Venice Film Festival

At the start of September, Sean and I flew to Italy for the Venice Film Festival. His immersive documentary, Spots of Light was accepted into the Venice Film Festival competition! It was also my first time in Italy! We arrived in style with an Official Festival car picking us up from the airport and taking us to the airport boat dock. I’d been dreaming of taking a fancy water taxi and arriving just like Lady Gaga’s iconic arrival in 2018. It was close to that, aside from the paparazzi and me dangling my feet off the side of the boat lol. We arrived at the Excelsior Hotel (where all the celebrities are dropped off!) and were whisked away to another festival driver for hotel delivery. I was loving every moment!

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Hvr: Where Browsing Meets Social

Right before the pandemic hit, Sean and I spent a weekend hanging out with my good friend Talia and her husband Nelson. I’d met Nelson briefly in passing but we’d never really chatted. Once we got to talking, he shared what he was working on and we bonded over our thoughts about the web, publishing, and social. Nelson grew up in the publishing business as his family were co-owners of the Toronto Star. He and his brother Henry were building an app called Hvr that blends the features of browsing and social, bringing engagement back to websites. One of the first things he said was “We’re making browsing fun again” and from that moment, I was on board. As a long-time creator and publisher to the web, I’d never seen something so exciting! Since 2005 my blog has been my home base on the internet. As social media emerged in 2010, conversations moved to platforms like Facebook and Twitter, taking engagement with them and away from websites. Today, when I hit publish on a blog post, then copy-paste the URL from a browser to a social platform, people will talk about it there. This gives engagement to huge platforms but doesn’t do much for me as a creator or for my website. Fast forward to 2022, the web is changing, social media is just rented space, the best thing you can do as a creator is have a place you own online, a website. Introducing Hvr, Where Browsing Meets Social For the past year, I’ve been working closely with the Hvr team to develop the app by sharing my experience on the web and contributing to everything from design to copy and marketing. We’re changing the browsing experience by making it easy to follow your favourite sites, discover new content,…

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426: Happy Friday to You!

Biked over to see April last night and walked almost 5km in the sun. It was so nice. Charged my batteries up for a great day today. Spring is finally here! We’re heading up north and I am so ready to read my book in the sun and work on my tan. I hope it’s warm enough for that, ha! Talia gave me this jumpsuit over the winter and I was so happy to wear it today. Bring on cute spring outfits, I am here for IT! Sending you love through the internet. Have a great good today and a wonderful weekend! Happy Friday to YOU!

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Day 386: Road Trip in the Woods

Took a little road trip in the woods went up to Huntsville today to shoot some drone stuff with Nelson & Talia. It was SUCH a beautiful day. We were really close to Algonquin Park to capture it’s beauty. On the way there I decided to put on fake nails, I really miss having manicures! They were a little long and kept getting stuck in my hair but they were fun to photograph. I ended up taking them off later in the day. Getting my nails done was always a special thing I did for myself, made me feel like I had it together. I could go into any meeting or situation and if my hair & nails were done, I felt confident I could handle anything. These days my roots are so long and my nails arent’ done but I’m home and safe. That’s most important. One day I will return to Ivy Nails for a fabulous manicure.

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356: Playing Outside

Today we had an adventure and went to visit Talia & Nelson at their cottage. I dressed for playing outside and it was a beautiful day. Around this time last year, we spent a night at their place and went snowmobiling. We even drove snowmobiles to a lake-side restaurant and ate inside. Inside! It was the last weekend before the pandemic hit. It was so mild today, I even unzipped my jacket for part of the walk. Nelson & Talia showed us all the targets they have set up for shooting. I’d never shot a gun until this day but it was the right place and time. Nelson turned to me and said “Casie, you’re up!” and carefully walked me through it. I’m not a gun person by any means but at this moment, I felt safe and decided to give it a try. Proud of myself, I was pretty good at hitting the target! Feels good to spend the day outside enjoying winter, making the most of each day. We drove back to the cottage as the sun was setting.

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Day 311: Amber is the Color of Your Energy

Today was a good day. Left the house late afternoon to meet Natalie and her dog Chloe for a walk before the sun went down. We sat outside in the park by the Telus Centre near the Royal Conservatory of music, then went around the park. Walked through some of the University of Toronto buildings and I recognized a bunch of from Tiny Pretty Things on Netflix. There are heaps of recognizable locations if you’re watching the show, see some of them here on BlogTO. Good show, I’ll finish it tonight. Before heading home I had a little meetup outside with Nelson & Talia. We went to Eatily and got groceries. It felt like being out on the town! It’s been so long since I went to a place with anyone other than Sean. We were all wearing masks and only inside a grocery store, but it was invigorating! Earlier in the day, after my run, I tried a TikTok hair trend to do natural, heatless waves with a belt from a robe. I wasn’t sure how it worked at first but as the day went on, the curls relaxed and my hair looked great. I can’t wait to try it again and get really good at this. I’ve dreamed of having long hair for years and without the pandemic, I would have probably cut it. The title of this post on Day 311 is Amber by the band 311. My sister and I used to love this one so much. It will make you smile. ?

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Day 255: The Magic of The Universe

Well hello there! Spent the whole day inside, did not run today. Curled my hair with vintage hot rollers and I looked like a cherub. Decided to pop on a nice yellow jumper to brighten the day. Tomorrow I’m meeting Talia in the morning for a socially distanced coffee date. I really miss seeing friends! Usually, at this time of the year, I would be getting ready for a week away in New Orleans with some of my best friends. Seeing Facebook memories pop up makes me really miss travel. Seven years ago during this time, I was in Thailand with Contiki and 20 YouTubers. Such a great trip. Today I was dreaming about going on vacation and the first place I would go back to is Costa Rica. If I was going to move to a tropical climate, I would love to live in CR. In other news, remember how I mentioned wanting a treadmill? Well, ladies & gentlemen, the magic of the universe has shined its light in my direction! Sean’s dad emailed him to say they have one in their garage. AHHH! I am so thankful! It’s amazing how you can manifest great things in your life if you put positive messages out there. Keith, if you are reading this I am sending you my love!!

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Day 203: I Want to Go To Paris Too

Today when I was running I paused my Nike Running app and it didn’t record my whole run. I hate it when this happens! I am really interested in getting an Apple watch so I don’t need to take my phone on runs. I did 5km thinking I had a challenge for the day but lucky for me, it’s actually tomorrow. Made a delicious soup today with curry, carrot, and sweet potato. Once it starts getting a bit cooler I love using our Instant Pot to make soup. I rarely follow a recipe and usually use what we have around in the kitchen. This one turned out SO GOOD. I added jalapeno & goat cheese to serve. Sean and I started watching an Italian horror movie on Netflix in the afternoon. He fell asleep and I switched to Emily in Paris. Safe to say, he was a little confused when he woke up haha. We managed to get through 9/10 episodes. It’s pretty cheese but tbh, it was just what I was looking for.

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Day 172: Welcome to The Matrix

The year is 2020. We wear masks inside public spaces and outside in crowds. This is my first time visiting a client office after six months of lockdown. Haven’t worn a hat in a while either! Mask fashion is on the rise and today I’m wearing Toronto based designer Considerate Goods with a mask chain from an old purse. Met up w/ Talia & had a snack on Yorkville patio. Hardly anyone eats inside these days. I still eat Avocado toast & drink kombucha. Sean and Emily picked me up and we went straight to the cottage for Labour Day Long Weekend. Here’s hoping we have good weather this weekend!

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Day 111: Unicorns in the Sun

Today we went to visit Talia & Nelson at their cottage on Lake Simcoe. We had lunch then went to Lagoon City in the boat. I had no idea this place existed! It’s a whole subdivision on the water lined with cottages, a restaurant, and a hotel. Such a cool little spot! After boating, we relaxed in the pool. Talia and I had a little photo shoot while the boys were out on their own adventure. It was really nice to float, eat chips, and have ice cream in the sun. Before our visit, I ran 4 miles for my NRC July 4th challenge. It worked out to be 7km which is one of the longest runs I’ve done yet. When I started, I thought ‘how am I going to do this‘ but then before I knew it, I was on the home stretch passing 5km. I’m really proud of myself and have learned to love running.

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