Our New Podcast, Cast of Creators is LIVE!

THE TIME HAS COME! Cast of Creators IS LIVE! I’ve wanted to do a podcast for ages and creating this with Nelson & the Hvr Team has been a dream. I have truly never had so much fun ‘working’ in my entire life. Nelson & I have spent our careers in media and publishing now we’re setting the stage for industry leaders, bloggers, creators and more to share their passions & perspectives. Each week, guests join us at Hvr Studios for a conversation about their lives, content creation, and business. We’ve had incredible conversations with inspiring people and laughed so much while doing it. Cast of Creators is presented by Hvr, our new social browser, if you don’t have Hvr yet, download it here! If you’d like a little more info about Hvr, read this blog post. Our initial guests include Raine Maida of Our Lady Peace, performance artist DevoDLive, multimedia host & producer Brigitte Truong, and more. For a peek at other upcoming guests, read our release on Financial Times here. Hvr, developer of the first social-forward web browser, today announced the launch of the Cast of Creators podcast, hosted by its CEO Nelson B. Thall and award-winning blogger Casie Stewart. The video and audio podcast features perspectives on innovation and the future of content with notable guests including Our Lady Peace frontman Raine Maida, performance artist, DevoDLive, and multimedia host & producer, Brigitte Truong, and is available for download wherever you consume podcasts. You can subscribe to the podcast at castofcreators.com. Hvr is available on the Apple App Store and Google Play. Financial Post, June 20,2022 Please subscribe/follow on Youtube, Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Listen to our first episode with Jules Mercanti here or scroll down to watch the first three episodes on YouTube. If you like the show, please follow,…

View Post

Beach Date

I took myself on a beach date yesterday and it was lovely! It’s been years since I went to the beaches, and I don’t know why I haven’t done this sooner! Found a nice little spot on the beach and started a great new book by one of my fav authors, Lisa Jewel. Felt like I needed a little escape, found out yesterday that my grandma in New Zealand passed away. She was my last living grandparent. It’s always hard when someone passes but this hits right in the heart and really makes me miss my family in New Zealand. I walked around the neighbourhood and was reminded how cute The Beaches are. I used to live in the East End years ago. Stopped into the store my sister works at, Charming Parrot. They have so many nice things in there! Resort wear, cute tops, beautiful silk dresses, and accessories. Say hi if you see her! I’m planning to get back to the beach more this summer. I want to visit the island too!

View Post

Collision Conference 2022

I went to Collision Conference 2022 and it was great! I’d been once 2019 and after two years of a pandemic, it was nice to be in a conference environment. There were 35,000 attendees and 600 speakers over three days + events and more. I shared some tweets from the conference on our @FundayAgency account and soaked up as much marketing knowledge as I could. One of my fav things was the TikTok booth, they had a 360 photo op. I loved it. See the video on Instagram. Nelson and I attended a few sessions in the afternoon and walked the conference floor. Some of my favourite talks were Global Marketing Trends, What’s in for Gen Z This Season, Censorship in the Era of Misinformation, and the Future of Journalism. Also met TikTok & Instagram superstar, Bruce, aka @falafel.kimchi. On Wednesday night Nadia went to the Collision After Dark party at Stackt Market. It was super fun. On Thursday, to close out the conference, Nelson and I did four episodes of Cast of Creators, our new podcast. The first ep we did there was with Raine Maida from Our Lady Peace. We talked about web3, NFTs, connecting with his fans and more. Collision is back in Toronto next year and if you can make it I highly recommend checking it out. I’m thinking about going to their next conference, Web Summit in Lisbon. In other news, making our show is super fun! I can’t wait to share the first three episodes of Cast of Creators with you on July 20th. We have really laughed and had some seriously good conversations.

View Post

Bisha Toronto: Work, Stay, Play

It’s been a busy couple of weeks and I’m back with updates! Events have definitely returned and summer is here. Earlier this month we celebrated the official opening of the Bisha’s summer season, poolside on the roof. If you’re looking for a place to work, stay, and play, this is the place to be. I’ve stayed here a few times and the hotel is amazing.   Hand fun seeing a bunch of familiar faces, many I’d not seen in 2+years, and having drinks with Miche & Nadia. Saw Bretty Boop IRL, such a cool babe. Girl crush! Have been following her on IG for a while, check her out at @bretttyboop and find her DJing around the city. Thank you Lori & team for the invite, hospitality, and gift bag! Had a great time and look forward to my next visit to Bisha, especially the rooftop pool. Next time I’m bringing my swimsuit! Photo credit: @arthurmola 

View Post

May Long Weekend in Muskoka

We drove up to the cottage on Thursday night to spend the May long weekend in Muskoka. I haven’t been up North much this year but was really looking forward to a few days out of the city. It was meant to rain all weekend but Friday was a magical sunny day. I took FULL ADVANTAGE. Went for a nice 7K walk/run in the middle of the day and it was beautiful. At Funday, we get a bonus vacation day during our birthday month so I booked mine to make an extra-long weekend. We took the boat out and Sean wakeboarded even though the water is still pretty cold. I don’t mind being captain lol. Fun times! With love from the woods!

View Post

Gladstone House Opening 2022

Last month, I attended the opening of Gladstone House after their huge renovation. The space looks amazing! I’ve been going to the Gladstone for the last decade and it holds a lot of great memories for me. Their last reno was in 2011 and I blogged about it here. It was great to see so many friends and familiar faces. Hadn’t seen some of those people in 2 years! Can’t wait to go back. Thank you Rockit for the invite! It was heaps of fun Lauren and I sang karaoke w/ Tim’s Good Enough Karaoke Band! If you haven’t been to an event w/ them I highly recommend it. After spending the last two years in a pandemic, it’s nice to go out to events again. Even though things are still not entirely back to before pandemic times, it’s nice to have somewhat of a normal experience. I’ve missed going out and being around people. I GET SO EXCITED. Have a few events coming up this week so stay tuned for fun times!

View Post

A Different Kind of Busy

Busy at the gym, making good meals, getting good sleep, taking care of myself. Before the pandemic, I spent so much time out in the world doing things that didn’t reallllly make me happy. I was in this pattern of going out all the time, eating garbage, drinking. It was fun, at times. I still like to go out here and there, but not as often. I’m happy being a different kind of busy.

View Post

Warmer Weather & All The Things

After what felt like the longest winter ever, spring has finally arrived! I don’t know about you, but I’m so excited for sunny days, warmer weather & all the things that come with this time of year. It’s just over a month until my birthday and this year is a big one. 🎉 One of my favourite things about spring is that it’s a time for new beginnings. Everything feels fresh and new and there’s always so much to look forward to. I love seeing the trees and flowers start to bloom and the days getting longer. It’s a reminder that no matter how dark and cold things may get, there’s always the promise of better days ahead. In other news I’m going to Bingo on Friday so picked up a couple of dotters for myself and a friend. I haven’t gone since I was a teenager with dad and tbh I am so excited. I’m 100 now. It was so nice to be at the office today. I love a good IRL LOL. Requested a full-length mirror for the podcast Studio and Nelson delivered! Sometimes I can’t believe my life is real, sometimes when I look back at the day, It feels like a dream.

View Post

Go Outside. You’ll Feel Better.

Last week I was so tired. Pretty sure it was Daylight Saving time, mixed with pandemic anxiety, and maybe a little burnout. I was wiped. Slept for most of the weekend and felt much better going into this week. IDK about you but I always feel great after I workout. You know, when your heart is pounding and you’re sweating, but you feel alive and energized? Some days I don’t feel like going but I know it will only take a few minutes for my mood to change. Also, I paid for the classes so I REALLY hate to miss one lol. There’s something about pushing yourself physically that makes you feel alive, saying “I can do this. I am strong.” I love that feeling, it’s been great for my mental health. If you’re feeling down or stressed out, go for a walk/run, lift some weights, or do something that gets you moving. I guarantee you’ll feel better. ✌️😊 P.S. Here’s a video of me skipping. I used to LOVE SKIPPING.

View Post

Five Good Things

It’s been a hard few months but winter is nearly behind us and hopefully this pandemic too. I’m looking forward to wearing my transitional coats, rain boots, and flowers starting to bloom. Hang in there, things are getting better. Here are five good things helping me stay positive: 1. Connecting with friends and family. I went to see mum last week, it had been months since I’d seen her. We had a nice walk and laughed over dinner. Nothing quite like a hug from mum. LOVE YOU! 💖 2. Getting outside. Even if it’s just for a walk around the block, fresh air and vitamin D are magic. I try to run each morning but if I don’t get there, I go for a mid-day walk or an evening stroll. Longer days make all the difference. ☀️ 3. Keeping busy. The gym has been keeping me busy and I’ve been planning dates with friends I’ve not seen in a while. Now that things are opening up there’s more fun to be had out in the world. 🤗 4. Practicing self-care. You don’t need to wait for the weekend to do that face mask, have a nice bath, or pamper yourself. I love a good self-care hour or evening during the week. I’m pretty dedicated to sleep lately and rarely go to bed without a calming meditation. 🛌 5. Trying something new. A friend and I have started a crypto class and Nelson and I are launching a PODCAST. YAY, NEW THINGS. 🎉 I’m pretty excited about it and it feels good to step out of (…or maybe into?) my comfort zone. I’ll share more on this soon.

View Post

Hippie Market Spring 2022

Went to the Hippie Market with Lauren & Jen last weekend. It was so fun! Honestly, if you haven’t been, you need to follow @hippiemarketlife and mark the next one in your iCal. See my posts from previous events here. There were heaps of vendors, vintage finds, and housewares. Lauren and I got matching necklaces and we took lots of photos. Of course. Cowboy, Lauren & Brock’s new pup from Texas came too and he was a hit with everyone! It was a really cold day but I didn’t mind the walk from home to Dundas & Ossington. The sun was shining and I felt happy in my heart! 💖 A good outfit always helps too!

View Post

I Need A New Passport Photo

This post was written by AI. I recently had to renew my passport and I was absolutely mortified by the photo. I mean, it’s not like I was expecting to look like a supermodel but I definitely didn’t expect to look so terrified. At least I’ll be able to laugh about this photo for years to come. Whenever I pull my passport out to show people, I’ll be able to say “Yep, that’s really me” and watch their reactions. If you’re ever in a situation where you need a new passport photo, just know that it’s not the end of the world if it doesn’t turn out perfect. And if it does turn out bad, just try to laugh it off like I did. I’m going to get a new passport photo taken as soon as possible. Hope you all have a great day! What is GTP-3? Generative Pre-trained Transformer 3 (GPT-3) is an autoregressive language model that uses deep learning to produce human-like text. 🤓 ✌️

View Post

Ready for Brighter Days

Got my hair done at Sasson then popped around Yorkville before heading home. My hair is very blonde now and I love it! It was time to leave that pandemic hair behind. Kim at Sassoon is legit a blonde MAGICIAN. Bring on fresh blooms, sunshine, and warmer temps. She’s ready for brighter days. I can’t believe it’s been two years since the pandemic started. It feels like only yesterday that we were all hunkering down and trying to figure out what was going on. We’re finally starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel and I’m really looking forward to summer.

View Post

Four Weeks of Working Out

I’m totally a gym person now. Over the past four weeks of working out, I have amazed myself at my own strength. I’m lifting heavier weights each week and I truly look forward to pushing myself a little harder. I had planned to only go for the month of February but I feel like I can’t stop now. Today I did a plank (3×45 seconds) with 35 Lbs which is a personal best! My classes are not more than 5 people and the trainers work close to help you get the right form. When I look back to how nervous I was in my first class I feel like a totally different person. I look forward to my next class the way I used to look forward to going out. ? I’m still running regularly but I’m terrified of slipping so if it’s icy, no run. One of the best things during winter is getting nice and toasty at the gym. Let this be a reminder there’s no time like now to start something new and to do it for YOU. Happy Friday and I hope you have a great weekend!

View Post