Found on Film: Memories from Bondi Beach, Australia

Last week I took a couple mystery disposable cameras to be developed and one was from Australia in 2004 while I was at university. It’s crazy to think how many apartments and places this camera has been. My life has changes to much but this year was such an important time of my life. Let’s go back in time, this is pre-blog and social media, I was 21. I decided to go to Australia because it was the furthest place away from Canada. I’d always felt a down under connection my family is from NZ and I am New Zealand citizen. My BFF Cheryl and I both had no idea wtf we wanted to do after college so this was a really great option. We could drag out school for another year, spent it in Australia (hello beaches & babes!), and turn our marketing diploma into a degree. Australia is just full of amazing beaches and the best way to experience them is to hire a campervan from somewhere like campervan hire Brisbane, so that you can park up metres away from the sand and sea. That way, you’ve always got everything you need and you save so much money on accommodation, as well as having some amazing views. I think this exact day was the first time we went to Bondi Beach. These were taken at the top of the hill before you go around the bend and see the water. It’s so beautiful, if you haven’t been, I highly recommend it. One of the most beautiful and magical places. Cheryl and I ended up making friends with some people who lived in the white building overlooking Bondi Icebergs. There were so many internationals living there, it was like nothing I’d ever seen. So many people in their 20’s,…

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Happy #AustraliaDay!

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The Artist Project Toronto: Feel It For Yourself

Went to opening night of The Artist Project Toronto last night, one of my fav events of the year. I can’t believe how many friends, artists, and people I knew, it was wonderful to see so many familiar faces. Wore a cute outfit, a see through dress with daisies, and my fav hat from Lack of Colour Australia. I’ve been living in my new platform Vans lately. Have always been a Converse girl but, these little shoes go with everything and they’re so cute. The Artist Project is on all weekend and 100% worth checking out. It’s happening at Better Living Centre, Exhibition Place from April 14-16, and there here are 250+ independent artists. So many nice things to look at. Grab your friends, go on a date, take the whole fam, it’s great. “Explore thousands of artworks, large scale installations, enjoy curator led art tours and take home that special work that truly resonates with you.” The Artist Project Here are a few of my faves from opening night. There was so much to see, this is just a small sliver of all the things to look at. Get a ticket and go. This post isn’t sponsored, I just truly love supporting independent artists and fun events! I came home and blogged it right away so you could know about it! Feel it for yourself. Discover original works of art. A couple of nice pix of us by Ryan Emberley.

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Day 389: Lockdown Still

Well, ladies & gentlemen, we’re back in a full lockdown. The good news is they are now starting to roll out vaccines to anyone 18+ who lives in a hot spot area code. I’m happy for everyone that can now get vaccinated. We live in an area that’s right beside 3 postal codes in the new rollout but don’t qualify just yet. I don’t expect to be vaccinated until the end as I’m not high risk or essential. I will stay home for months if it means we can get back to some kind of normal. So, photos of me doing next to nothing with nearly no one will continue to fill the blog as I am determined to keep this diary going until this pandemic is over. I was looking at event photos the other day and really missing seeing everyone, being in a crowd. One thing I really miss, surprisingly, is joyfully yelling in a crowded place. You don’t really do that when you’re at home. One day we will excitedly scream together. I also can’t wait to talk about fun things again, events, product launches, lunches, dinner dates, dance parties, and more. Been singing this song in my head so placing it here for you, London Still by The Waifs. I listened to it heaps when I lived in Australia. Now when I head it I think of singing ‘Lockdown Still’ instead.

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Day 71: What Did You Make?

Over the past few months, I’ve been asked a couple of times “what are you working on” or about clients, brand partnerships, my job. Before COVID I was up for a FT gig I really wanted, and had met w/ a few people from the company. Since COVID, the job was put on hold and a couple of my brand partnerships have been cancelled. TBH…idk what I want to do next. I’ve been feeling the need for change the last year. Since my broken bone accident at the end of 2018, I have worked on myself a lot and finally feel good, physically and mentally. (Most the time.) Some days I feel excited with a childlike fancy, making things, creating, writing, sharing sunshine. Other days, I’m sad for reasons I can’t explain or scared for what the future holds. Despite the sunny photos, there have been a lot of clouds. And, co-parenting an almost 13yo young woman has its challenges. Although I’m not working as much right now, I try to have some normalcy of computer time in the am (emails, blog) and in the afternoon, I make something. It could be art, photos, food, exercise, or upcycling something from my closet. Making space to relax and making time to unwind also count One of my good friends and I have this thing where we text each other saying “what did you make today buddy?”. (We have been calling each other ‘buddy’ since we lived in Australia a lifetime ago!) I find her messages so great, asking this is kinda better than “how are you?” because it helps you think about your day differently. So, what did you make?! Photos @April Wozny last week on a social distance bike ride + coffee date ☀️??

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DAY 66: Living for Leisure

Mum wore this crochet outfit to a wedding when she was a TEENAGER! Nana’s friend knit it for her and she went with my dad. I AM obsessed!!! She always had such cool style, her clothes are our treasured heirlooms. LOVE YOU MUM! Picked up the orange wool blanket at a thrift shop in Coromandel on my 2018 trip to NZ to visit the fam. ???? The hat is from Lack of Color, Australia and the glasses belonged to someone’s grandma. After this lockdown, I’m never not wearing a full entire outfit! I have such an appreciation for every single item in my closet!

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Day 39: Book Recommendations

Last night I finished the first book I’d read a while and then we watched 1917. I’m not usually into period pieces or wartime moves but it kept me in suspense the whole time. I started another book in bed before falling asleep. I think an escape from reality was just what I needed yesterday. A couple of months ago I was wandering aimlessly at Chapters (remember doing that?) and surprised myself at how many books I’d actually read. I took photos of all the covers to make a blog post with recommendations. I guess I didn’t really find the time until waking up at 5:30 this morning saying, today’s the day! You’ll notice a theme, lots of thriller/suspense, almost no self-help. Reading for me is a distraction from the outside world and I love a good story involving some type of crime or murder. Idk why, I just do. This post isn’t sponsored, I bought my own Kindle and most of these books. A few in the list below were advance reader copies from the publisher via PR or Netgalley. All books are linked on Amazon and can be found in my reading list here. I love reading on the Kindle. Until I got an e-reader, it had been ages since I’d read a whole book. I love traditional books but with Kindle, you have almost any book at your fingertips, you can read in the sun, in the dark, in water, or highlight things to look back on later. I also quite enjoy Audible, especially when the book is read by the author. A great feature of both Audible and Kindle is you can preview the book before you buy it, this has really come in handy with recommendations and the discovery process of finding your next read.…

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Day 37: My Blog is 15 Today!

At the start of the 2020, I’d planned that this year, finally, I was going to have a blog party. Well, that didn’t quite work out! Today marks 15 years since I started writing ‘Casie Stewart: This is My Life‘. My first online diary was MSN Spaces during university in Australia (2004), next I moved to casiestewart.blogspot.com (2005), and finally, found a home at casiestewart.com. I have grown and changed so much over the past 15 years. I’m really thankful to everyone who has been part of this blog. It’s been a huge part of my career development and me growing as a person. I was in my early 20’s when I started and over the years, keeping this diary has helped me work through so many ups and downs. Glad I didn’t give up, there were many times I didn’t feel like blogging but writing was what helped me though. Thank you for reading, commenting, reaching out, and for your friendship. Maybe next year I’ll do a Sweet 16!

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Day 35: Stages of Isolation

I’m at the stage of isolation where I have now cut and dyed my hair. It’s just temporary but I feel like a change, so why not?! Nothing holding me back from making things and doing stuff at this point. Inspired by Briony (amazing Toronto artist) and Martina Martian (fav artist in Australia), I’ve been drawing on iPad Pro more. Made this line drawing yesterday. Took ages but it’s nice to just sit and create. Click to see the video animation from image to art! View this post on Instagram A post shared by CASIE STEWART ☀️ (@casiestewart) on Apr 19, 2020 at 5:33am PDT I used to love drawing on iPad and when I got my first one a decade ago, my old blog Borderline Artistic was thriving. I was drawing almost daily and posting art I made. Around that time I created the ‘Unnecessary Wheels Collection‘, might start that up again. It’s nice to get back to creating just for fun. Not sure I can stop now! I also bleach dyed a pair of denim and they turned out AMAZING. WHAT WILL I MAKE NEXT?!

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Preston High School: Welcome to the Future

Today I spoke to Preston High School’s grade 10 and 11 students. I was invited to talk about my career, taking a unique path, and the changing world of work. I graduated from PHS in the year 2000 and most of the kids in the group were born 2000-2002. Crazy! Where did the time go?! Back in 2000, wifi was getting popular, I’m pretty sure I had a Nokia phone, and a job at Blackberry seemed like a great career move. The world has changed so much since then and speaking at PHS today made me really proud to be part of the growing social media world. Going Back in Time I first learned about marketing at PHS and it lead me to a three-year Business Marketing diploma program at Conestoga before heading to Australia for university. I always a passion for marketing and entrepreneurship, I loved marketing because it allowed me to be creative in business. While at uni, I started an online diary to keep my friends & family informed of what I was up to using MSN Spaces. This was even before I discovered MySpace. I was my first step into having my own place on the internet. When I came back from school, I wanted to work in fashion. I met someone on my flight from LA to Toronto who connected me with one of his clients. I was home from school for two weeks before moving to Toronto to sublet a room in a house with 5 students. I took over the room from someone I met at school in Australia.  The skills in learned in marketing have carried me through my career and helped me to be a leader in a new industry as it developed. Creativity in business has helped me navigate situations where…

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2020: It’s My 15th Blog Anniversary

OMG! It’s been 15 years! I CAN’T BELIEVE IT! Do you have a blog memory, a fav tweet, something you won’t forget? I’d like to thank you for reading, now it’s your turn to share!

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We All Wear Crowns ?

Feeling excited today! The sun is out, it’s layering weather, and I’m expecting mail. I’m really looking forward to the weekend, Sean and I are going to the cottage for five days, just the two of us. I’m planning to cook, read books, have a fire, relax, it’s going to be so great., The photo above is my outfit from the Booby Ball ‘Under The Sea’ event on Friday night. Thank you Ryan Emberley for the snap! I went as a mermaid queen and made a crown + shell phone to complete my look. I’m so happy with how it turned out., This winter will be all about DIY projects in my little boudoir studio at home. I got a couple of shipping notices today for stuff I ordered recently and I can’t WAIT for them to arrive. These Chloe glasses are on their way from SmartBuyGlasses.ca. I wanted these in the summer and when they reached out about doing a post on the blog, I was so happy to pick these out! This weekend I finally ordered a hat from Lack Of Colour Australia. I’ve been creeping the website and Instagram for months and have wanted one of these for ages. I’ve also found a few great hats on Amazon lately like this black boater hat. See my store here! Two weeks ago I went to a plant event with Native Shoes and was given a gift card. I finally decided on these super cute, warm, waterproof boots ‘Chamonix Junior‘. They fit a bit big so I went for the kid’s ones. They’re out on the truck for delivery today! We have an exciting meeting today at 1188 and I really hope it all works out. Here’s to good vibes and great things happening!

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Interview: Vocab Comm Influencer Tuesdays

I recently did an interview w/ Chrissy, longtime friend, OG PR, and founder of Vocab Comm. I talk about the social media landscape, influencers, and my career. I included part of the interview below, read the whole thing here. Chrissy used to host MMVA and celebrity gifting lounges at the beginning of social media, we worked together on a few. This was a fun one. Tell us a little about yourself. I grew up in Cambridge, Ontario. My parents immigrated here from New Zealand and my dad had a custom Hot Rod shop growing up. I created my first business in grade 2 and at 14 I wrote a book and started a publishing company. I went to Conestoga College and last year was given an Alumni Award for my work from the President of the college. I went to university in Australia and have a B. Com in International Business. I have lived in Toronto since 2005 when I started my blog. Through my blog, I’ve built some amazing brand partnerships (Pepsi, Telus, Aeroplan, Sassoon) and traveled to incredible amazing places in the world (Thailand, New Zealand, Costa Rica, Disneyland). How do you define an influencer? I think the word ‘influencer’ has really taken on a whole new (kinda negative) meaning with the rise of Instagram influencers. To me, influence is a product of something someone does. It’s not something you get by having a lot of followers. My influence has grown from being a pioneer in a new industry and constantly innovating. I share my life with the world and love discovering new things, my influence comes from building trust with my audience. What advice do you have for other people looking to become an online influencer? Don’t do it. Find something you love and do that! Don’t…

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Thoughts on Graduating: Find Something You Love

Last week I spoke at the graduation for Conestoga College. There were 15 programs graduating and hundreds of students. I got to wear a gold cape as a ‘special guest’. I checked the colour of the cape before the event and came prepared with gold shoes. It was pretty cool! The top photo above is me with Conestoga College president John Tibbits at the presentation of my Alumni Award last year. I was in shock when I found out I’d been nominated for the Premiere’s Award then Conestoga surprised me with an Alumni Award. [The highest award from a college delivered by the president!] This isn’t the kind of award you can apply for, and I am so honored to be recognized. I took my mum, and her BFF (aka my second mum & Fairy Godmother!) to the ceremony. We had a great time! Looking Back… I’ve spent the last decade working in social media as the industry grew and developed. I’ve had my blog for 14 years. When I went to Conestoga College for Marketing, social media was not invented. Blogs were not invented, there was no Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook. I was into marketing as soon as I knew what it was. I chose to study it in college because I had a *feeling* the internet would be something big. SMART THINKIN’ EH! Honestly, in college, I used to skip class and I hardly ever bought textbooks. I didn’t have much money in college or university, but I always did the work. I worked well in groups when I was the leader, I liked writing, I was really into presentations. I didn’t really know what I wanted to be when I left Conestoga College, so I went to university, in Australia. I liked business but I had no…

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