Beat Winter SAD: Hire a Cleaner

Cleaning the house at any time of year can be a challenge. When you have the long dreary winter where it’s dark before work and dark when you get home, it’s even harder. Also, how do we go through so many dishes and kid’s clothes in a week? IDK. We have been meaning to do a deep clean on everything for longer than I care to admit. AskForTask gave me two hours of free cleaning to try the service and let me tell you, IT WAS AMAZING. I booked the cleaning via askfortask.com and was able to list the number of bedrooms, bathrooms, and share comments. The whole process took about 5 minutes and I paid the difference (after my discount) with PayPal. I booked the recommended 3 hours and our Tasker arrived Sunday morning and cleaned for the requested time. They require you to be home for the cleaning so I booked a time that worked for us. Starting the week knowing the work is done has me feeling grateful. I can’t believe how much she deep cleaned! At one point I went to our first floor and she had completely moved our furniture to clean behind the couch. Our while place looks great. Highly recommend Maria with AskforTask, very thorough. For all the work you do in a day, a week, a month, treat yourself and hire a cleaner. There’s a handy app that allows you to communicate with your Tasker and add more hours if need be. Use code CASIESTEWART for $10 off your first task and give yourself some peace of mind. You deserve it.

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Beat Winter SAD: Book a Staycation

We are almost through January and the countdown to spring is ON! OK, it’s 50 days, and yes I’m counting. I’m really working on finding ways to make this winter not seem as long, cold, or depressing as 2019. Last week, I shared a post about beating winter Seasonal Affective Disorder by taking a vacation. This week, I’m sharing an AWESOME recommendation for a staycation. Sean and I spent a relaxing ~24-hours at Hotel X Toronto in downtown Toronto and it was a really nice mini-getaway. If you’d like to see more of my stay in video, check out my Staycation highlight on Instagram. I magically picked the BEST day for a staycation because we had a major snowstorm that morning. I arrived at noon for a hot yoga class and to see the amenities before checking in at 3pm. From the moment you walk in the hotel, it feels luxurious. It makes for a great staycation because there are lots of plants, several restaurants, a great gym, and amenities, meaning you don’t have to leave the hotel. There’s also a kid’s play center if you have little ones. I have added the Guerlain Spa to my ‘must visit‘ list for next time. Hotel X Toronto definitely has a resort-type feel. There’s a pool on the roof that I imagine is absolutely stunning in the summer. Yes, I did test it out in the winter. Scroll down!

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Beat Winter SAD: Take A Vacation

Last winter was really hard, we had one of the coldest seasons in ages, there was ice everywhere, and my arm was messed up. I spent most of the winter inside our house going Marie Kondo through every cupboard and drawer. This winter, I’m determined to find joy in simple things and actively make an effort to warm myself up and beat winter SAD. I wrote a few posts with ways I’m trying to combat Seasonal Affective Disorder with the hope it will help make our days a bit brighter. Some take a little more money/planning but others you can do at home right now. I’ll update this post with a link to each so you can scroll once they’re live. Vacation The easiest way to boost your mood in winter? Take a vacation. I know this isn’t an option for everyone with work/family/finances but if you can do it, it’s so nice. This year, I took a 7-day all-inclusive trip to Cuba with a friend. We have been talking about doing a low-key beach getaway at the start of January for 2+ years and finally did it! Cuba was a good option because we were not going for luxury, our conditions for the trip were affordable, beach, sun. The beach was beautiful and the sun was hot. The food wasn’t luxe but we managed to eat simple, the main things I ate were bread, rice, fruit, pasta, and eggs. I read an entire book, took heaps of photos, and finished the week well-rested and refreshed. We went to bed early (and sober) most nights. I stuck to Amy’s 1K a day challenge and did some type of activity each day (long walk, dance, NTC). It was just what I needed and a perfect reset to start the year. I…

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Make Time For Yourself

You only live each day once, tomorrow is a new day. How are you spending your time?  A few months ago I was feeling really burnt out and over everything. I had no energy to go out, write, do anything creative. May was a really stressful month and by the time June/July rolled around I was stressed TF out. All I wanted to do was stay home, watch Netflix, my room was a mess, I’d piled up boxes and paper that needed to be processed. I didn’t have the energy to do it. So I rested. I took time to chill. I’m grateful for the privilege to mostly work from home, to work on myself, and to breathe. I started spending a bit less time on asocial, taking breaks. I began to really love seeing the + beside my name on IG Stories, showing I hadn’t posted anything in 24 hours. That felt like a win with me. I’ve been updating the internet for 15+ years about my life and what I’m doing, burnout is real and it’s ok to take a break. I thought about what I wanted (even though I’m constantly trying to figure out exactly what that looks like!) and I focussed on it. Made some other changes too. I got serious about drinking less and explored being sober curious. I even spoke at an event where I shared some stuff I’ve never talked about. I was hesitant at first but I figure, if I can make this change in my life, it might be helpful to someone else going through the same things. It was the first TIFF in 10 years where I didn’t get drunk, I didn’t even drink at parties. And y’ know what? IT WAS AWESOME AND I STILL HAD FUN. I started intermittent…

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People want to see THE REAL YOU.

I shot this in an alley with my tripod (aka Julia), notice how one photo doesn’t even have a doorknob or leaves. Wtf? I feel into the damn IG trap! I edited my photo for Instagram to take out imperfections but like why? Can you spot all the differences??? It’s easy to get looped into thinking you need to edit to make things seem more perfect for the gram but it’s really not necessary. What is perfect anyways? Perfect is honest, authentic, being true to yourself. I love posting Stories bc they’re real and raw. Sharing that side of my life and being real has been my MO for the past 15 years of my internet life and it’s worked out a-ok. Don’t feel you need to put internet gloss over those human parts of your life, people want to see THE REAL YOU. Today we’re going to the cottage for 5 days. I can’t wait to make a fire, read my book, make elaborate meals, and sous vide some weed to make cannabis oil. ?✌?? There’s also a full moon on Sunday! ?? See here for some rituals I like to do. Sending you good vibes and sunshine! ??☀️

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