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The Friday Five: Sharks vs. Sting Ray

It’s Friday morning, 8 a.m. eastern, which can only mean one thing: it’s time for The Friday Five!  And that bears celebrating (pun intended):

Dancing Balloo
{Source}

As you may have seen on Instagram, I got to spend last weekend at the Jersey Shore for a little anniversary celebration with Mark and quality time with family and friends.  We’ve enjoyed summer vacations there for as long as I can remember…and as you may have picked up from my new DIY Wedding series, it’s where Mark and I got hitched!

Insta-fun!
Insta-fun!

Many of you know that I sometimes vent about the intense heat and crazy critters that we’ve got down here in the tropical climes of Orlando.  Well, irony of ironies, it ended up being hotter in Jersey than it was in Florida during our visit (heat wave!), annnnnnd we had a shark sighting.  Well, maybe.

Here’s the juicy story as told by my Mom on Facebook:

shark story

Drama, drama, drama!  It was truly kind of frightening to be jolted out of conversation by a man yelling for people to get out of the water.  Immediately, I felt like we were thrust onto the set of Jaws V.  Whether it was a pair of sharks in the water or a 6′ long sting-ray, I decided I had spent enough time in the water that day, thankyouverymuch.

We really felt badly for the man who was the supposed target of the bully sharks.  He told us that he has a deathly fear of sharks, and in order to minimize his chances of being attacked, he tries to swim with friends and wears dark swim trunks.  He seemed to take comfort in the sting ray theory, and my sister said she saw him riding home in wet swimtrunks a few days later, so he wasn’t kept from indulging in his sunset swims for long!

On that note, anyone excited for shark week?

Okay, now that I’ve gotten that out of my system, let’s dive into some excitement from around the web!

The Friday Five: Inspiration for Your Weekend!

The Friday Five (In Five Words)

1.  Tires never looked so chic!

Tire to Table Transformation
Trash Pile Tire Made Trendy Table by While They Snooze

2.  Milkshakes just got even yummier.

Rolo Milkshake
Rolo Milkshake by Life with the Crust Cut Off

3.  Prepare to have mind blow.

4.  Transform driftwood remnants into decor.

Driftwood Star at Michelle Paige
Easy Driftwood Star by Michelle Paige

5.  Blogger’s block, begone!  5 tips.

5 Tips for Overcoming Blogger's Block by Lauren at The Thinking Closet
5 Tips for Overcoming Blogger’s Block by The Thinking Closet over at Dear Life, We Need to Talk

Whaaaat?  Yes, I just snuck myself into The Friday Five!  Ya see, I’m over at Dear Life, We Need to Talk today, the beautiful blog of my German buddy Johanna.  She’s on vacation right now in Vienna, so I’m taking over her Weekly Wrap-Up for this Friday!  Whoop whoop!

Even if you’re not a blogger, these tips really apply to ANY form of writing…whether it be that important email you keep putting off, thank you notes, or a college essay.  We’ve all stared at that blank page or screen and felt overwhelmed by a lack of inspiration.  Well, hop on over to hear how I get over the hump and get those words a’ flowin’ like milk and honey.

While you’re over there, say hi to Johanna!  She’s hilarious and insightful and finds some of the most inspirational images and videos you ever did see.  And if you need a place to start, I recommend a room tour, followed by a journey toward self-acceptance, and rounding it off with a glimpse at outer space.

Want More Inspiration?

It doesn’t stop here!  Don’t forget that my girl Thalita has five more inspirational links to share with you over at The Learner Observer, so hop your runny babbit self over there and soak up Thalita’s Friday Five: “For Goodness’ Sake.”  You won’t be sorry.

The Friday Five with The Thinking Closet & The Learner Observer

I hope your weekend is off to a fantastic start, friends!  See you Sunday when I announce the winner of a brand new Silhouette Portrait!  (Psst!  There’s still time to enter if you haven’t yet…and still time to earn more entries if you have.  Entries for all!  Just click here.)

Peace.

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22 Comments

  1. Haha! Oh the shark drama, the shark drama! I went in the water twice this week and it was just lovely. I did have a fearful moment when I thought of sharks, but I quickly recovered and pushed the fear out of my mind…I was quite close to shore and there were many people around me….all good signs! And, there’s more news about the shark man. His name is Jack and we saw him again around twilight…he remembered us, and seemed doubtful that it was a sting ray….it almost seemed like he wanted it to be a shark! But, the whole time, as before, he had a smile on his face and vowed to continue swimming! No shark scare can hold him down!

    1. Oh Jack! One of my many favorite Ocean Grove “characters.” (My least favorite characters being the supposed sharks / sting rays.)

      Glad you’re not letting any fear of sharks hold you down or keep you from enjoying the sea, the sea, the beautiful sea.

  2. Enjoyed reading about that drama of the “shark” incident last weekend! Saw Dolphins yesterday but no sharks–whew! Sting-rays have been hanging around the beach, I hear, often this summer!

    Loved all your Friday Fives including the tire stool renovation and driftwood star; the neverwet product seems like a God-send, however, how does it wear on clothing and items? Does it stiffen or discolor clothes or cloud and eventually peal off items? I will wait a while to see how it stands up in the long-term! Wish you could have come to the Bazaar Friday and Saturday; you would have found many DIY projects! xxoo

    1. Thanks for letting me quote you! And it’s funny how we’ve been having so many sea creature sightings lately between the sharks/sting ray, dolphins, and manatees! Guess it’s about that time in the summer when the water is heating up and is more welcoming to bigger sea creatures. I just prefer the friendly ones to the vicious ones!

      Glad you enjoyed the picks this week for The Friday Five…and as cool as NeverWet is, I think I’ll also wait to hear some customer reviews on long-term effects. Surely it has got to use some strong chemicals and hopefully it’s safe! Just thought it was an incredible concept, though, and I love that there are researchers working on this sort of thing.

      Yes, I, too, wish I could have raided the Bazaar for treasures and DIY finds. Did you find anything that just needed to be taken home?

  3. Okay. I need this NeverWet-stuff. Immidiately!
    For just everything. Mostly my desk and carpet. It was only yesterday that I sat on my carpet and scrubbed and cleaned it… /o\

    Have a wonderful weekend!

    1. Isn’t it crazy?! Mark and I were baffled by it when we saw it. We kept thinking how great it would be for our iPhones or computers…. It could have saved my laptop in college from its untimely death when a vase of water spilled on it and fried the hard-drive (yes, that happened, and yes, I cried). Where was NeverWet when I needed it?! 😉

      Happy weekend to you, too, friend!

    1. Ha ha! That candy is such a throwback to the Halloweens of my childhood! Now, I’m going to have to keep my eye out for it during my next grocery run.

  4. Our family used to vacation every other summer at Myrtle Beach. I used to love going in to the ocean until I watched Jaws. Then I thought that was ridiculous and so I would just wade in the shallow water, but I would always find the seaweed and it would wrap around my ankle. That was it for me so now when I am at the ocean, I just let the tide sweep over my feet. I am such a chicken.
    Thanks for this weeks 5. I picked up a few ideas – what a way to make tires feminine! Right up my alley ha ha.

    1. I know, I think Jaws ruined me for a while, too. Not only did I see the movies, but I read the book (why oh why did I do that?), and with someone that has as vivid of an imagination as I do, every dark shadow in the water or fish on my leg was a shark ready to attack. I still swim in the ocean…but never alone and never too far out and never where sharks are known to prowl. (Like New Smyrna Beach, the shark capital of the world. It’s one of the closest beaches to us here in FL, but you can bet your bottom dollar I’ll never swim in it!) Ha ha. Anyway, fun swapping stories with you, as always, Karen. Have a wonderful weekend!

  5. Can I have a Rolo Milkshake for breakfast? There’s protein in it.. or something like that… right? haha Thanks for the feature! The high five picture is great.. haha. See you soon!!

    1. Ha ha! Sure! I like the protein theory! (I’m such an ice cream fanatic, I’ll justify it any way I can.) And OF COURSE I had to include your awesome tire transformation in The Friday Five this week. It’s one of the coolest d.i.y. projects I’ve ever seen, and I’m not exaggerating. Looking forward to being able to say, “I met the woman who made that tire ottoman.” Soon and very soon!

    1. Of course! Thanks for sharing it in the first place. You have all of our mouths watering with it.

  6. I would have been terrified knowing there was possibly a shark in the water where I was swimming! Yikes! Love your Friday Five each week. 🙂

    1. Aw, thanks Bethany! I appreciate you stopping by! And yeah…knowing there COULD have been sharks in the the ocean where we were swimming was enough to keep me out of the water for the rest of the day. We went back in the next day, but only when the ocean was FILLEd with people. That way, the odds were ever in our favor! 😉

  7. Didn’t he know that sunset is probably the worst time to be in the water swimming if you’re worried about shark attacks? Yikes! I’ve had a few scares and seen some sharks while in the ocean but it doesn’t keep me out of the water even though I am deathly afraid of sharks.;) And yes, we’re excited for shark week here.:) Looks like you had a fun time on the Shore!

    1. I know! We told him that, but he said it was his favorite time to swim because he likes the quiet after the crowds have left the beach. (I can hear the Jaws music starting to play now.) Wow, Cindy, you’ve had some near shark encounters?! I have this crazy fear / fascination with shark stories, so I’d love to hear more about it sometime. I’m impressed by your bravery to get back out there, too. I know the odds of getting attacked by a shark are so slim…but still, the thought of it is absolutely terrifying!

      1. My reply came off a little more exciting than I intended.;) I’ve seen small (2-3 feet) sharks in the water before and a couple of times I’ve seen what looked like a larger shark when I was out on a sandbar. Each time I quickly got my butt back to the shore and didn’t go back in the water that day!!lol When we at Sandbridge a couple of weeks ago, there was a large group of fish in the water. Obviously something was feeding on them as they’d jump out of the ocean here and there. You could see dolphins occasionally but who knows what was underneath the water! Needless to say I didn’t venture very far out in the water. I did go in…but not further than waist deep.;)

        1. Those stories sound scary enough to me! Whether a shark is 2 feet long or 10 feet long, it’s still a shark…and a creature I do NOT want to bump into in the water under any circumstance. Glad you play it safe, Cindy, but that your fear doesn’t keep you from enjoying the water altogether!

  8. Thanks for the Friday pick me up, Lauren! Loving the DIY decor and although I have officially retired from my elusive blogging career, I will be dashing over to Joanna’s place to see what you’ve got on that smart writing mind of yours. And so glad to hear you survived shark week and had a wonderful family/anniversary celebration! Definitely bears celebrating with a jaunty Bear Necessities jig.

    1. Elusive, perhaps, but noteworthy!

      And you had me chuckling with your reference to a “jaunty Bear Necessities jig.” What a wordsmith you are! With a smart writing mind of your own, I dare say. 😉 Happy weekend to you, friend! And thanks for checking out zee guest post!

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