There’s something so peaceful about being up north in the winter. You can stand on the lake and listen to the ice move. The cold air is so refreshing. Easy to find your calm. We drove up on Thursday and worked from the cottage Friday. It was the first day in a while that I didn’t close the rings on my Apple Watch but, f*ck it, I earned a break. On Saturday, I shovelled snow, played Nintendo, ate snacks, and finished watching Pieces of Her on Netflix. Good show, Toni Collette is one of my fav actors and does a great job playing this role. Sunday was pretty warm and the top layer of the lake started to melt. I don’t expect the ice will go out until sometime in April. Our lake group usually makes bets on when it will fully melt. I haven’t made a prediction yet! Things I love: long walks on frozen lakes, the smell of a cold winter day, carrying wood to make a fire, and being at the cottage with you. Been on a pretty good track record with the Calm app. I usually do a sleep meditation or Sleep Story at night and the 10 min Daily Calm before I get out of bed. I think it’s helping with sleep and focus. Working hard to keep that calm in my life. Something you might not know about me is that I always check the wind speed. Every day I ask Alexa about the weather and then I ask her about the wind. If it’s over 10 km/h that means no wide brim hats. If it’s 15 km/h + in the summer I’ll opt for shorts instead of a dress. I don’t like running when the wind is +25+ km/h but I love the…

Slept in a bit then went for a nice walk w/ Sean. The leaves are so beautiful. I left without my phone but ran back to get it. I should have changed out of my platform Crocs (not great for long-distance) so I only went to the end of the road and back. I took a little detour when Sean went off on his run and went into the woods to surround myself with trees. I just looked up and took in their beauty, breathed in the fresh air. F-yeah, forest bathing. ? We had a pretty chill afternoon. Sean had a broth cooking with the turkey leftovers and we watched a couple episodes of ‘Bad Sport‘ on Netflix. I spent a bit of time in the sun reading my new book, The Perfect Neighbour by Susana Beard. I absolutely love the new outdoor couch. Around 5 pm when it was nice and warm, we took the dock out. It’s always a little bittersweet and seems like a daunting task before we do it. Managed to finish the job in about an hour with no major injuries. Always a worry, trust me! The water was cool but refreshing. Looking forward to colder temps and making a nice ice hole for winter cold plunges. It’s insane to think we’re both are looking forward to the lake freezing, who are we!? Hope you had a lovely Thanksgiving weekend to celebrate the harvest. We’re returning to the city and after 5 days in the woods, I feel refreshed. Also, the blog is back on track and we’re up to date! Here’s a great (short!) week!

We had such a lovely time this weekend. I finally caught up on blog posts and took some time to relax. Sean had his last wakeboard rip of the season before we took the boat out. I finished my book and soaked up the sun on our new outdoor lounge set. It was so hot out! We watched a bunch of shows this weekend and finished Tell me Your Secrets on Prime, and on Netflix, we watched On the Verge, The Chair, Untold: Caitlyn Jenner, and Nine Perfect Strangers. Overall, pretty productive considering relaxation was my goal. ? Heading back to the city early tomorrow morning to vote and get to work. Feeling refreshed and gonna try and carry this vibe with me as long as I can! Watch my weekend recap video here! View this post on Instagram A post shared by CASIE STEWART (@casiestewart)

Read a lot of my book today! Currently reading You Love Me by Karoline Kepnes, the third book in the YOU series. I thought S3 of it for Netflix was candles but it’s not. Kinda wish I hadn’t read it now!

Starting to feel better from the vaccine side effects. I want to get back to myself. haven’t run in days. Tomorrow we’re helping Sean’s parents pack up their house for a few hours. I plan to spend the rest of the day working in my room and I am happy to do it. Feel so grateful for my space and the projects I’m doing. By end of summer, I’ll be sharing more about my work with Hvr and our new app. I am so excited! Looking forward to this week. I love Monday because you never know what the day might bring. Sending you sunshine and ALL THE BEST FOR A GREAT DAY. Watched ‘See You In My Dreams’ on Netflix today, cute movie, bit sad. This song is nice tho.

Woke up super tired today, not sure why. I find I’m more tired than ever these days and I guess it’s just pandemic fatigue at this point. ?‍♀️ I was out and about this weekend and after not doing much for almost a year, it’s exhausting! Took myself on an ice cream date after a nice long bike ride. I try to get outside for a run or ride each day to clear my head, get exercise, and fresh air. The ice cream at Gaspar Cafe near our place is incredible! I rarely do dairy but when I do, I pretty much always have chocolate. Yesterday I started watching Virgin River on Netflix and it’s not particularly good but somehow I’m almost done the first season. I have a soft spot for shows that I can put on in the background while I’m writing that doesn’t take too much focus, especially if they’re murder or romantic comedy. That’s all for today! Here’s to a good week!

Had a quiet Friday night after a long week. Sean got his vaccine yesterday and we spent the night watching The Serpent on Netflix. Idk why but just love a serial killer story, thought the show was really well done. This morning we cleaned up the roof patio, tossed a few old things, and packed some in the truck for the cottage. I biked over to meet April at Dundas & Ossington in the afternoon. we walked to Kensington picked up ome groceries and got coffee. It was so nice and sunny out. Felt great to be outside the house and in a different part of downtown. I biked back home and spent some time reading on the roof. I am loving these warmer days. I was planning to do some work on the garden but I sliced my hand pretty bad with a bred knife making breakfast so I’ll have to save that for another time. No plans tonight, I’m sure we’ll find something to watch. Title is a song from Ben Harper that always makes me think of my sister. ?

April is rainy and cold, we know this. Like winter, spring can be a sad season but if you have the right thing to wear, it’s not so bad. ? I wrote about my love for Transitional Coat Season (spring moody temps!) last month on Day 374 and my love for ‘coat season‘ back in October (Day 205), another transitional month. Remember, in the worst of weather dress appropriately, layer, accessorize and wear the right shoes. When it rains, I have two fav coats depending on humidity. One of my favorite raincoats is a rubberized cotton number from Stutterheim in Sweden. It is easily one of the most $$ things I own and cherish it! (I found out I’m 10% Scandanavian shortly after getting this jacket so maybe that makes me love it more?) My ‘Stockholm Red‘ jacket was a gift via my friends Leslie & Lindsay of WRG (What’s Really Good Studios) in Montreal back in 2015. This coat is MADE TO LAST and only gets better with age. If it’s realllllly raining and I have to face the elements, I also have cute rain boots and a nice umbrella. A wild weather day is an outfit adventure opportunity, or a reason to stay home, you decide. This is a photo from 2015 on the bridge near our house. It’s crazy to go back and read my own posts, memory is weird. I look at the photos and I read the post in my voice, but I don’t really remember the moment. The title of the post that day is “The best thing one can do when it’s raining is to let it rain.” “I dunno what it is about this time of year of this weather but it’s really got me down. I was feeling so meh today I could…

How you doing? I’m feeling the weight of everything this week and it is heavy. My new job is great but adjusting from 6+ years of freelance to work 40 hours a week has been tiring. Watching the news and seeing things get worse is extremely draining. Not being able to see family when they’re going through their own things is heartbreaking. We’re not even allowed to meet friends in the park anymore.  Each day this week I opened my blog admin to write something and ended up writing the title and staring at the screen. I couldn’t find the words to document the day. I try to appreciate something good each day like the sun, a call from mum, a good outfit, or laughing over DM’s with a friend. It’s hard to stay motivated/positive right now. Things are pretty bad. We can only hope things will get better but perspective is hard when we’re stuck in the middle of a storm that’s been going on for 13 months.  Today I woke up thinking about work and excited to get things done. My motivation slowly declined when I checked my phone, laid back down in my fully made bed, and stared at the wall for a while. Do you find yourself staring at the wall too? Next, I watered my plants and moved some around, grabbed some snacks, made coffee, and turned into the couch.  In other news, keeping this pandemic diary is surprisingly therapeutic. Despite some days where I’m completely exhausted, there have been a lot of good days. I find myself looking back and remembering park hangs in the summer, bike rides, cottage life, and great meals we made at home. Thankful for friends and family, also Netflix/Prime, good wifi, and snacks.  Sending you love, hang in there. ?

I’m at home today and Sean is at the cottage with Emily. He sent me the most special surprise… We had a lovely Valentine’s dinner on Thursday night and shared gifts then watched some Netflix. He got me a rose bush plant instead of flowers and as a plant mama, it was the perfect present! I don’t share too much about Sean here but he is so wonderful! We first met over in 2009 and I couldn’t imagine my life without him. He makes me laugh every single day and supports me in everything I do. I’m so grateful for him in my life. SEAN, ILYSM!

It was so nice to come back to Muskoka last night. We made a fire, watched Netflix and had a cozy cottage night. Spent almost all of Saturday lazing around, eating snacks and watching shows. We all need to give ourselves a break, relax, and take time to recharge our batteries. SO GRATEFUL FOR THE WEEKEND.