Creativity: It’s Always There, You Just Have to Find It

I haven’t written much in the last week. I’ve been busy but I’ve also been tired/lazy. Last week I directed a commercial, went to a conference, and had a press trip. It was non-stop go-go-go and although I relaxed over the weekend, come Monday I felt drained. I love my work and what I do but I am much more of a homebody and introvert than you might realize. I love staying home! Being a blogger (writer) means you spend a lot of time at home on your computer.  I’m listening to the Call Me By Your Name Soundtrack, did you see that movie? It’s beautiful. I saw it on one of the flights I’ve taken since January. By the end of February, I’d seen almost every new movie on Air Canada. I was happy to see this one pop up, it’s good. After coming back from New Zealand I was pretty relaxed and ready to start 2018 business. But now, I can’t believe it’s April and I feel like the last two months have been a blur. I was super sick for half of February then I had a week in Vancouver, a week in San Francisco, a couple weekends at the cottage, and few days in Ottawa (Gatineau). Where did the time go?! This weekend we are heading up to the cottage and I can’t wait. Before we head north, I’m attending a creativity workshop with FITC. I’m hoping for an electric charge that inspires me to make things. It’s easy to get caught up in the day-to-day routine, feeling tired but your creativity is always there, you just have to find it. I’m a very creative person but I go through waves of stopping and starting, staring at my computer, into hour-long blackholes of scrolling FB or IG. It’s easy to get caught…

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Travel Tips: Packing a Stylish Carry-on

Thankfully Thursday is here, best day of the week! I’m so excited for this weekend I’ve been counting down the days hours of what has felt like a really long week. Yesterday I posted an IG photo with the caption ‘hump day lol’ and it wasn’t until about 4pm I realized it WASN’T EVEN WEDNESDAY. My BFF Sarah and I are flying Porter to Ottawa for a relaxing, fun-filled few days at Lac-Leamy Casino in Gatineau, Quebec. From now until April 22 they have a ‘Now Boarding‘ theme that’s all about travel and adventure. My fav things! After all these years, I’ve almost perfected the art of packing the right mix of stuff for fashion and function. With the help of 1188 Films, we created a cute video with some of my trusted packing tips. Click here to watch on Facebook or hit play below! Travel Tips: Packing a Stylish Carry-on This weekend I’m heading to Casino Lac-Leamy w/ my BFF. I’m so excited! Here’s a few of my trusted packing tips for a weekend getaway! https://casiestewart.com/packingtips-casinosquebec Posted by casie stewart: this is my life on Thursday, March 29, 2018 I’m so excited. I honestly can’t wait. Lac-Leamy Casino has hooked us up with a great room at the hotel, dining at their 5 restaurants, a spa visit, and of course, we’ll be hitting the CASINO! Big money, baby! I mean, I hope we win some $$$ but we’ll have heaps of fun no matter what. I’ve been getting plenty of practice ahead of time with Mobile Wins Casino which allows me to play casino on phone which is convenient as I can play on the go! They’ve got a whole bunch of travel activities to accompany their current ‘Now Boarding’ theme and it is going to be SO FUN.…

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Opening the Cottage 2018

Ok it wasn’t summer but it was realllllly warm in the sun. I sat out on the deck reading my book for a while and came in with a little tan line. We were walking out on the lake and have been hearing it crack all weekend. It’s very thick, we weren’t even able to cut through it with the chainsaw. The sound is like a quiet *boom* and you can feel it in your stomach or chest. We heard a loud one while we were walking so that’s a wrap on that! Lol. It’s absolutely stunning tho. Lots of neighbours were out on the lake today. Families, baby strollers, dogs. I love being up here and slowing down. There’s lots of instruments and time to do creative projects or take naps. I’ve read a lot this weekend. Sean cut down a couple trees and I kept a few pieces for a friend and making stuff. The wooden cutting/cheese boards we made last year were a real hit. I love spraying things with rose gold Krylon. Feeling great and ready for a good week. I’m directing a shoot on Tuesday. Thursday, Sarah and I are flying out for a girls getaway. Sunday is Easter and we’ll be back up here for a couple days. Can’t wait to see what state the lake is in by then. 12 degrees on Wednesday!

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I tried those magnetic lashes!

The other day I went to a media preview and they were putting magnetic lashes on everyone! I wasn’t planning to blog about this but they were really cool and I thought you might want to know. I tried taking them off and putting them on again and they’re pretty easy. For the record, I’m used to putting on my own lashes. The ones we tried are Ardell and you can find them at Rexall, Walmart, or right here on Amazon for $26. You can use them about 15 times so that’s a pretty great deal. The ones I got were a bit long,  so I trimmed the inside a little. You can see the before in the photo above if you look close, but don’t look too close. haha! How To Magnetic Lash Put on a coat of mascara Layer the top lash on your own lashes Put the bottom lash along the bottom of your lashes Voila, they snap together with magnets! I reckon it would be helpful to use some type of plastic tweezer (like these) to place them on the lashes. You obvs can’t use metal tweezers bc of the magnets. I tried!  Thanks Overcat Communications for the lash hookup! I wore them for a shoot yesterday and they were great.  [amazon_link asins=’B0771PBBD5,B00Q1NEGJG,B0775WCTJ2′ template=’ProductCarousel’ store=’casiestewartc-20′ marketplace=’CA’ link_id=’d78b545f-2df5-11e8-aa11-0fd09345ad0d’]

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Travel Essentials: Don’t forget these on your next trip!

I’ve been travelling a lot this year and have a routine when I pack.  I never forget, a hat, an eye mask, thongs (aka flip flops), multiple pairs of sunglasses (no matter what the temperature), a couple scarves, insurance, and my passport. Wardrobe and accessories always depend on where I’m going. Something  REALLY important people often forget is INSURANCE. Millennials, I’m lookin’ at you. Apparently, we’re more likely to hop on a plane without insurance (55%) than without our cell phone (45%). Raise your hand if this is you?! In a recent TD Insurance survey, more than 1/3 of Canadians forgot to purchase travel insurance at least once (37%) or said it’s the last thing they think of (36%). Over a third of Canadians think they have travel insurance with their credit card (37%) or their job (37%), but don’t check what coverage they really have. You should definitely double check before you get on that airplane and consider buying a supplemental health insurance policy if you don’t have out of country emergency medical coverage. We’ve all heard stories of people having accidents on trips and you don’t want to rely on a GoFundMe to get you home safe.  Almost half of Canadians travel outside the country/province more than once a year. It’s important to have Canada-wide coverage as well as international. DYK that government health plans won’t always cover out-of-province emergency expenses like bringing a family member to see you in hospital, returning you home, or ambulance rides? If you travel heaps like me, check out the TD Annual Plan that covers you for unlimited trips of 9, 17, 30 or 60 days throughout the year. This will save you from *forgetting* insurance again and save you unwanted expenses in the event that something bad happens.

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You remind me of a sunshine the way you light up a room.

I used to post a lot of collage photos of my faces, different faces, expressions. I mean, used to as in the ‘old days’ of social media, pre-Instagram, early Twitter. I love taking photos of myself and documenting them. I love myself and I want you to know that. You should love yourself too. What else can I say? You gotta love yourself first because the more love you have, the more love you can give to others. Love and kindness are infinite. I always thought it was fun to take a million (ok, a hundred?) photos of my facial expressions and post them. As a kid, I spent heaps of time making faces in the mirror, ask mum. Honestly, I take about 50+ sometimes before I get one I want to post. I’ve always had an expressive face. When I was a kid, I did a lot of dance competitions across Ontario, New York, Myrtle Beach. At one competition my adjudicator was Patsy Swayze, Patrick Swayze’s mum. She trained him for Dirty Dancing in 1987 when I was 5. It was circa 1990 when she recorded a tape about me.  Back then, judges used to record their comments on tape while you were dancing and give it to you after the awards. I still have the tape of her talking about me. She said, “it’s too bad we don’t have lighting from the audience to show this child’s facial expression because she really does deserve it”. To this day, that is one of my proudest moments. “it’s too bad we don’t have lighting from the audience to show this child’s facial expression because she really does deserve it” I will never stop showing who I am. I’m too damn old to try and pretend to be someone else, gah, imagine how much work that would be? I am who I…

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