyes - haha!) and saying, "Oooh, that's a really good one!" every couple of shots. They now have a little deal going on - for all the time he spends taking outfit pictures of her - she has to spend an equal amount playing Playstation with him (that's a lot of Playstation!) When he doesn't always understand her outfits, he understands that blogging makes her really happy - and he's always so helpful, and she loves him for that. Aww!

And last we have Janai-Chanelle from Bite the Beat. Her and her guy, Steven, became acquainted with one another through Craiglist of all places! He had just moved to Georgia from Tacoma and made a Missed Connection about a girl he saw at the Department of Driver Services while getting a drivers license. She had recently gone, thought it was her.. but it wasn't! Still they got to know each other and decided to meet up at a Matt & Kim concert. Afterwards they danced the night away. The rest is history from there! She says he is an ever-patient boyfriend when it comes to taking photos of her for her blog! He has a natural ability to capture the right moment on film! Cute!

That's it for the 12th edition of Guy Behind the Camera! If you enjoyed reading this, be sure to check out the first 11 series! In other news, I am wrapping up the Guy Behind the Camera series! I have no spots available for the final few posts.. I'm coming up with new, fun and fresh ways to feature some amazing bloggers out there. Thanks so much for your support on this feature! The last "Guy Behind the Camera" will be ending in April, so we still have a few months ahead of us of lovely bloggers and their guys behind the camera!

Blue hearts

Phew, I'm finally in the holiday spirit! It only took me the day before Christmas Eve to get there. Hehe! Brett and I actually went shopping last night.. didn't buy a single thing.. and were exhausted and resorted to frozen drinks, sitting on the leather sofa people watching! That's so much fun to do over the holidays! I finally was able to pick up more gifts today.. but it's so hard shopping for others! I'm just excited for when we're all done shopping and can just enjoy the fun of the holidays.

This color blue cardigan is perfect against the snow - I love it! It's really comfortable too. I swear I live in cardigans.. I wear one every single day. They are just.. comfy and warm. I really want more big, oversized ones. That's something I'll hunt for after the holidays are done. I saw Forever 21 had some for really cheap! I just picked up another pair of sweater tights (perfect for winter!) and some glitter socks I've been raving about on my Twitter. I love them, so excited to wear them for a blog post!

So in blog news, thank you to everyone to has filled out my reader survey! If you haven't yet, I'd love for you to take a minute to fill it out to help me feature better content in the new year. I've already made a few changes that were suggested - an FAQ page and a separate page for my favorite bloggers. I also cleaned up a few buttons and am considering more changes in the future for faster loading and easier navigation! I'm also planning on updating the shop as soon as the holidays are over. I also just did a guest post over at Pure Michigan too - if you'd like to take a look!

So this is my every day winter wear, classy right? Totally mismatched with bright red gloves, but super warm! Hehe. A lot of you have been asking me what I wear outside on a normal day, so I had Brett snap a picture on our way out to take outfit pictures. Seriously.. high class style right here. Hehe! I loveee this jacket more than anything though. It's insanely warm and is long enough to cover my butt.. which is perfect to wear with dresses and tights in winter.

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Outfit details:

Over the Ocean Blue Dolman Cardigan c/o Threadsence
Thrifted top
Zara skirt
Forever21 tights
Forever21 necklace
Aldo oxfords

World's Largest Weathervane

This past weekend, I drove up north just a little bit to the world's largest weathervane. It's located in a little town just north of Muskegon. It's just one of those silly landmarks that Michigan is so great at having... and you can totally bet I'm there... posing at every single one of them. A button in the middle of the city? Yep, I've been there too. A scenic blockhouse? Check. I'm excited to see what I can come up with in 2011.

So this weathervane is actually functioning! It's 48 feet tall with an arrow that is 26 feet long. It's kind of in a funny location - right in the middle of a small town. I parked in a grocery store parking lot and headed into the little "park" area. It's fun to see though. I love little unique elements like this put into small towns!

So a lot of you have been asking to see some of my wintry outfits instead of my normal outfits in wintry settings, so here we go! It was a challenge to style up something other than my giant green parka and red gloves - hehe! It was really nice to have a coat and hat styled into an outfit because I wasn't freezing during outfit shots for once!

I can't believe Christmas is this weekend. I still haven't bought a single gift - I'm planning on going shopping on Thursday. Way to wait until the last minute, right? I still don't know what I'm getting anybody either. Oh well, a few hours at the mall and I'll call it good and done. It's a short week too - which is lovely. Tomorrow, I have a half day at work and then the designers are having a half day away to learn more about Wordpress and get together a presentation for the rest of the team. Darn you, wordpress! Blogger rules over you. ;]

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Outfit details:

Scala Classico hat
Pac Sun tank
American Apparel tights
H&M coat
Floral Arrangement Skirt c/o Urban1972
Forever21 boots

The Dierolf's 4th Annual Christmas Party!

Friday night, Brett and I held our 4th annual Christmas party! We had it at our friend Jeremy's house instead of our apartment this year. The majority of our friends live in the city, so it just seemed better. I work there, so it was super easy to just head there after work and get ready for the party. Plus, I don't care if people spill things on Jeremy's carpet. Hahaha, I'm evil. ;]

Since my Christmas spirit is non-existent this year, I didn't even dress up! I wore some black jeans and a flannel, ordered pizza for food instead of cooking and the only reason Jeremy's house was decorated was because my amazing husband showed up with tons of decorations. Thank goodness someone is feeling the holiday season this year! I mean, look at that sweater.. you really have to be feeling Christmas to wear that ugo thing!

I really did have a great time though. It was probably the best out of the four we've had - maybe it was because I didn't put so much time and energy into it to have fun? I don't know. It's been a super fun tradition - something we've done every single year since we've been married. I want to carry on the tradition for years. I can't believe next year will be the 5th annual. That's just insane.

There was definitely some male nudity (my husband was way too classy to participate) and some down-right belly laughs. That picture of Peter seriously cracks me up - we all had tears from laughing. We did our white-elephant exchange and I ended up with this horrendous golf-bag trash can with three boxes of mac & cheese. Haha! So awful.

So yeah, super great party this year. We have the best group of friends. I have so much fun. It's been really great because I've never really had a "group of friends" before that were all friends for years, so it's refreshing to stay friends with the same people and all watch each other change and get older. I wouldn't change these people for the world. Now I'm super excited to spend new year's eve with friends. I can't believe how soon the holidays are! Jeez!

Featured Blogger: Fifth Edition

For my fifth featured blogger, I'd love to introduce you to Greer. If you haven't checked her out yet, you are in for an amazing treat. I am constantly clicking over to her blog for inspiration on new ideas I've never seen before, how to take new items and vintage items and mix them together to work perfectly and am always just in awe at how gorgeous she is. Not only does she inspire me with her incredible style, she's so down to earth, kind and has been a wonderful support of my blog. Here are ten interview questions to get to know a little bit more about Greer! She's a gem.

1. When and why did you start your blog?

I started my blog at the very end of last year because I liked to write. I used to write much more, less often. Nowadays, many of those are not visible. I never really got to the place I am at until I started taking lots of photographs at the beginning of this year. After I bought a dress, I would go home, cut off the tags, try it on, and then I would take pictures with my dad’s old camera, just for fun. As time went on, my best friend Anna started to take photos of me, which was nice, because we would go on drives to picturesque places that I had never seen before. We took maps and cameras along and ended up doing this more often. My blog has changed quite a bit over these past few months, I still like to write little tales and stories underneath my posts, but I just take lots of pictures of hats, velvet skirts and pocket watches to go along with it.

2. Where are you from?

I am from Auckland, New Zealand. I have lived here all my life. It’s right at the bottom of the world, quite far away from everything else.

3. What do you aspire to be "when you grow up"?

I’m still not sure what I really would like to do, I’m still a student in high school, studying to graduate in about one year from now. I don’t really have a plan yet. I will just have to wait and see what happens. I am good at painting, and art, but I’m not sure where that would take me. I was thinking I could maybe get a communications degree at university and work towards a creative advertising job or anything else in the creative industries. I really would like to be an art director in magazine perhaps, but of course it would take me a long time to get such a position. I may even choose something completely unusual and out of the ordinary, like a criminal lawyer, something interesting. It would also be nice to one day own my own vintage clothing store, oh, that would be very lovely.

4. What are some of your favorite blogs to read?

Oh gosh, there is too many to mention them all. But my absolute favourites are, your wonderful blog, of course, WishWishWish, Gary Pepper Vintage, and A Little Brighter.

5. Name a couple of bands you're currently playing on repeat.

Rooney, Beach House (walk in the park), Hurts, Hercules & Love Affair, Future Islands (inch of dust), St Etienne, Marina and the Diamonds.

6. Where do you get your inspiration?

I find it in the most unusual places. I get my inspiration when I am just sitting down on the bus stop, or when I am walking down the street, I see someone who I've never met before, and they inspire me ever so much with what they are wearing. I love seeing people who I have to turn my head to look back at. People are fascinating, the way they interact with each other and the stories behind their eyes. Just watching someone for a minute or pausing and taking a second glance can give me so much inspiration, I ask myself, who is this person, what are their skeletons, and what they are thinking of. I am also incredibly inspired by my Mother and Grandmother, Alexa Chung, 20th century movie screen icons, my best friend, the girls and boys on tumblr, the person sitting next to me when I am on the train, black and white photographs that I find in old family albums, the places I go which have a lot of history, when I close my eyes tightly, and while I read novels. I am easily inspired by anything.

7. Where do you love to shop?

Modcloth, vintage and second-hand stores, the Salvation Army, Topshop, my mother and sister’s closet mostly.

8. How would you describe your style?

I wear my school uniform and floral overalls. When I dress up, I like to wear polka dot blouses with puff sleeves and collars, mary-janes with lace socks, and I like to carry around vintage purses with me as well.

9. What is your goal with blogging? Do you want to make a career out of it or are you just having fun?

Oh! Well, I would love to make as many friends through here as I can. I would love to talk to and get to know as many of my followers as I can. I really do try and comment on many different peoples blogs, because a lot of the time, I find people who think the same as me. We all have the same interests, and a love for vintage clothing. I love discovering new blogs to read. It’s just splendid really. I have already met so many lovely people through here and have been given many opportunities. It is everything I could ask for really. I am so very pleased where I am already. I am just having fun for now, and I couldn’t imagine not having my blog, it is the most wonderful thing to have. Also I am so happy to have been chosen as the featured blogger. Thank you so very much, Tieka!

10. Any tips for new bloggers out there?

I think you should be very brave, post as often and as consistently as you can. Also post content that you personally find interesting. Get to know your followers by commenting on their blogs when you have the time and responding to the questions that they ask you. And most of all, have fun!

I hope you all enjoyed learning more about Greer! Be sure to head over to her blog and follow for amazing style and wonderful writing! If you're curious, you can check out my first four featured bloggers. For those of you who ask, I choose girls who I feel deserve to be in the spotlight - not only for their inspiring style, but for their kind personalities! I usually start planning my featured blogger a month before the season begins, have it narrowed down to a few favorites and go from there. I'll announce my spring blogger at the end of March! Thanks for reading about my new featured blogger, Greer!