Raina Mermaid's Blog: A wee bit late

I'm such a bad blogger. I try to post a recap at least once a month, but now it's 2 days away from October so I am quite late! All I can say in that this mermaid is super busy! Let's take a look at how August and September went, and we'll chat about what's coming up!

August was one of those months that just didn't go according to plan. We had a few camping trips organized, a lot of family stuff, and vacations- but plans don't always work.

At the beginning of August, Mermaid Ama and I hung out for my 3rd year in a row at the Mahone Bay Pirate Festival. It was her first one. We sold books and mermaid items, posed for photos, and hung out with Pirates. It's always a lot of fun, a great tourist attraction.
See all of our photos here

We got together with our friends over at Shore Things in August, to celebrate Eastern Passage Days. Mermaid Mimi, Naida, and I, set up in front of the store and enjoyed meeting guests all day before heading out to swim in very chilly water and get some fun behind the scenes. Here are a few highlights (see more photos here)

Something realllllly crazy happened too. Something that went viral on the internet, getting 4 million hits via reddit and image websites, even got shared by Tosh.0... but it needs a little context ;)

Here's the context: This guy was being silly for his photos and slung both arms around us mermaids. I thought I'd be silly too and give him a kiss on the cheek just as he said cheese. Turns out he had the same idea... and planted one on me! Well, that's one way to get a first kiss, and from a mermaid no less!!! LOL Thank God his parents (and a huge crowd of people) were there hahaha, It took me a good half hour to stop laughing.I was pretty mortified. (his shirt just makes it even better)

I also donated my time in August to do a mermaid swim party for a local daycare. For privacy reasons, I can't share photos with the kids, but I did get a cool set of photos with a lifeguard, and a bit of video.

In August, Merwrangler Sean and I celebrated SIX YEARS of dating! Wow, it sure has flown by fast. He's been so supportive of my mermaid dream. In typical Sean fashion, he got me the coolest gift for it (not that I expected one...) A Little Mermaid makeup set! Check it out

I just love this man. I'm so thankful for his presence in my life. He makes me a better person and a better fish!

in August we also took a trip to Whale Cove in Cape Breton to spend some time with Sean's family. A really funny thing happened. I was swimming in my tail in the ocean, and I spotted a guy. He was right in my path and as I got closer to him I recognized him. He said hello, called my by my name, and I burst into giggles. It was my High School Oceanography teacher. Of all people to randomly run into while swimming in the ocean in a tail... it was pretty funny!

Sean and I also did a fun thing for his nephew's birthday. We created a pirate map and pirate treasure hunt that led to an actual treasure box buried in the sand. Inside were a bunch of gifts for his nephew, and a mermaid tail from FinFun for his niece! His niece calls me "auntie mermaid", don't be too jealous! ;)

I really enjoyed the trip and got lots of mermaid photos and videos while I was there. It was relaxing and much needed, even though it was very short.

We had another vacation planned- another camping trip. But I ended up getting extremely ill during it and had to spend the whole thing in the hospital in another province! :( I was in a lot of pain but thankfully I had some amazing doctors. It's been over a month and I still haven't quite healed yet, but I'm on the road to being better. Poor Seanny had to sleep in the car ON THE MERMAID TAILS!!! He came back into the hospital with scale imprints on his cheek! So crazy!

My lovely friend Mermaid Stephanie sent me this super cool Splash inspired necklace that looks like my tail, check it out.

I also commissioned an awesome mermaid artist, Illonka Papp to sequin my old practice tail, so Mimi could retire hers and we'd also have a light weight tail for mermaid make overs. Illonka has been busy sewing away, and the tail isn't done, but it's sure looking amazing. She is so talented!

Isn't it exciting? Just so lovely. I told her to take her time, she's hand sewing it all and it takes a while. But I will certainly be excited when it comes! <3

September hit and I've been doing lots of private gigs. I got to do one in Bridgewater with a pool that had a stunning mural, check it out!

I also experimented and did a few mermaid inspired self portraits and video clips, trying to bring out the sexy side a little bit ;) sometimes I get lost in the kid world of things and forget I'm an adult who can dress up once in a while! I did it all myself and I'm pretty proud

Naida and I were stoked to be hired to be in a new music video from my friend Jon Mullane. You may remember, this time last year Jon had me in his music video for a few seconds. I don't want to give away the fun for this video, but we got featured a bit longer and got some fun behind the scenes photos. Merwranglers Sean and Derek REALLY enjoyed being silly in front of the green screen!

My makeup and hair look for the shoot

I also had our new tops arrive in the mail from Merbellas Studios Inc. One is an octopus and the other is seaweed. I am instantly smitten. Sean called the octo-top, Octobooby at first. But we decided that probably wasn't the best name for around kids. Instead, we've named him Ocho, a tango dance step we both loved.

We just did our first gigs wearing them, Naida and I, and they were so comfy and amazing. I can't recommend them enough! World of difference!

Other few interesting points on the go you may want to know about:

I will be performing at the Discovery Centre in Halifax the Saturday before Halloween. The details will be posted on my website www.rainamermaid.com it's open to the public at general admission prices. Really excited to be back there again. I'll be talking about FINS and all the different types!
Mermaid Mimi and her mer-apprentice Mermaid Nessie (who will hopefully be auditioning as a Halifax Mermaid soon) were part of the rally for the Save the Bedford Reef group. You can see a news article about it here. They've been doing some cool photos to help promote learning about the issues surrounding the Reef, so be sure to check out their pages.
Thanks to my friend Syrena I was quoted in this cool article about mermaids in SINGAPORE. Check it out here
I recently had the chance to see the film Blackfish, a documentary about orca captivity at Sea World. You really should watch it. You can see it in theatres or watch it here.
The publishing issues we were having with my book have been fixed. Version two has been printed now, no spelling or formatting errors. Yay! I am steadily working on book two. For now, you can still order Fishy Business: How to be a Mermaid by clicking here
We're booking til the end of December. If you're interested please visit the website

One big announcement for you all, this January I will be a guest speaker at NC MERFEST. It's a first Year Convention that's going to be so much fun. I'll be giving a workshop on working with kids, and starting your mermaid business. You can check out the official website here. I am super thrilled to be seeing so many of my mer friends, getting to work with a cool underwater photographer, going to the aquarium, and more! <3 You can stay up to date via the facebook group

Here's a fun set of video clips of Naida and I at a military salt water pool oogling the light!

Also, since summer is now over, I decided to do a retrospective slideshow of everything the Halifax Mermaids did this past summer!