Monday, Monday, Monday!

This morning I ventured out to Etobiocoke for a plant tour of a clients workshop. It was pretty neat. I love the smell of workshops. My dad owned a big hot rod shop that had a warehouse when I was a kid, I spent so much time there growing up.  Had to fully gear up with glasses and steel toe shoes. It’s crazy warm in Toronto right now, 12 degrees! Apparently it’s NOT because of Global Warming, just an El Niño keeping things warm. A record-breaking El Niño has shunted the jet stream far to the north, paving the way for warm air to shatter records. [More here.] Here’s a little sneak peek at the Christmas tree April and I decorated at the 1188 office on Friday. It’s a selfie tree! We’re even got Drake, Kanye, and Otis the dog (RIP, love you). Had some great chilli for lunch. Tonight I’m doing a holiday screen printing workshop with Peach Berserk. Can’t wait! Might finally do that all over print of my face. I know that’s what you want for Christmas!   

View Post

Winter, Spring, Jingle Bella

Oh hellooooo! This week has been a bit of a weird one. I’ve been pretty busy at 1188, this weather is lovely, and I’ve taken a bit of a relaxed holiday mode to blog work. When you’re a blogger/influencer you really don’t get a day off. I know I’ve chosen this but it doesn’t make it less tiring! My goal for December is to spend more time doing things offline/without a screen. More on that & Holiday Mode tomorrow.  I’ve still got things to share, my addiction to documenting will never go away!       Made falafels this week for my first time and I’ve made them twice since. Seriously, best ever, so good. As a dipping sauce, crush up a garlic clove and blend with low-fat mayonnaise.  You’ll love it.  Last night we took Emily to get a tree and tonight we’re planning to decorate. I wrapped a bunch of presents the other day so we had a few to go under the tree.  These cuties! ??   Looking forward to hosting family Christmas at our place this year. Hence all the work I’ve been doing to get the house ready!  It never ends!   

View Post

First Canadian Palce Donates $25k to Community Food Centres

Yesterday I joined friends & colleagues at FCP for the cheque presentation where they delivered $25k to Regent Prk Comminity Food Centres. Last week the new food terrace st FCP matched 10% of sales as a way to give back.   Nice to see Daniel who JUST got married (to Julio of course). Congrats!

View Post

The best preparation for tomorrow is doing your best today.

The last few days I’ve been really focussing on slowing things down, spending time at home. After a REALLY busy year, I feel December is a great time to recharge dem batteries.     Took a trip to Ikea yesterday and it’s really quite chill there on Monday afternoon. Walked around talking on the phone, taking my time to dilly dally through the maze of housewares. Got meatballs of course.  Been loving this warmer weather and still haven’t given up wearing my leather jacket. Today calls for a manicure.  Here’s to a great week ☀️   Title is a quote by H. Jackson Brown Jr. 

View Post

Murray Christmas w/ Netflix Canada

Last night I joined a couple friends at Andrew Richard Designs for the Netflix holiday jam. They also hosted a screening of the new Bill Murray Christmas Special that comes out December 4th. The photo booth printed photos and recorded slo-mo videos of all the guests. Here’s mine! Merry Christmas!  

View Post

Checking Out The New Terrace at First Canadian Place

Last week I stopped by First Canadian Place in the Toronto financial district to check out the new food terrace. Years ago I used to work in the area, it seems so long ago… Jetting out the door at 7:30am in a full business suit, heels, briefcase, and Windows Thinkpad, to make a daily 8am status meeting. I was a corporate recruiter specializing in tech, PMP Certified Project Managers, java & php developers. I forgot how fast everyone walks down walks down there, suits, pencil skirts, and lunch buddies everywhere. It was neat taking a stroll down memory lane and seeing the changes. The new elevated food court brings fresh design and a modern touch to FCP. There’s a great outdoor patio when the weather is warm and great food that’s well priced. That area can be expensive!   I picked up a few of my favs from Maman including their lasagne and a couple delicious cookies. This @mamantoronto is brining ☀️ to my day! TY @FirstCanadianPl, new #fcpfoodterrace is ! pic.twitter.com/zlV4K9IuiS — C∆SIE STEW∆RT (@casiestewart) November 27, 2015 One of the reasons to check out the First Canadian Place Food Terrace this week is they are donating 10% of sales to Community Food Centres Canada. With partners across Canada, CFCC brings people together to grow, cook, share and advocate for good food. Something awesome BESIDES FOOD at the new terrace is THERE ARE OUTLETS EVERYWHERE. It was near impossible to find a place to work on my blog at lunch back when I worked there. These little red booths are a hot spot (with outlets), perfect for catching up with a friend or catching a few private minutes alone in your busy day.  There’s more dining options being added to the terrace including Greenhouse Juice Co. and Five Guys burgers. Currently, you’ll find  Maman Toronto, The Cactus Club, Amaya Express, Jimmy the Greek, Maxim, Ruby Thai,Tim Horton’s, Pumpernickel’s, Mucho Burrito, Mr. Sub…

View Post

Holiday | Commuter Commerce & TTC Laughs w/ PayPal

This weekend I assembled a small elf’s office in our spare room for getting all my christmas things organized.  We’re getting a tree this week and it’s time to transforms the house! I love the holidays! The other day I hung out on the PayPal streetcar to learn about commuter commerce and be reminded there’s a whole mall in your phone and you don’t need to leave the house to shop for the holidays. Commuter commerce is a trend on the rise, people shopping from their phones when they are in transit – ttc, GoTrain, bus, passenger, taxi, airplane. I have shopped while doing all these things. Mobile shopping is so easy and getting packages delivered is one of my fav things. If you don’t want to leave the house or deal with holiday madness, I’m here to remind you about PayPal. Heaps of stores here. If you tweet @PayPalCa using #PayPalWish with something on YOUR wish list, they might just gift it to you (Until Dec. 6th). Give Santa’s elves a break & help yourself too: check gifts off your list by shopping on the #PayPal streetcar. pic.twitter.com/BkHlH6RWgP — PayPal Canada (@PayPalCA) November 26, 2015  

View Post

Video: My Top 10 Gift Ideas from UMBRA

It’s here! My video of holiday favs from Umbra! There are so many great gifts in the store I had a ton of fun making this video with the Umbra team. Please  like, comment, share. I love doing stuff like this 😉   I’ve linked to the items below so you can check ’em out. Shipping in GTA is really quick, I ordered on Tuesday and my stuff arrived on Wednesday. Free shipping over $50. My order is unpacked and ready for some redecorating and redecorate and present wrapping this weekend! Shop the Umbra Holiday Collection here. My top 10 below! ANIGRAM RING HOLDERS design by Sung wook Park AQUALA BATH CADDY design by Luciano Lorenzatti PENDANT SCARF HANGER design by Laura Carwardine UDOCK TABLET HOLDER design by Moe Takemura RECORD FRAME design by Umbra Studio PRISMA MIRROR design by Sung wook Park PONGO PORTABLE TABLE TENNIS design by Stephan Copeland BUDDY BOTTLE OPENER COPPER design by Alan Wisniewski SAVORE SALAD BOWL design by Denis Cheng PRISMA WALL DÉCOR design by Joel Yatscoff

View Post

Events | The Collective w/ Lincoln Drive + Kim Newport-Mimram & Susur Lee

The other day I attended an event at the Thompson Toronto with Lincoln. The Collective connected three artists for a special media preview, to speak about inspiration, drive, and their creativity on a daily basis. The partnership brought together designer Kimberly Newport-Mimran (PinkTartan), chef Susur Lee (Bent, Frings – w/ Drake!) and visual artist Jacques Gallant (metal fabrication). Kim (as I call her now! :P) talked about her love for attention to detail, the relationship between haute couture and ready to wear. She also designed a one of a kind dress inspired by Lincoln. Susur (we hung out here a while back) spoke about senses in design and created signature hors d’oeuvres and cocktails. Mr. Gallant talked about the importance of hand-crafting and how it translates into modern design. I test drove a sweet ride around the block and went back for snacks. Great night! Thanks Lincoln!     

View Post

This Is My Life | Cyberbullying

Putting yourself out there on the internet or *IRL takes a lot of courage. Having a blog opens you up for all kinds of criticism, haterade, or anonymous comments. My world, the one I’ve created online, is pretty positive, but I’ve had my share of cyberbullying. It’s important to fight back against trolls, for example you could use an instagram story viewer app to save any abusive posts so that you can use them as evidence against them. It’s also important to learn how you can avoid being exposed to this kind of harassment and Telus has an award winning Canadian program about how to protect you and your family online. They offer online info and offline info like in-person training sessions for business customers and their fams. Thanks for this @TELUS! #TelusWise pic.twitter.com/uIpjxQArfZ — CASiE STEWART (@casiestewart) August 20, 2015 Telus is one of my longest standing relationships and this program is one of the reasons I love them. Not to mention the owl for this campaign. I like owls. I’ve had more than one stalker over the years and had to contact the police several times about something internet related. I don’t share this stuff often because it’s hard to talk about. There’s also SO MUCH sad/bad news out there I want this to be a happy place for you when you’re having a bad day or want a cheer up. The things about bullying is it can stay with you forever. It’s hard to forget the way they made you feel. A couple of years ago a ‘friend’ had been commenting mean things under an alias for months. It was really hurtful, the things she said were spiteful, stuff only someone who knew me would say to be mean. I did some investigating and finally tracked the…

View Post