This weekend I had some much needed hangout time with my mum and sister. We had brunch and went for a walk along the boardwalk by the lake. It’s so pretty down there. Visiting to the beaches feels like a mini vacay! Took my DSLR along for the day and snapped some pix. Perfect day to be outside and have some laughs. Mum has always been a huge inspiration for me. A couple years ago she sailed to the Bahamas with her BF on their boat, I didn’t get to chat with her as often as usual so I often wrote letters to her right here. It makes me so happy to hang out and we always laugh our heads off with little jokes. Thanks for a fun day ladies! Feeling energized! Feel The sunshine on your face, flash your smile around! <3 CASIE

I recently booked a professional makeup artist to come over and do my makeup before a holiday event. It was SUCH an awesome experience. Having your hair and makeup done by a professional makes a HUGE difference. It’s amazing how much you can learn from a couple hours with an expert. I had Rimmel Canada spokesperson Vanessa Jarman over to doll me up and show me some tricks. She lined my eyes with Rimmel waterproof eyeliner before anything else, and told me to squish my eyes together ‘like I mean it’. This lined the inside of my eyes with a waterproof liner protecting my makeup from fading over the course of the night. A friend recommended an eyeliner stamp from Lovoir.com for future use. She also taught me to use an angle brush or small eyeshadow brush to set my liner with something dry (ie. eyeshadow). I learned about colours to wear for my skin, blending and layering makeup, and using different sized brushes for different parts of the face. I’d been using a rather large blush brush and learned a smaller one is better for blending blush or bronzer around my cheekbones. Vanessa blended three shadows to create my look and added a few individual lashes to make my eyes pop. We threw some hot rollers in my hair to glam it all up and she did a side braid to add some style. After my makeup was done, Vanessa asked about my dress and décolletage. What would be showing? She pulled out Burt’s Bees Radiant and rubbed it along my arms. I was glistened with an ever so slight brilliance. I’m picking up a bottle for myself today! One of the other really rad things about having a pro do your makeup is that they really know faces…

Today is the last day to vote for your fav people from Ontario in the Notable Awards powered hosted by Notable.ca. I’m nominated in the Best Blog category for Toronto. It’s my second time being nominated for a Notable Award, I was up for Best Personal Brand in 2011. I swore that after winning the Virgin American Provocateur competition I’d never ask people to vote for me again, I know it can be a bother, but here I am. I’m up against some really great blogs that are run by more than one person which is pretty cool. It’s awesome to be nominated with amongst my peers. You can vote for me here and pick out your favs in other categories here.  In other interesting news I’m Nominated for a Lifetime Achievement Award (for the second time) in the Canadian Weblog Awards, winners announced next week for that. I’ve been a big supporter of Notable and Julian since he started in back in 2008. In 2009, Julian and Notable document the top bloggers in Toronto, including me. They don’t all blog anymore but you’ll recognize Raymi the Minx, and Lisa Charlieboy in these photos. Below is another one from 2009, we’ve come a long way since then! I had a quick chat with Julian this week about the Notable Awards and what’s next for the company. Scroll down for a recent video I did with Notable for their Icon Series and PLEASE DON’T FORGET TO VOTE. Interview w/ Julian Brass from Notable Julian and I chatted on the phone and I did my best to get it all down! Thanks Julian! Follow him on Twitter at @JulianBrass. What was the inspiration behind creating Notable?? We as young professionals have so much potential, to live our dreams and help other live theirs. Notable is the brand that helps young professionals realize it’s…