The Magic Mertini-Maker, Bartender Bridget

Siren's Soul Testimonialby Katia, the Blue Rose Mermaid

A driving motivation behind this magazine project is the desire to bring women —even mermaids—out of their 'shells,' to allow them to share their siren voices, to dig deep to understand what is influencing and impelling them. Our Siren's Soul series invites women to do so in an unvarnished and personal way, with the hope that the results will be inspiring for the reader and cathartic for the writer. I put out a call for someone to write on the subject What Mermaiding Means to me. The lovely creature you see below, with whom I was not previously acquainted, took up the gauntlet. We are all blessed as a result.

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It wasn’t my red hair that convinced me. It wasn’t my love of sea creatures or my affinity for singing. Oddly enough, it wasn’t even my so clearly dolphin shaped birthmark that gave me my courage. But since I was young, I knew I was a mermaid.

What I find in the water is so different from what I know on land. As a child I grew up with many fears. I was small and surprisingly pensive for a little girl, and struggled for many years with feelings of anxiety and depression. Except for one place. My safe place. My bathtub.

I’d fill it up with the hottest water I could stand just so the heat would last longer, then spend hour upon hour wiggling my wrinkling toes and telling myself adventures that I’d had. It wasn’t long until these adventures evolved into mer-ventures, and that I attempted to create my first “tail” by using a hair tie to bind my ankles together.

The hair tie eventually snapped, and I had less time to soak in my imagination. It was a long time before I attempted another tail. During that time, I was facing many difficulties with myself. I began to doubt that there was any beauty in the world, and I felt lost and despairing. Then, one night, as if to be a blessing in my sadness, I dreamt of a mermaid.

She was the epitome of beauty, power and elegance. Through the water she sped with purpose, but without restraint. She was free. I had dreamt that I was a mermaid. And through her imagery and inspiration, I could become my dream. I could be free from the weight that I carried by turning to a mythical muse.

With my savings I joined the mermaid market, finding a wonderful community of enthusiasts who, like me, sought beauty in a world that seemed not to believe in magic. But we could bring that magic. People could believe in us.

And I found that they did. After I received my lovely neoprene/silicone tail, I swam in it for the first time in a community pool with those who changed my life forever, children. They gawked in awe at me, smiling and laughing and inviting me to play with them. I was overjoyed. These children would never have to grow up believing that there was no magic in the world.

I could have beauty, safety, comfort, and inspiration, and give them all too. This is what mermaiding means to me. Not only did it remind me once again of the beauty we can share with one another, but it allowed me to share this beauty myself.

Give the gift of mermaiding to yourself or a loved one, with an interactive 5-week online introductory tail-making class

THE MAGIC MER-TINI MAKER

Brewitched by Bridget!

On June 1 this magazine hosted an online launch party via the Siren School Facebook page. It looked to be a sweet little event where five or so die-hard fans would say Congratulations and we'd all pat ourselves on our virtual backs. I figured it would last all of 20 minutes, including the five minutes or hellos and the ten minutes of farewells and see you soons.

It turned out to be a raucous Saturday night romp with dozens of rowdy well-wishers joining in not a little bit of silliness.

Early in the proceedings I made my first mistake... by posting "Can I ofer anyone something to drink?" I then added a snazzy mermaid drink recipe...

MERMAID MARGARITA

source: The Palm Beach Post

Ingredients Salt, for the rim Ice 1 ½ ounces Tease Me Tequila Blanco ½ ounce Blue Curacao (see bar note) ½ ounce fresh lime juice Splash of simple syrup Lime, to garnish Chilled cocktail mermaid figurine, to jazz up the glass Moisten a Margarita glass rim in a shallow dish full of lime juice. Dip in salt to coat the rim. Combine ice, Tequila, Blue Curacao, lime juice, and simple syrup in a cocktail shaker. Shake, then transfer contents (with ice) to glass. Garnish with lime — and chilled cocktail mermaid, of course!

Bar note: You can swap the Blue Curacao for any clear orange liqueur, but what’s the fun in that?

Next came a friendly post from one of our fascinating sirens, Bridget, whose last name I'm withholding lest peeps show up at her house begging her to go all Coyote Ugly for their personal

entertainment. Bridget wrote: "Name your favorite booze and I'll build around that."

What followed is distilled below into a list of the recipes she shot off faster than Tom Cruise can flip a bottle o' hooch.

Bridget's Facebook usual profile pic which suits this sorceress perfectly!

(Victoria Matlock as Elphaba in Wicked)

Starting of my mixing career: Blue Lagoon:

1 1/2 oz Vodka 1/2 oz Blue Curacao 4 oz lemonade 1 maraschino cherry 1 orange slice Fill highball glass almost full of ice. Combine the vodka, blue curacao and lemonade. Garnish with cherry and orange slice ...........Shall I continue??

In honor of someone I'm sure we Merfolk have seen around..... Bluebeard:

1 1/2 oz Vodka 1/2 oz Blueberry brandy Fill a mixer with ice. Pour booze over and stir well. Strain into a cocktail glass

Whilst visiting Captain Bluebeard: Quarter Deck

1 oz light rum 1/2 oz dark rum 1/2 oz cream sherry 1/2 oz lime juice

In a shaker 1/2 filled combine all the ingredients. Shake well. Strain into a cocktail glass.