On November

November's long gone and I still haven't told you what I loved about it. Between the hustle and bustle of Thanksgiving and crazy Christmas shoppers, blogging has been put on the back burner. Better late than never....or so "they" say.

Favorite Dress: The Airplanes and Roses Dress

At the Chicago Field Museum with an earth worm

I purchased this dress on a random trip to Long Beach/ Disneyland with my dress loving friend, Melisa. This store was great, full of cheaply made clothing that cost less than a super sized lunch at your local fast food restaurant. Sometimes I'm a quality kind of girl and other times I'm a quantity kind of girl. On this particular day I was in the mood to shop, but not over spend. Everything in the store was $15 or less including my awesome airplanes and roses dress. When I first saw this dress, I noticed how when wearing it, it cleverly looked like it was a dress with a three quarter length shirt underneath. However, the "shirt" is actually part of the dress. I then looked a little closer and found the pattern was not roses with thorns as I had originally thought, it was roses with airplanes! "How magnificent," I thought to myself. I instantly felt funky/hip while wearing it. I wore my funky hip airplanes and roses dress to Thanksgiving dinner and got many, "Hey, there are airplanes on your dress," type comments.  I wore grey tights underneath to keep warm (Daisy the dog owes me a new pair for puncturing a hole in them), a pair of black flats with metallic roses on the sides, and my feather headband to tie it all together. I am thankful for the comfort, trendiness, and conversation that this dress brings to my fashion table.

Deep in conversation, probably about the dress

Favorite Activity: Christmas Tree Hunting

With so many November activities, it was hard to choose just one. I chose Christmas Tree Hunting, not because it was the most exciting, but it was probably the most heart warming. Danny and I are busy people. We do not get to spend that much time together, so when we do, we have to make the most of it. That includes doing things like picking out a Christmas tree the day after Thanksgiving, because if we didn't get it then, who knows when we would be able to. We chose to spend our hard earned dollars within the town of Ripon...keeping money local and what not. We went to Park Greenhouse Nursery, which is a sweet little nursery off of West Ripon Road. We arrived to find some young lumberjack looking men setting up the trees. We quickly found a tall tree (every year Danny wants a tree that is, "So tall the tree topper is bent sideways in order to fit.") at a reasonable price. As with most Lehr shopping sprees, we were there and done within a few short minutes. Setting up the tree is always a hassle. It takes a few times for us to get it straight. Even now, from certain angles the tree looks a little crooked. Rather than let it annoy me, I just tell myself it adds character. The tree is now decorated and placed in the coveted Christmas Tree spot. We also got a free poinsettia out of the deal.

Favorite Nap: The Fall Asleep in your Clothes Nap

It was one of those very motivated days. I woke up early (for me) worked out, grocery shopped, cooked, cleaned, and probably did some other energy wasting activity. Around 3 o clock, I was certainly feeling the affects of my go get em attitude. We had plans later in the day so my choice was to either ride it out or take a quick power nap. Of course I chose the power nap. My dilemma was that I had already dressed and had my hair and make up done. I made a bold decision and decided to power nap in my clothes. I even kept my shoes on. I am usually a tosser and turner, so you can see how taking a nap might mess things up. I consciously laid down flat on my back, with no blankets on, in a mummy like position, and fell asleep for a half hour. I woke up from my power nap refreshed and ready to conquer the rest of the day without having to fix my pony tail or even put on shoes. It was splendid.

Favorite Recipe: Honey Apple Pecan Pork Chops

Delicious, nutritious, and easy. Find the recipe here: http://myslightlysillyworld.blogspot.com/2010/12/thankful-heart-and-stomach.html

Favorite Irk: The Stock Market

I really don't know why, but every day I check the stock market. With a convenient little app on my  iPhone, it makes it very easy. I then read the headlines and sometimes the articles in the business section on MSNBC.com to figure out why they went up or down. November was a particularly torturous month for those who follow, or hap hazardly look at an app on stocks. There were many ups and downs, with job reports being less than stellar and worries about Europe's financial mishandlings, my little November graph looked like a roller coaster. The ups and downs made me a little woozy. I realize that looking at stocks day to day and becoming worried with every dip or excited with every jump is foolish as it's more about long term for someone like me. Still, I can't help my emotions and while I don't ever make any financial moves based on a days stocks, I continue to check the financial roller coaster daily.