brief hiatus

Hello friends, family and curious passers-by,
   I will be taking a brief hiatus from the Nikiverse.
How long is brief?
I have no idea.
Be sure the Nikiverse is in your RSS (or is it RRS... hmmmmm) feed so that you will be alerted to the return of the fun, frivolity and haikus that is this space.
Have a Merry Christmas if you celebrate that, Blessed Solstice if that's more your speed and a Happy New Year.
Remember, one minute after the solstice we are halfway out of the dark of winter.
Love,
Niki

what i found waiting for me at work this morning

UPDATED!

Ho Ho oh No

Aaaaaand have a good day.

Breaking news people: i just SOLD that giant santa head to a gentleman for his youth group's White Elephant Christmas exchange on Wednesday.  Some local teen is going to end up with this monstrosity.
teehee
And yes Sheryl, it does indeed light up; we checked

yep, it is December

LOVE twinkling lights

and chilly nights. Less amused

with being ice bound.

what the what?

It is rainy and cold in Baltimore today so no one is coming into the store; seems like a good time to clean out my purse because:

yikes

I actually do this on a pretty regular basis as my purse is always with me as i travel from place to place and things get stuffed into pockets every day, but even still i will sometimes find things that i do not recognize at all.
 For instance, what is this?

Sure, it doesn't seem like that much of a stretch that i would have something purple and shiny in my purse, but i don't know what it is or where it came from: it isn't a button, a bead, a sticker, an earring, a jewelry part and i swear i've never seen it before.

Do you think there are little creatures that leave things around just to confound us?
Are they relatives of the sock-stealer spites or the move-your-keys-when-you-are-running-late gremlins?

OMG: i am not making this up:

Just as i was proofing this post and about to hit publish i turned my head because there was a weird sound outside and spotted a wee figurine on the counter right next to me :

Hand to heaven, that creepy guy was not there when i opened the store this morning. It is only 18-20 inches away from me; i would have noticed.
I concede that my boss was in the store about an hour ago and probably set him there while i was doing something else, but how crazy is it that i am typing about things appearing just to confound you and BAM creepy, half-naked asian dude with an ax and no legs shows up?

one of THOSE days...

You know the days I mean: everything you touch seems to come apart.
Nothing truly bad happens.
Glassware breaks, things are left at home, lunches can't be found.
It isn't even bad enough to be the work of the thwart-hog.
It is more like an annoying anteater lumbering through your life, knocking things over with that huge furry tail and licking everything in sight with its crazy tongue.
Yes, I'd say my day in covered in anteater spit.

original image at aazk.com

because my middle initial -S- stands for subtle

I love striped clothes;
they offer so many accessorizing options.

For instance, last week I was wearing this long sleeved, stripey shirt under my styling sweater vest.
A girl could choose a great blingy brooch in blue or purple or yellow

or you know, all of them.