Stop to Smell the Roses, Treat Yourself

I started this weekend off right with a trip to Hammam Spa early Saturday morning. I spent about 30 min in the steam room before my St. Tropez treatment. It’s a sunless tan type application and to be honest, I think it wore off already and I won’t do it again. The experience itself was great and I booked with Cynthia who is awesome. Smashed up some bananas in the blender to throw into this mix when it came out of the juicer. It was a great way to start Sunday morning. I made Sean and I nice breakfast and we watched Romancing the Stone, an old romance-find-the-treasure movie from the 80’s. These shoes arrived Friday from the NastyGal Shoe Cult. I made a mistake in the postal code when I purchased them and I totally thought they were on their way back to NG HQ. Had lunch at Free Times Cafe for Ariel & Chris’ engagement party. It was fun and the food was amazing. I really like Yiddish music. I wish I understood! The piano player was from the National Ballet of Canada too. Stopped by the Parkdale Flea Market on the way home. It was such a nice day out I just wanted to do things outside! I picked up a shirt for Sean with an illustrated bear that is running. It’s super cute. Made a delicious juice this morning with spinach, kale, grapefruit, apple, pear, and a dash of cinnamon. It’s so freaking good! If you missed our latest Cooking with Cuisinart episode with the juicer, watch it here. I feel good if I keep posting the juices I make because it serves as a good reminder for me to keep making them. I’d determined to drop a few LBs this month! When I arrived at the office…

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And she was fair as is the rose in May.

Earlier this months I was chosen by Lancome Canada as one of 20 artists in Canada to be part of their big digital show for Luminato Festival. I was super stoked to be chosen for this experience! The theme was ‘the rose’ so I had my BF shoot me with a dozen roses up at the cottage in the sunshine. Unfortunately, I submitted my photos LATE and they would not accept them for the show. See below for a bunch of photos. They are kinda big so I didn’t leave them all on the homepage!

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Weekend Tune: “Rose Garden” by Shad

It’s officially summer! Go find a sunny row of garages and dance while Shad rhymes about good times! He rocked The Ballroom during Rock with Windows last Saturday and tore it up! Did you hear that he rapped over The Cure? Yeah. It was the best. If you’ve never seen Shad live, make the effort to check him out next time he comes to your town. The guy is an amazing performer with talent to the sky. Just watch him freestyle. So good right? Not to mention the fact that I got to meet the guy and he’s the nicest. So enjoy this track as you sip on some lemonade and smile in the sunshine! xo Kate

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spring mixer @ Harry Rosen Inc

Attended a Spring shopping party at Harry Rosen the other night. There was a band, live radio broadcast & free drinks. Julio and I had a good chuckle. I like to have fun at these fashioney things y’know. Jacket: Covet from Bicyclette, Tights: Adrian Hailwood, NZ, Bag: Nella Bella, Dress: American Apparel, Giggles: Julio These pix are from Fashion Nights (click to see their coverage of the event). These guys are The Darcy’s and they were playing live. Rumor has it Harry Rosen plans to have more ‘Underground Lounge’ events. I approve of this rumor and fully support. Aren’t they cute? Ok my pix now. I was daydreaming about an army of Casie-Bots like this… I took my very own dream boat and we shopped denim. Option numero uno: Option deux was a hit with me, the sales guy and the ladies who walked by saying “hot”. Thanks Michael Rozenwald for your help. Sold. Shopping parties are fun. Nice to see everyone & nice clothes. One of the things I did not like was this scissor wall. Freaked me right out. One of the things I did like was this D&G ‘Cry Baby’ Johnny Depp tee. As seen on Whiz Kalifa here. (Scissors, scissor hands Johnny, connection there?) Save yourself the ≈$200 price tag & to Bang-On & make one yourself. DIY FTW!

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we like we like to party: rosedale @ the mod club

first stop loudawgs w/ team BITE/AUX TV. bonga & jetter showed up too. love all y’all faces. ttc across the city talking to mum on skpe in bahmas,  day 98/365, 2011. hey cutie pies she gotcha affan was looking pretty cute eh hey girls, argo cheers. lots of young people were there. how old am i again? oh that’s right, i’m 19. just turned. galen, so good to see you after a heaps long time. morgan and i agreed that we felt like grownups at a school dance. chaperone: any adult present in order to maintain order or propriety at an activity of young people. i found out after that it was ALL AGES: duh. glad for brocky that it was busy. sorry i didn’t pay much attention to the band. it was about 30 min before i actually looked at the stage. nice to see lots of friends. ladies love these two, obviously: hi kids bROCKstars. brock can you sing? you look like you can here. ok outta here, home time. hey keri. you are so cute laughing. wearing: givenchy le presme blush in 24: it-girl purple (i swear to you that is the name) enjoy the sunshiney  day. bye for now xo

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the sweet taste of kerosene

I was connecting to the lyrics this morning and fighting a wave of sadness.  Coffee, double latte. The office was freezing as I took off my sweater to cover my legs under my desk.  ‘Be productive and you’ll get distracted’ I told myself.  I listened to my blip station, starting on the second page after the Michael Jackson. Wasn’t in the mood for him today, started with Pretty Young Thing but it didn’t work like it usually does. ‘Get on your bike and ride around at lunch’, I tell myself, ‘that always works’.  It did.  I ran into a friend who joined me for a sit and chat in the park before I headed out on a  Liberty Village tour. It was lovely. My hair‘s not pink anymore, it has a peach slice in it now. I got peanut butter cookie mix and Cheerios. I hate buying groceries. I never know what to get and I always think I don’t like anything, but I do. I love cooking but hate groceries. I like to make things up with whats around the house. Creative cooking.  Had a creative weekend, enjoying the flow that comes with a new sketchbook. Came up with a good idea at lunch today. Ran into Golly on my way back. We met last year and I wrote a cover story about him in an arts  & business magazine. He’s a positive soul, cheered me right up. I’m really looking forward to the TV lineup tonight.  It’s one of those days I’m glad I have cable. Just got a call to go with Karrera and L.B. to John Butler Trio. So excited, must be my lucky day. It was sold out and I was sad I had no ticket. Love you friends. You’re the best. in the dark of…

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Day 336: Happy Valentines Day!

I’m at home today and Sean is at the cottage with Emily. He sent me the most special surprise… We had a lovely Valentine’s dinner on Thursday night and shared gifts then watched some Netflix. He got me a rose bush plant instead of flowers and as a plant mama, it was the perfect present! I don’t share too much about Sean here but he is so wonderful! We first met over in 2009 and I couldn’t imagine my life without him. He makes me laugh every single day and supports me in everything I do. I’m so grateful for him in my life. SEAN, ILYSM!

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Day 128: You Are What You Beet

Today was so nice out, perfect weather. Haven’t been feeling the best this week and have slacked a bit on my workouts. I feel sluggish but I’ll get back to it, I feel like this happens every now and then. I took Sean for a wakeboard and then sat in the hot tub for a bit before it warmed up outside. This is my new fav swimsuit, Giant Tiger $10. Best store around these parts! For lunch, I made a delicious beet salad with pecans and goat cheese. Sean grilled beets on the bbq last night and had them in the fridge. I love beets! I’m onto another book today after just finishing The Best of Friends by Lucinda Berry. It comes out in August and I received an advance copy via NetGalley. Highly recommend, it’s about a tragedy three friends face when an accident happens with their kids causing injury and death. I sped through it in a couple of days. My next read is The Broken Hearts Honeymoon, a more lighthearted feel-good summer read. Jen made us vegan spaghetti & meatless meatballs for dinner and we had rosé. At night we watched the sunset on the dock, had a fire, and listened to music. I’m still a few days behind on updating last week’s daily diary but I’m working through it. I have an exciting post about my first trip to a spa where I had a couple of treatments AND an announcement about a cool project I’ve secretly been part of during quarantine. Lots to share!

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Day 90: Catch a New Vibe

Beautiful day today! Sean took Emily back to the city yesterday and I spent the night alone. I had a few drinks, talked loudly on the phone to my friends, sang old Alanis at the top of my lungs, danced around and changed outfits a few times. It was perfect. I was so happy to find these shorts in one of my bins, almost too big now and last summer they were SO TIGHT. Yeahhhh, my hard work is paying off! Sean picked up a few packages that were delivered to the office and one was a beautiful surprise from Coach Carey & Hoame meditation. THANK YOU!!!!!! It is always nice to get gifts in the mail, really appreciate small gestures more now than ever. I burned the rose wrapped sage right away, gave Sean the meditation bracelet, and added the crystal & candle to my window collection. I am here for changing the vibe we had over the last week with the storm, losing power & internet, then my website crashing. In the afternoon we boated over for a safe distance hang with our cottage friends. It was so nice to laugh together, to yell, and have fun. I miss hanging out with people. Since we’ve been at the cottage for so long, we haven’t really been around other humans for months. Here’s hoping we can safely spend time with the ones we love soon. ?

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Day 72: WorkShop It

Today I did a writing workshop hosted by my friend Ama Scriver on the Addition Elle Instagram. Our internet has been quite slow today making to hard to watch the live video but I was able to catch the tail end that included a writing prompt. I was initially having trouble getting to work on a project so I decided to join in and I am so happy I did. This is my second writing workshop in a week and I am really loving this type of activity right now. A lot of the writing I do never gets published. I think it’s important to write for yourself and write to remember. I started this blog 15 years ago as a way to keep more memories and it has served me well. I write a lot more than you see here though, sometimes long documents, others short verses of prose that nobody knows. Journaling through this quarantine has helped me deal with feelings and get to know myself more. If you don’t have a journal, get one. Write notes to yourself and go back to them another day. Writing is such a therapeutic process. I love the sound of typing on keys. The scratch of pencil on paper. Bold Sharpie strokes in a notebook. I love it all. View this post on Instagram A post shared by CASIE ☀️ (@casiestewart) on May 28, 2020 at 5:37am PDT

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Day 56: For The Mamas

Mums, step-moms, grandmas, sisters, pet mums, plant mums, sister and friends who are there for us with mum love, today is for you. Had a nice chat with my mum and then went to a garden centre. We Facetimed Sean’s mum and had her pick out a big beautiful hanging plant to go at the cottage front door. In the evening, I did a self-care spa including a foot mask, face mask, and watched Dead to Me in bed while drinking rosé. It was nice! Good show. Sending special love to my mum who had been a source of strength and inspiration every day of my life. I love you so much! She always has good advice, a creative idea, or the right thing to say when I need it.

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Day 39: Book Recommendations

Last night I finished the first book I’d read a while and then we watched 1917. I’m not usually into period pieces or wartime moves but it kept me in suspense the whole time. I started another book in bed before falling asleep. I think an escape from reality was just what I needed yesterday. A couple of months ago I was wandering aimlessly at Chapters (remember doing that?) and surprised myself at how many books I’d actually read. I took photos of all the covers to make a blog post with recommendations. I guess I didn’t really find the time until waking up at 5:30 this morning saying, today’s the day! You’ll notice a theme, lots of thriller/suspense, almost no self-help. Reading for me is a distraction from the outside world and I love a good story involving some type of crime or murder. Idk why, I just do. This post isn’t sponsored, I bought my own Kindle and most of these books. A few in the list below were advance reader copies from the publisher via PR or Netgalley. All books are linked on Amazon and can be found in my reading list here. I love reading on the Kindle. Until I got an e-reader, it had been ages since I’d read a whole book. I love traditional books but with Kindle, you have almost any book at your fingertips, you can read in the sun, in the dark, in water, or highlight things to look back on later. I also quite enjoy Audible, especially when the book is read by the author. A great feature of both Audible and Kindle is you can preview the book before you buy it, this has really come in handy with recommendations and the discovery process of finding your next read.…

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Beat Winter SAD: 50 Self-care Ideas

Self-care can legit mean just about anything these days. For me, there are a lot of things I like to do and sometimes it’s as simple as putting away that pile of clothes or saying no to leaving the house. I made a list of things I like to do for myself, usually on a Sunday to prep for the week. Self-care is taking a few moments to yourself to do something for yourself, which makes you feel good and alleviate stress. Thankfully this winter hasn’t been as brutal as last year’s super cold months where everything was covered in ice. The 2019 winter blues really got me down and I am trying to best to make this winter not seem as dark, lonely, and depressing. It may seem like I am out on the town quite a bit but I assure you, it’s usually not for long. I love staying at home. I love hair masks, face masks, exfoliating, nice lotion, naps, cooking, and doing things inside the house. I started this list to make 10 things but kept going and now there are 50. Most of these you can do without leaving your house of opening your wallet. I added a shoppable section at the bottom in case you want to grab any of my favorites via Amazon Prime. If you are feeling down, do one little thing each day to bring happiness into your life. You DESERVE it. Treat yourself!

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SPEAKING: Women on Influence

On Wednesday night next week, I’m speaking at an event hosted by The Big Idea Agency. It is a discussion on big brand authenticity and transparency and I would love to invite you. I’ve also asked Telus to donate a giveaway so you’ll have the opportunity to win something awesome. I’m excited, I feel these conversations are extremely important for all of us in the space to learn and grow. About The Event | Women On Influence: Maintaining Authenticity & Working With Big Brands If you’re an entrepreneurial brand partner on social media and wondering how to maximize your impact working with big brands, join us to sip on Prosecco and listen in to a valuable conversation with long-time blogger and influential communicator Casie Stewart. Casie will be sharing her experiences working with corporate marketing teams, staying true to your own brand and having an impact on the outcome. This event is perfect for women growing their social media following and looking for insights into how to be in the business of influence. TO ATTEND: Please RSVP to [email protected]

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