I don’t really know what has me so angry today. On this day last year I was in Boston and we stayed at the Lenox Hotel right by the finish line of the Boston Marathon. I stared at the ceiling in bed last night thinking about how I always stay in Boston till Monday when I go. Last year I missed the race and would have probably been there at the finish line. I think that’s the closest I’ve ever been to a terror attack. Except the time there was a bomb on my plane in New Zealand and I was 12. Friends I knew who were in the race are ok. I’m a pretty positive person and always remind people to look at the bright side but man, I’m really thankful today. More than usual. The saddest thing for me yesterday was a text from Dad asking if I was in Canada. It brought a tear to my eye, imagine his thought hearing the news and not knowing where I was? Heartbreaking. The whole thing is so crazy. I saw that there was a suspicious package at JFK today too. Freaks me out. I love travelling. You can’t be scared but it’s hard not to let it get in your thoughts.

I got myself some daffodils for my desk and took me out for a nice pasta lunch at One of a Kind. I think I just needed a moment to give my brain a break. The rain doesn’t help but I love this yellow jacket from Gap Kids. I’ll call Mum in a minute, she always makes me smile.

Tell your friends and family you love them. You never know what the day will bring.

<3 CASIE

This week TechVibes, Canada’s leading online tech publication posted an interview I did during NXNE. Some quotes below, read the whole interview on TechVibes.

‘Survival of the Fittest’: Casie Stewart on Blogging ht.ly/bVl5t @casiestewart by @herbertlui

— Techvibes (@techvibes) June 29, 2012

Thanks to Herbert Lui for a well written piece. His previous articles are with the Creative Director of TAXI, Harley from Epic Meal Time, and renowned speaker Stephen Shapiro. So, I’m in good company!

IT’S NOT A WALK IN THE PARK

“I think the toughest things are when you have no money; essentially, I am an entrepreneur, and I’ve built up my business around my life,” she admits, briefly alluding to her time on TV show Maxed Out.

“I’m really super online, so people always think that I always have all these people around me, and we’re all like best friends. But when you’re a blogger, or you’re starting your own business by yourself, you spend a lot of time alone and at the computer,” she explains. “My life – yeah, a lot of times it is pretty glamorous and really fun, but – you spend a lot of time by yourself.”

HOW DO ASPIRING VLOGGERS/BLOGGERS WIN ONLINE?

“You need to do something every day that brings you closer to your goals,” Stewart advises. “When it comes to the internet, it is survival of the fittest. You gotta be the best, most consistent, you gotta stick at it…When I got home from the airport in Banff this morning, it was 4:30 and I published something on my blog about my panel today so I knew I could just get up and come here.”

I mentally calculate that she’d gotten probably four hours of sleep, and marvel at the fact she just did a panel. On four hours, I would have been passed out by this hour in the afternoon.

Instead of just attending an event or conference, Stewart advises volunteering. “That’s the easiest way to get connected to the people,” she adds. Stewart had even managed to sneak into fashion week parties and stuff like NXNE a few years ago, just to continue to network and introduce herself to people. “Just to even sit front row at a show was a dream,” she reminisces. “This year, I walked the closing show with all the celebrities.”

I loved seeing the human side of these people. It was inspiring.

Attending the show was great. I know George socially but I’ve never actually been to a live taping. This was the final show of his 8th season. Yesterday was a special friends & family presentation with the cast of Cosmopolis before they walked the red carpet at the Canadian première.

I should have taken a pen & paper because I forgot I wasn’t allowed to use my phone. NOTE TO SELF.

These actors made me think about myself, my career, my life. It’s really quite magnificent to be in the same room and hear them candidly speak about their lives, insecurities, and work. All photos by JJ Thompson. Thanks to the lovely Erin & CBC for sending right away.

He was watching a clip of himself from a movie with Reese Witherspoon where he played a very small part. Despite making millions, five twilight movies and dating K.Stew (who is on the cover of Vanity Fair July 2012), he’s lacks confidence, security.  He was modest and slightly soft spoken.

He said he avoids the media because he doesn’t really know what to say and he isn’t that smart anyways.  I imagined him to be more, more strong. He was undoubtly charming and his accent had my eyes light up with hearts like an old Loony Toons character. Tempted to rush the stage, I held back. Safe to saw, I was swooning.

The way Rob sat in his chair vs. David Cronenberg showed a lot about their characters. Cronenberg, a seasoned and incredible film maker, sat back in his chair, open body language, head held high while R.Patts was the opposite.

George asked David Cronenberg if anyone ever tells him “it should be done this way” or “do it like this”, he paused before answering and said “it’s been a long time before anyone told me what to do”.

Double swoon. The confidence he has in his work and artistic ability to create is insanely motivating and attractive, professionally.

Being weird is something I’ve really come to embrace and so has Paul Giamatti. Growing up I always had this artistic ability I couldn’t fight that lead me to be different, blaze trails and have ‘interesting’ fashion sense.

Giamatti is an excellent actor and I was surprised to hear him talk about having anxiety. He defined himself as being a bit weird and enjoys playing random characters that show up in movies playing a poignant role. Before shooting with Cronenberg & Pattinson he had some anxiety but is seems  it’s a normal thing for him, any many actors to face when on a big project. You forget that the characters in moves are real people. Well, I do.

You will have a good chuckle hearing Giamatti talk about giving the US president a swift kick in the ass.

The special episode of GEORGE STROUMBOULOPOULOS TONIGHT will air on CBC on Thursday, June 7 at 11:05 p.m. (11:35 p.m. NT).

Be yourself, nobody will ever be a better you, than you.

I’m a huge fan of wearing glasses. They’re a statement piece for your face and can change a somewhat boring outfit into something with a lot more style. I’ve had glasses since my first eye checkup in high school. They were my first ever high end designer item too. I saw a pair of Gucci frames before I went in to get my eyes checked, as we were wrapping up my appointment the doctor told my my eyes were near perfect. You think a girl would be happy about that, no, I wanted those GUCCI GLASSES! Fortunate for fashion, I was able to get them in the weakest possible prescription and Mum & I went home happy after placing the order.

Now that I’m grown up (sounds so weird to say that, but anyways) I have to get my own glasses. A good price and easy shopping experience are important. Yesterday I chatted with Derek Derek Desierto’s about his top picks top picks for the spring and summer. Derek is a Canadian celebrity eyeglass stylist and the in-house designer for Clearlycontacts.ca. Listen here:

Derek styled my face with the handy Virtual Mirror I told you about in January.  In our short talk I learned that you should pick glasses that are the opposite shape of your face ex. square face, round glasses etc. These are a few of his latest designs w/ Clearly Contacts. Any guesses which ones I picked before looking two inches down the page? (Worst guessing game ever, I know)

I went for the fashionable & feminine Birch:

They should arrive next week and I will do an unboxing & try them on for you style like I did last time. Follow Derek & I on Twitter at @mrdesierto & @casiestewart. 

Check out this TOTALLY rad commercial for HTC that is shot on a new android while skydiving & posted before landing (technically cause nothing you see on TV is REAl but still, it’s cool). The song is from the Drive soundtrack. LOVED that movie. Oh, and Senör Gosling. I was in a national HTC campaign last year w/ SAY Media (see here).

TECHNOLOGY & FASHION, ILU. HAPPY FRIDAY!

<3 CASIE

Remember how I always tell you “you’ll never again be younger than you are today, so do something awesome”? Last night I experienced that in full force and I am going to tell you about it.

I was feeling meh and tired sitting on the couch writing about how I didn’t feel like blogging when Barbie asked me to come to a video shoot our friend was directing.  I declined at first but knew she didn’t wanna go alone.  It was over at midnight so I got dressed, put on some makeup and went. Being in videos is fun and I’m s sucker for being on camera.

These guys are the band. They’re called Shit From Hell, they’re all successful lawyers/businessmen and over 50. Yes, over 50. The most crazy thing about one of them “Ritalin Boy” (second from left) is was having open heart surgery in the morning. Like, NOW, while you are reading this he is on an operating table with doctors in his chest. He had to be at the hospital for 6am. OPEN HEART SURGERY.

They rolled him out in a wheelchair with hot nurses and a drip bottle of Jaegermeister. So badass. I was surprised at how entertained I was by their performance, I’m not a punk music junkie but I love a good live show.

They exuded a comedic confidence you don’t see in younger bands. Some of their songs are “Horny Single Mom, F*ck Buddy, Super Poke, Onterrible dedicated to MP Tim Hudak (whom they detest), and Double Bubble Trouble inspired by the bubble girl at the G20 last year. They had a full on industrial bubble machine too.

They made me think about getting older, we’re always getting older. Now. Now. Now. Oop, there slips another moment of your precious life. Don’t waste it people.  You never know what is going to happen from one day to the next. So, why waste time feeling like crap, being lazy, grumpy or old? If these guys can rock a full crowd’s socks off the night before open heart surgery at 50 on a Wednesday night, you can do anything. 

This life if yours to live,  grab it by the horns and ride it like a wild bull.  Yeeehaw!

I asked the team at RogersTV to give me a screen shot from my episode of Start Something Big that airs tonight on CH10 and CH63 at 8:30pm EST. Pretty cool eh? Looks so complicated. There are heaps of components when putting together a show for TV.

I sat down with the Start Something Big team about a month ago and the reason I think you will like this segment is that I talk about how I got here, before internet. I was really involved in my community, social and media in high school which was the foundation I built my current career on after university. I had lots of inspiration from my parents and family who always encouraged me to be myself, no matter how different I was from other kids or what outfit I was determined to leave the house in. (This happened often!)

They also filmed part of a panel I spoke on during Social Media Week (Building Valuable Social Features into your Web and Mobile Applications) in The Burroughes building and talked to a few friend who’ve known me for a while. I have no idea what they said and have not seen the episode. 

I hope you can tune tonight and if not, the episode will be online eventually.  There’s a short one minute interview with the producer Neresse on the ol’ YouTube here.

Enjoy the day. Remember, you are younger today than you WILL BE AGAIN. Make the most of it. Do something. I’m going to attempt to clean beautify my room and have a productive work day.

TONIGHT on Start Something Big! we have Raia Carey and Casie Stewart on @RogersTVToronto at 8:30pm CH 10 and 63!! @Rai_Raii @casiestewart

— StartSomethingBig! (@start_big) March 27, 2012

It’s warm enough to work fromt he patio today. I’m catching up on emails and business etc.

It’s crazy how I missed home near the end of SXSW and now that I’ve been back for all of two days, I can’ty wait to travel again. I’m off to Windsor for a press tour Thursday and Friday and might be in Montreal for a few days next week. I love that the weather here is warm already, I might go to the island this week and work on my tan.

Caught a beauty sunrise this weekend. Now that we’re into spring I’m trying to get up earlier, exercise more and get off the computer and GO OUTSIDE. Even if it’s just for a little jaunt each day.

This weekend I brought out my ta[ shoes and put on a little show. It’a amazing how those skills never leave! I danced for 10 years as a kid going to competitions across Ontario and in New York & Myrtle Beach. I loved it so MUCH. This week I start rehearsals for a cabaret I’m in at the end of May.

Think I’m gonna go see Grimes tonight at Horseshoe. She’s a young, punky, hipster babe from Montreal. This vid is rad cause she’s surrounded by all these jocks. I’m into it. Show is $10 and doors are at 8pm. If you wanna join me, you’re totally welcome.

Have an awesome day! Remember…

YOU ARE YOUNGER TODAY THAN YOU WILL EVER BE AGAIN, DO SOMETHING FUN!

Morning! I’ve been added as a speaker to a second panel during Social Media Week and this one is probably the most personal talk I’ve even agreed to take part in. It’s about to get deep, we’re talking ANXIETY.

One of the things that gives me the most anxiety and possibly you too, is not having money. I’ve gone through lots of ups & downs in my life and I don’t come from money so all I have, is all I’ve earned. When I returned from Australia I was so skinny from living on next to nothing I looked like Nicole in her anorexic days, not by choice.

It’s hard to carve out a way to get paid for what you love doing. Especially as a creative person. Last summer I wrote a post about how you can’t pay me in chips or chocolate bars. I got sick and tired of people asking me to do work for them in return for things I don’t need. What would I do with a bunch of chips & chocolate? I go to the gym for a reason! Helloooooo. If they (whoever is asking) are getting a paycheque and are asking me to do work, I should get paid too. You wouldn’t believe some of the extreme things I get asked to to in return for ‘publicity’. I turn down way more than I accept. (That’s not to say I don’t love getting a few freebie’s along the way!)

Lauren posted this video that’s an excerpt from an upcoming documentary on Harlan Ellison, “DREAMS WITH SHARP TEETH“. He’s an excellent writer and inspiring man. I’m sure you will enjoy it.

My startup disk is full so I’ll be spending the afternoon moving TO THE CLOUD. Have a spectacular day. It’s lovely & sunny in Toronto

Title is advice from Mum. She said that to me a few years ago when I was trying to sort out where I wanted to go with my life. I always thought I wanted to work in fashion, then I did. After that, I thought wearing a suit, working long hours and being part of the downtown financial district was my dream. I stayed in that job as an IT recruiter having meetings at 8am (yeah omg, it was hell) and 2pm every single day. I hated it so much (job not the people!). One day my boss said “Casie, it doesn’t seem like you are having fun?” I replied “No, I’m not having fun at all. I badly want to quit but I need two weeks pay”. I left at the end of that very day, cheque on the way and started a job at Toronto’s most famous Kiwi restaurant shortly after. I knew the owner (HI MARTIN) and that because of my Kiwi citizenship I had a bloody good chance of getting hired. Working in the bar gave me the freedom (and same money TBH) to do what I wanted with my time. It was stress free and I loved chatting to the regulars and new customers. I worked at Hemingways for a few months and met some really rad people, it was like a family there. One of my recruiter friends sent me on an interview and moved into a job in IT. I worked for an online casino (it was cool, we had catered lunches) for two years and despite almost getting fired for doing it, worked on my blog A LOT. If my old boss reads this he will totally be shaking his head. Thanks Mike! When they caught on to all my blog activity, I decided I wanted to be in media full time. I left the IT job to do what I thought was my dream doing the social media for MuchMusic & MTV Canada. 299 Queen Street was a really fun place to work and the people were unique. It’s been over a year and a half working for myself and I must say that THIS is by far my most favourite ever job. It is sometimes the hardest and but totally the most fun.

Notice a pattern? I never stopped chasing my dream, although it is/was always changing. Nothing really great comes easy and if you work hard it will pay off. If you are in a job you hate and are reading this from your desk or something, realize you have the ability to go and find your dream too. You can’t fly with the eagles if you’re with the seagulls. Find the eagles you wanna roll with and make a decision to SOAR HIGHER. You only live once. 

Clearly people and interested! I’ve had heaps and heaps of questions about how I am using Spotify in Canada the last few weeks.

I was in the USA when Klout gave “influencers” a Klout perk last month. Everyone was like “WTF we can’t use our code in Canada, wahhhh, wahhhh”. I signed up thinking “I better get on this while I’m here since I go home in a few days blah blah blah”. When I got home, IT STILL WORKED. OMFG HEAD EXPLODE, MIND BLOWING. That’s how I have Spotify.

You can get it too, get curious and look it up yo!

• Use a proxy
• Go to the USA and sign up there
• Ask a friend online or offline to sign up an account for you

I’ve been totally loving it. Music is filling my house and the playlists are introducing me to beautiful sounds I’ve never heard before. Here’s a sneak peek of what it looks like.

Dashboard:

Playlist:

Social Feed: 

ISN’T THE INTERNET AMAZING. <3