The Cottage in A Mens Men Magazine

Recognize the view? Check out these pages from the latest issue of Sylvanus-Urban magazine. Select areas in Toronto will get a copy in this weekend’s Toronto Star. View the online Edition III of the magazine at here. This was a really fun shoot. Would love to do more up there. Thanks Garret Tonge & team!

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48 Hours in Calgary with Tourism Calgary

Last month Sean and I flew to Calgary to shoot a video for their website documenting a 48 hour adventure. Check out visitcalgary.com/calgary48 to see heaps of fun things to do and other 48 hour adventures.

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World Elephant Day – Throwback to Visiting Maesa Elephant Camp

In honour of World Elephant Day, here’s a throwback visiting an elephant sanctuary in Chaing Mai,  Thailand.  ปางช้างแม่สา aka Maesa Elephant Camp is like a retirement camp for elephants that aren’t able to go back into the wild after they’ve worked. There are over 75 elephants and they do activities like soccer, basketball, and painting. I was so impressed with their painting skills!

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Cottage Casie in Full Effect! 

Came in from a nice float out in the water just now. It’s so warm, the lake feels like a pool. This is my first blog post on the new computer. I’m so stoked to be up here and have 10 days to work on creative things. My new blog is on the works, I love the design and I hope you will too. It’s been years since I gave it an update. The current look and feel is very similar to when I first started casiestewart.com in 2005. The first site is still alive at casiestewart.blogspot.com. Working on this new machine feel like a Porsche or Ferrari compared to my little MacBook Air. Today Sean picked up a huge new monitor and comfy desk chair for the cottage, I’m ready to ROLL. I saw some amazing desk chairs on www.bestgamingchair.com/herman-miller-mirra-2-chair-review and I decided it was time for a new COMFY desk chair! The view from where I’m sitting is the photo above. I’m planning to put big 10 person tent on lawn and make a nice glamping hideaway. I attempted to do it on my own today (never having set up a tent) and gave up after a few minutes. I need help, I don’t know where everything is. This is me after a I made a Pina Colada and decided to go floating in the sun instead.

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Today in #Toronto: Tattoos, Water, Wine, Bikes, Blue Skies

Out on my bike this morning to put on a basket before hitting the road. I’ve got 2 things on today: EskaQuest giveaway w/ Eska Water at 2pm in Yorkville – find me first to win a $300 GC to StillWater Spa at the Park Hyatt Vintage Ink Wine presents: GENERATIONS, a celebration of tattoo culture through art at 99 Sudbury. It’s open to the public and you’re invited. Other than that, the day is mine! Gonna bike around and see what I can find.  Took a look at the new-ish street art under the bridge on Bloor at Dundas. It was all done a couple weeks ago and worth checking out. A bunch of Toronto artists’ work to see. Went on lock up and found my Schwinn Twinn! In case you missed it this week, I’ve been welcomed to the Schwinn Team as an official ambassador. They hooked me up with a sweet bike! Picked this one out, it suits me, good for cruising the city and just needs that basket. Bike selfie is dangerous but I’ve got it locked down. The city workers were taking down all the street art near the new Union Pearson Express station at Bloor-Dundas. I asked what was happening to it all and GO was giving some away but decided to keep it all. I would have dragged this one home and taken it to the cottage. I’ve been writing this while circling the Dollar Store for zip ties and now I’m gonna go riding. The PanAm Opening Ceremony last night was really neat. Loved watching all the athletes walk in. I posed a bunch of photos etc on twitter.com/casiestewart. Have an awesome day! CASIE ??

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Heading to Our Nations Capital, Ottawa!

Friday morning Mum and I are heading to Ottawa and it’s her first time flying Porter Airlines. I’m so excited to be travelling with her! Last time mum and I went on a trip together I was in middle school. We don’t often get to hang much, especially not in the summer is mum is usually at the boat and we spend heaps of time at the cottage. We’ll be seeing Serena Ryder, with special guests The Strumbellas at TD Place Stadium to celebrate Canada Day weekend. Earlier in the day, TD Bank and MusiCounts will be be announcing the 2015 MusiCounts grant recipients and have a special surprise planned for a local Ottawa recipient.  I’ll be doing a short interview w/ TD Canada about TD MusicCounts and sharing it with you next week. Oh hey @serenaryder! See you on July 3rd! #tdmusic #lansdowne #tdplace A photo posted by TD Place (@tdplace) on Jun 18, 2015 at 1:09pm PDT Feeling excited to take mum on a press trip and hang out at the hotel together. We don’t leave until 4pm the following day so hoping to take a walk on Parliament Hill. I’ve never been to Ottawa around Canada Day. Last time I was in Ottawa was March 2012 for Ottawa Fashion Week and it was very snowy. Looking forward to some fun times w/ mum and lots of laughs! 💛 CASIE

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Lovin’ the Crew – Tourism Calgary Arts & Culture Trip

Meet my crew! Sean and I were shooting w/ Tourism Calgary this week. If you follow me on the Twitter or IG you’ll know this already. Shooting in the pool was fun. Sean was a really good sport! Met up w/ Mike Morrison aka @MikesBloggity  to tour around downtown in the new bike lanes. He recently founded Calgary Bike, tours around Calgary by bike with landmarks, photo spots, facts, and history. We are inside this giant head, art sculpture.   It’s called Wonderland and is a female head that’s about 12 metres high.  It was created by Barcelona-based designer Jaume Plensa. The weather was absolutely beautiful. Rock show at Sloth Records for Sled Island. Picked him up a new hat. When in Rome, right? Went to the East End block party. Finally got him to let me do this. So cute. Had our caricature drawn by epic moustache guy. Finished the day at Wreck City, pre-demo car wash turned interactive art exhibit.    The sun sets just after 10pm. It was also super hot. Loved every minute of it. The video we shot will be shared by Calgary Tourism in a few weeks. I’ll post it too! 💛✈️👍CASIE

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☀️ self-pres·er·va·tion + re·lax·a·tion ☀️ 

Beautiful day for a boat ride on the lake. Kawartha ice cream, magazines. Relaxation station for preservation. Cottage life. ?     

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Long Weekend, Short Recap, in Photos

I’m sure by now you are more than aware I was at the cottage this weekend.  Hopefully you never tire of lake life photos and scenery. Here’s a few pix before I come back later today and add stories.                                   Aaaaaand, we’re back! Will update this later!  XOXO CASIE  

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Weekend: Wonderland, Cottage Life, Bike, Bondage!

This weekend was a great one. Went to Wonderland w/ Sean and my sister, opened the cottage, got a new bike, and managed to catch some sun. We went on Leviathan which was crazy/scary/awesome. If you’re going to Canada’s Wonderland for the day I suggest getting a Fast Pass. The upgrade is well worth the time you’ll spend waiting in lines. The rides are really fun but I’m impatient! Don’t like waiting! Sean and I went on the Merry-go-round. It’s cheezy and slow but I like it. I realized I’m not really into the super-fast-whip-you-around coasters like I used to be. This was romantic. Thank you Shannon Kelly and the Canada’s Wonderland team for inviting us. We had a blast. I think my sister went on every single ride that was open! The park was just as fun as I remember and it was nice to be back after about 10 years. Arrived at the cottage in Muskoka post Wonderland with daylight left to get the place open. There’s heaps of work to be done to get it ready for summer fun.  I raked leaves for at least 2 hours It was great to be out in the canoe again. So Canadian! Before Sunday dinner Sean and I  jumped in the lake. It was SO COLD but also refreshing, liberating.  I used to be all ‘nooo’ and scared about jumping in before it’s warm but switched my perspective and decided I’m lucky to have the opportunity and it’s not gonna hurt me. YOLO! Sunset steak dinner on the dock is just about as good as it gets. Watching the sun go down here gives me great inspiration and mental clarity. It feels SO GOOD to be back. Sparks were flying. We Sean set up this nifty little WatchBot nanny cam on the cottage…

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Distracted Driving is a Modern Problem

Last week I mentioned the OneTap app in a post along with the importance of NOT texting while driving. If you have an Android phone, download this app right now. Think of the olden days when people drove around without distraction of a mobile phone, then think about now…so many distractions. Even the smallest things like a sputter from your car can cause distractions! If your car is very loud and splutters all the time, you might want to soundproof your car. It will stop distractions from your car that the OneTap can’t prevent as well as making conversations inside the car much easier. Now, soundproofing your car doesn’t have to be expensive either, as long as you get it from the right place. OneTap is an app that keeps drivers focussed on the road. I know updates can be distracting (my phone is buzzing all day!) but there’s no text, email, tweet, or status update worth risking your life. Looking at these texting and driving statistics should be enough to make you realise this, as there are a shocking number of accidents that happen as a result of it, and I’m sure those involved would turn back time in an instant and put their phone away before turning on their engine. All kinds of small distractions can be so easily avoided. When you look away from the road it’s like driving blind and an accident can happen in a split second, which could end badly for everyone involved, it might end with you being charged with something like vehicular homicide and requiring the help of someone like these criminal attorneys to take on your case. Key features of OneTap App • Prevent distractions from calls, texts and alerts • Activate manually, or let it detect when you’re driving and…

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Travel | Nuit Blanche à Montréal

This weekend Sean and I went to Montreal as you know. It was a short but fun trip. I love Montreal and even though we were gone and back within 24 hours, a getaway is always nice. Here’s a little sneak peek of what we got up to! Only packed one small Sully Wong overnight bag for the trip. I’ve become a master at packing lite! It’s quite lovely taking the Via Rail in the daytime. We sat at the front of our car and were able to experience the beautiful trip in the sunshine.  The sun was so bright the car was heating up, it felt like summer! There’s wifi on the train so we were able to get a bunch of work done. Sean’s beard is getting so big! Huge thank you to Fairmont Montreal for all the treats they sent to our room. A bowl of fresh fruit and a card arrived just after we checked in.  We popped over to the Apple Store to pick up a HDMI cable so we could watch some House of Cards and plan our night. Next they sent a gift bag with our media passes and some delicious chocolate treats from a French patisserie. @casiestewart you are very welcome! Have fun tonight! #NuitBlanche #MTLMOMENTS — Fairmont The Queen E (@FairmontQueenE) February 28, 2015 We stopped into a church on rue Sainte-Catherine for a poetry reading in the pews before heading to Place des Arts to see all the action. There was heaps going on! We walked through a couple domed filled with winter activites before heading up the stairs to try the ZIPLINE. It was longer than I thought and went over the entire crowd at Place des Arts. Huge thanks to Montreal tourism for the media passes because we were able to skip the line! Nuit…

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Montreal | Hi-Speed Blogging in the Sunshine at 90MPH

This week was a busy one and I’m looking forward to a nice sleep at the Fairmont Montreal tonight. We’re on the train heading to Montreal for Nuit Blanche and thanks to Montreal Tourism. Remember that contest I entered and a bunch of you guys helped me fill the train? I didn’t win the contest but they invited me to come along for the ride and experience Nuit Blanche Montreal. Bae working away, looking all cute. Earlier this week I was working form the new 1188 Films office and dressed the place up with some spring flowers.  There’s 8 days until daylight savings, if you;re counting down like me. This is the before face of going through the worst pain I have felt in my entire life. I’ve been having high blood pressure along with those chest pains I mentioned so I’m unable to take my old contraceptive and got a IUD. I wasn’t expecting it to be so painful and felt nauseous after, it was brutal. Good thing it’s a five year plan. I’m thankful my doc was so lovely and took great care. Lucky for me, House of Cards is BACk so we binged a couple episodes last night while I was in recovery. Much better today and back to my regular bouncy self. Claire Underwood, I love you. Maybe I should keep short hair? This internal ‘cut it or grow it’ battle never ends. We’re on the train for 4 hours, currently going aboout 90MPH. I’m glad to have NextIssue and will be reading magazines once I hit publish. I’ve been reading magazines I never used to buy since I’ve got them all at my fingertips now (Nylon, More, Condé Nast Traveller, Dwell). This cover of Vanity Fair is awkward, no? Loving the images in Condé Nast Traveller. Makes me want to just…

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#TBT Thailand: Panoramic Views of Somewhere Warmer Than Here

Came across these photos on my phone and forgot I even took them. I love how panoramic photos capture a time and place. Fond memories. These were all taken on my trip to Thailand just over a year ago with Contiki Canada. They took 17 of Canada’s top content creators on the trip of a lifetime. We had so much fun. these photos were taken in Bangkok, Chaing Mai, Koh Tao, and Koh Samui. Go back in time and relive my trip in posts tagged Thailand. I would absolutely love to be somewhere warm right now but have too much going on to drop it all and get away. So, instead I’ve cranked the heat and dehumidifier and am sharing  travel photos. Enjoy! With love, CASIE

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Travel Tuesday: Punta Cana, Dominican Republic

You ready for vacation? This week we’re looking at Punta Cana, Dominican Republic. Yes, I like Pina Coladas. Currently browsing packages and flights to Punta Cana because I need to ditch this cold and soak up some sunshine! It feels like -30 in Toronto today! My sister went to Dominican a couple years ago and since I’ve been to a bunch of the surrounding islands (Cuba, Puerto Rico), so it’s on my destination list. One of the things I love about the Caribbean is the beautiful blue water. I adore being near the ocean and salt water on my skin. It’s also a great opportunity to practice my Spanish. Since I’ll be travelling alone, I don’t really have to speak to anyone if I don’t want to!  One of the best things about going on a solo trip is plenty of time to do whatever you want and/or keep to yourself in silence.  You might be thinking ‘but you are so outgoing!’, truth is, I really cherish my alone time and everyone needs to recharge their batteries. I’m one of those ‘outgoing introverts’ if you can believe it.  Travelling alone is an excellent way to explore a new city or country. If you’ve never done it I HIGHLY recommend it. Does this not look wonderful? I’m looking to stay at a quiet resort without kids. I’d rather be amongst seniors than people on family vacation! Aside from vitamin D and relaxation, this trip is to put finishing touches on my book before it comes out in March. A photo posted by GoDomRep (@godomrep) on Nov 11, 2014 at 4:31pm PST My ideal spot is an all-inclusive resort on the coast with white sand beaches where you can catch a few waves. Last time I went surfing was 2013 in Costa Rica so I’m dying to…

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Travel Tuesday: Let’s Go to Thailand

Pack your virtual bags, we’re going to Thailand on the blog today! What better time than now to share travel stories of places warmer than Canada?! During winter we all think about planning a getaway to somewhere sunny and warm. I’ve got posts ready to publish each Tuesday for the next few weeks taking you on adventures to popular travel destinations like Thailand, Australia, Costa Rica, Mexico, and more. So, if you’re sitting at your desk or hibernating inside you house, I invite you to come on a virtual vacation with me. I arrived in Bangkok and spent a few days there before heading to Chiang Mai. In Bangkok I visited the floating markets, ate on Khao San Road, and cruised around the streets picking up souvenirs. In Chiang Mai we rode bikes, visited some temples, night markets, saw a lady boy show, and experienced torrential rainfall. I also went to the Shangri-La here and it is FABULOUS. My most favourite places were Koh Tao and Koh Samui. Koh Samui is said to be the best place to go for relaxation after bustling days in the busy city centres of Thailand. It truly is a beautiful place. If you’re interested in visiting Koh Samui, you can learn more on this site about Bangkok Koh Samui. I also loved getting massages. For only a few USD/CAD you can get an hour massage. It was common for me to get more than one a day, so spoiled. Look at this pampering! For a few extra bucks across the street you could get the full expereince with Absolute Angels Bangkok, if only I was single! We took a 2 hour ferry across the ocean and although beautiful it was REALLY rough. People were throwing up off the back of the boat and seating…

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Travel | Take Me Away To…Cuba!

Since it’s winter and we’re all dreaming of sunshine, I’ve decided to get a little more organized with my travel stories. Starting this week and each following Tuesday, I’ll be writing about my adventures past, present, and future. As part of my quest to keep more memories, it’s great to relive those moments and what better time than RIGHT NOW. Guys, it’s -5 in Toronto right now and I’m wearing a big fur hat as I work. This week, we adventure to Cuba! I visited Havana back in 2010 w/ a friend. We stayed at Hotel Nacional, a famous spot where gangsters, famous people, and socialites used to hang out. The hotel opened in 1930 and Notable guests include Ernest Hemingway, Nat King Cole, Frank Sinatra, Backstreet Boys, Naomi Campbell and tbh there’s so many! I absolutely love being in a country that speaks another language. Best way to learn I reckon! I danced to the sounds of Buena Vista Social Club, ate delicious fresh fish, and took in heaps of history about Cuba.  Each day I watched different coloured taxis roll up with old white walled tires. It was like going back in time, I loved it.  My dad builds hot rods so I’ve been around old cars like this my whole life. My friends at Air Transat made this video a couple weeks ago and gave away all-inclusive trips to passengers. Did any of you guys see the Cuban Cab? Would you have taken a ride? I can’t imagine the being handed a trip so random like this! I could love to go back to Cuba. Especially today! Stay warm out there! <3 CASIE  

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CottageLife | So Long Sweet Summer Home

I rolled down the window as soon as we got to cottage county this weekend, Toronto didn’t have snow yet and I wanted fresh air. It smelled like winter, crisp and clean. Closing the cottage is bittersweet, it looks so nice all covered in snow but we can’t stay. I wanted to. I imagined staying up for weeks, making fires, taking trips to town for groceries. Wearing jogging pants. There was more snow than I thought and it crunched with each step.  Tossed a few snowballs in the lake and watched them stay in little circles. The water is really, really, cold, small ponds alongside the road are freezing over. Picked up this blanket and mugs from the Target for TOMS collection. They were sold out of the poncho I wanted but I got Sean one of the chambray shirts. He has at least five that look similar but this one was nice. He’s totally one of those ‘Lumbersexuals’  everyone is talking about with a beard, who wears plaid and the Canadian tuxedo (denim on denim). Had to pour out our homemade beer and tried snow painting. No Picasso! Winter is a season I find inspiring.  I’m planning to lay low and hibernate the next few months. Working on something I hope to launch in April. In the depth of winter I finally learned that there was in me an invincible summer. Albert Camus For now, lights out at the cottage. The very last step of closing for the season. Until next time Muskoka, see you in the spring. <3 CASIE

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Dinner with Chef Chef Nina Compton + Saint Lucia Tourism

On Monday night I travelled to Toronto’s Queen East for a mini escape to Saint Lucia with Chef Nina Compton and their tourism board. I’ve never been to Saint Lucia but I’ve also never wanted to go more than right now after tasting the food and hearing travel stories from other guests. Chef Nina cooked up some seriously delicious food. My fav was the cacao beef short rib with polenta and baby veg. The spicy cacao martini was a nice start to the night. You might recognize her from Bravo’s Top Chef, she was the runner-up and fan favourite on the most recent season. Chef Nina is in Toronto as the first culinary ambassador of Saint Lucia. Now that’s an awesome gig! = Here’s some snaps from the night by the lovely Becca Lemire. Did you know Saint Lucia, aside form it’s natural beauty, has a tropical rainforest and one of the world’s few drive-in volcanoes. DRIVE IN VOLCANO. A DRIVE IN VOLCANO. I can only imagine the other magical wonders waiting there for me. Thanks to the Saint Lucia Tourist Board and Chef Nina Compton for a delicious dinner and some time to catch up with Andrew (aka Dobbernation). I had a great time meeting Charlene who has been reading THIS IS MY LIFE for years had never ran into me IRL. HI CHARLENE. It’s a truly humbling and awesome experience meeting people who have been reading for a while. It’s nice to get to know ya. You know heaps about me! Here’s to a wonderful day. It may be getting cold outside but that doesn’t mean you can’t take the sunshine wherever you go.

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Travel | Montreal Moments

Yesterday I had brunch w/ Montreal Tourism at The Richmond. They were in town promoting all the wonderful events that happen in their great city over the next few months. I was treated to Montreal’s mouthwatering cuisine, charming joie de vivre, and a look into fall and winter adventures. Tourism partners and chefs included Guillaume Cantin from Les 400 Coups, Sophie Ouellet from EVO and Christian Faure from Maison Christian Faure along with Via Rail, Igloofest, Montréal en Lumière, Quartier des Spectacles, Phi Centre, The Montréal Museum of Fine Arts, McCord Museum and Grévin Montréal. Earlier this month I was in Montreal to get a look at MTL à TABLE, their food festival starting October 30th. Three Ontario blogs were matched with three Montreal blogs then paired with a Chef to get a behind the scenes look at what goes into making their MTL à TABLE menu. A photo posted by CASIE STEWART (@casiestewart) on Oct 10, 2014 at 3:42pm PDT A photo posted by CASIE STEWART (@casiestewart) on Oct 10, 2014 at 6:12am PDT The group included tour included myself, Amanda Cosco (Girl About Toronto), Taylor Stinson and Natalie Sehgal (Girls on Bloor) from Ontario and Jason Lee (Shut Up and Eat), Adnan Albakri (514 eats), and Na’eem Adam (Mechant Mangeur) from Montreal. Check out this vid Amanda, Girl About Toronto, made of her experience. Read about my trip to a farm and fromagerie w/ Chef Jason Nelson here. For more info about what’s happening in and around Montreal visit their blog at tourisme-montreal.org. To learn about MTL à TABLE  and participating restaurants tourisme-montreal.org/mtlatable. BON WEEKEND! <3 CASIE

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Travel | Savour the Taste of Montreal w/ MTL à TABLE

I recently had the opportunity to travel to Montreal with their tourism board to learn about their upcoming food festival, MTL à TABLE. I had an awesome time discovering their culinary scene, meeting other bloggers/media, and being back in my second fav Canadian city. This is part one of my experience. Scroll down to see what I got up to and get details on how YOU can win a round trip, including airfare to Montreal to experience MTL à TABLE for yourself! MY MTL à TABLE EXPERIENCE – Part One I arrived at Renard Artisan Bistro at 9am to greet Chef Jason Nelson and my blogger partner in crime Jason from shutupandeat.ca. After visiting the smallest coffee shop in all of Montreal and we decided to venture 45min outside the city to get local meat, wine, and cheese, a trip Chef often takes on Sunday afternoons. It was about 10am when we did a wine tasting at Vignoble Vertefeuille. I loved being at the farm. The air was fresh and the wine was good. Not a bad start to the day! Chef gets chicken, rabbit and wine from the farm on a regular basis. Our next stop was Fromagerie Au Gré des Champs where we sampled cheese and said hello to the animals. It was my first time at a fromagerie and I have never tasted cheese so delicious! This award winning fromagerie is one of very few in Quebec that uses raw unpasturized milk to make the cheese. It was DELICIOUS! Loading Love this beautiful lady. We had heaps of laughs on the way back to the city where blogger Jason from shutupandeat.ca and I met up with the other bloggers for lunch. Later in the day I really got my hands dirty prepping dinner. And by dirty I mean I got blood on my hands! This is the…

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Travel | New York State of Mind – See you Tuesday!

On Tuesday Brock and I are going to New York City. Yeaowwwwwww! We’ve been besties for like 5 years so this is pretty rad. Our friends at Cat Footwear are opening a new store and we’re going to celebrate with them. These are Brock’s fav boots. And these mine. See photo for link to blog posts! HAPPY FRIDAY! Heading to the cottage tonight for Thanksgiving weekend! <3 CASIE  

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Travel | Throwback! Virgin America Provocateur

This morning in my Timehop notifications I was reminded that four years ago today, I was riding the streetcar when I got a phone call from San Francisco saying I’d won Richard Branson’s Virgin America Contest. I was so excited that I left my phone on the streetcar! Luckily, the stars were aligned and it was returned to me within the hour. The contest went for about three months and there were about 10K entries. We had to make a YouTube video saying why we’d be the perfect ambassador to represent the world’s loudest and sexiest airline. As the Virgin America Provocateur, I travelled North America with Virgin and gave away heaps of flights. It was a great experience and the campaign got heaps of attention.      Some of my fav moments from being the Virgin America Provocateur 2010-2011: VIRGIN AMERICA TORONTO PROVOCATEUR CASIE STEWART. from Victors & Spoils on Vimeo. Casie Stewart was chosen as the Toronto Provocateur for Virgin America. = = = The crazy folks at Virgin America contacted us with an opportunity. They were about to launch service to Toronto, the first destination outside the U.S. for Virgin America. And they wanted a way to garner excitement for the launch of this service among local Torontonians. Together with Jesse McMillin – Creative Director at Virgin America – we devised a plan. Let’s create a web platform and initiative whereby we search to find one Toronto local to be our brand ambassador in Canada. The perfect person who embodies the sexy and cheeky brand attributes of Virgin America and can work to be a firebrand for the brand itself. So we decided to create a competition where the best video entry would win this coveted position. We decided we would call it “The Search for Virgin America’s Toronto…

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CottageLife | A Boy And A Girl In A Little Canoe

Back to the grind today after an absolutely wonderful weekend up at the cottage. Sean and I went for a nice long canoe jaunt yesterday in the sunshine. How lucky are we to have this weather!? You can like this photo on Instagram right here. We attempted to go through this tunnel to another lake where our friends cottage is. It was like being inside a beautiful painting. The colours of the leaves are so vibrant and the sky was incredibly blue. We were ill prepared to portage the canoe over this little blunder. Next time I’ll wear better shoes and put my phone in something more secure than a ziplock bag. Did you know you can still use your phone while it’s in a ziplock? The more you know. Learned that trick in Thailand last year. I finally got to float in my donut. The water was pretty cold but I really didn’t care! Went on a crazy fast seadoo. Heaps of fun! MIDDLE OF NOWHERE, MY FAV. This week is gonna be a busy! Tonight my sister and I have a date for the premiere of Gone Girl starring Ben Affleck. I’m hosting a Twitter chat with Hotels.com X Nine West tomorrow then speaking to fashion students at Seneca College. Thursday I fly to Montreal for a couple days exploring culinary awesomeness with Tourism Montreal. It will be the weekend again before we know it! Happy Monday, make sure you soak up some of that sunshine!  <3 CASIE

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Fashion |Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week New York

Turn on your internet ladies and gentlemen, it’s time for Mercedes Benz Fashion Week in New York City. Here you’ll find every runway show from the Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Spring 2015 Collections, being held in New York September 4th to 11th. NYFW SHOW SCHEDULE: Look for this image in the sidebar and you can click on it any time your little fashion loving heart desires. Love to know your favs if you take a peek! On another note… CAN YOU BELIEVE IT. No, think about it for one second. It’s 2014 and you are on my little bloggy blog about to watch runway shows as they happen in New York City. A privilege once reserved for only the highest fashion royalty, and now we are among them (from our couches!). ENJOY! <3 CASIE

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Fashion | TakeTheLead w/ Ted Baker AW2014

I love seeing brands create good video content. Now, I’m a little bias on this one because I’ve been working w/ Ted Baker London for over a year and I absolutely love the clothes. Here’s a look at what’s coming to a store near you for Autumn/Winter 2015. Since it’s Thursday, here’s a pic Ted Baker posted from my visit to their 5th Avenue Grand House in New York last August. We had a blast! Later that day I met Justin Bieber. NBD! Take a peek at all the beauties in the latest collection at tedbaker.com. There’s a downtown store opening on October too FYI! Huzzah! With love, CASIE  

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Travel |My Stay at Trump Toronto w/ HotelTonight

On Friday night I stayed at the Trump Hotel and booked my room using Hotel Tonight. I’ve known about the app for a while but was yet to use it. I was contacted to take part in an exclusive influencer event where a group of notable Torontonians met up for cocktails with HotelTonight co-founder Jared Simon. We were asked to pack a bag and come to the event where we’d leave to stay in a hotel later that night. Exciting!  We were each given a unique code that allowed us a stay that night at one of Toronto’s best hotels. I was gunning for the Trump Hotel as I’ve never stayed there before and it’s oh so fancy. Others in the group stayed at The Gladstone, The Beverly, and the Thompson Hotel. Earlier in the day I chatted HotelTonight co-counder & COO Jared Simon about the app and what’s next. HT is the world’s leading last minute hotel app with a rotating selection of rooms made available each day with bookings open until 2am. After working in the travel/hospitality industry they were inspired to create HotelTonight, knowing that most hotels operate at a 60% occupancy. I personally think it’s an awesome idea and recommend the app when someone visits my city or when friends are looking to do something special with their partner.  It was very easy to book my room using the app; pick a hotel, add credit card, book, arrive at hotel, checkin, stay, checkout. I asked Jared what’s next for HotelTonight and he told me expanding to even more than the current 500 cities, growing consumers (like us!), and innovating the app experience. I love adventure so next time I travel somewhere I’m gonna wing it and book a random night w/ HotelTonight. Jared dared me! Not a bad place to…

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