This is My Life | Why Does Monday Suck Though?

‘Mondays are fine, you hate your job’ Years ago I worked as a tech recruiter in the financial district. We had a team meeting each morning at 8am. Thus meaning I would leave the house each day at 7:30am, dressed in a business type suit, with my briefcase style bag, Lenovo Thinkpad computer (it was 2008), and head down to Bay Street.  Around the 1-year mark on a Monday just before lunch, my boss pulled me into his office and said ‘Case, what’s wrong, you don’t seem your happy self?’ It was true. I wasn’t feeling it.  I didn’t want to do this job anymore.  I thought about quitting but I didn’t have much money and being lay off and getting two weeks would be much better. So, I toughed it out and kept going in for those early mornings. At this point, since my boss brought it up, I came out and said ‘I don’t wanna work here anymore’. He told me he knew and it was ok. we talked it out and I cleaned out my desk after lunch. They gave me 2 weeks pay and I never looked back. If you have going into work on Monday morning, BE THE CHANGE. Do something about it. There are heaps of new jobs in new industries being created each and every single day. or, if you’re not ready to leave your job, spend the weekend working on your hobby so you’ve got something exciting to think about. Work to make THAT your job. I work pretty much every single day, often less on weekends but sometimes more! Doing something I love means it doesn’t always feel like work. I mean sometimes I don’t feel like it but most the time I do. We only live once so don’t spent weeks, months, years doing…

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Events | A Toronto Scavenger Hunt w/ Ford Canada

Oh haiiiii! That’s me in the new Ford Escape w/ CBC news anchor Peter Mansbridge  in the background. The scavenger hunt I did on the weekend called for a photo with a famous person. They didn’t specify if it had to be a famous person IRL, y’know? We started out at Rock Lobster Queen East with a bunch of bloggers for some eats. There, we got a tour of the features including Ford SYNC 3 and AppLink. It was my first time having brunch at Rock Lobster and the food was delish. We were two of the first to arrive and it was so fun seeing the blog crew arriving. Lots of hugs and screaming and laughter. I’d worked with most of the crew hired to shoot the day (via 1188), so we all had a chuckle when I walked in! The rest of the afternoon had us touring the city with a list of tasks to accomplish before meeting to tally the winner our last stop. We ended up having a car to ourselves, so we sang really loud to Justin Bieber and the playlist Ford made us on Spotify. This is one of Toronto’s weird houses. It’s covered in dolls and children’s toys. It’s super creepy. The owner once won the best garden. Seriously. For more photos and a few close-ups, see my blog post from August 2009 ‘we have hundreds of McDonalds toys‘. Thanks for the nightmares! #thehunt pic.twitter.com/DO2sgqPFZ5 — CASIE STEWART ☀️ (@casiestewart) August 29, 2015 Another task on the list was snapping a photo of the Escape in one of Toronto’s many graffiti alleys. I love this one of Kate Moss in a mock Supreme shirt. It’s located King & Portland behind Portland Variety. There’s heaps more graffiti alley art around King/Queen West, see more here. Know where this house is? Well, this half-house…

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Travel | Working From the Cottage Today 

Hello, hello? What’s that sound? Waves crashing in the background! Stayed a little longer at the cottage this weekend and am working from this little spot after spending 2 hours on emails + editing in the hammock. It’s a rough life! Biebs just released the video for What Do You Mean and I’ve been playing this tune over and over. I’ve always been a fan of his! Back in my days at MuchMusic & MTV he performed at the MMVAs and I was SO close. Once I got to meet in him NYC. Here’s to a great week my friends. SUMMER IS NOT OVER. This week is gonna be mega hot, get your togs on an hit the beach! ☀️? CASIE

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The Estrella Damm Tapas Journey

Last week I had the opportunity to check out the Estralla Damm Tapas Journey at Kanpai in Toronto’s East End. Tapas and pintxos are staples of Spanish cuisine, small plate snacks meant to be enjoyed & shared with friends. It was my first visit to Kanpai and we were treated to amazing service that made a great date night. Estrella Damm launched Canada’s inaugural Tapas Journey in Toronto on August 14th and it goes until TOMORROW ONLY  it’s over now.. This was my first time trying Estrella Damm and it reminded me of Sapporo (my fav beer). It was lite, refreshing, and delicious. I would know because I sampled it MORE than a few times that night. Heh heh. ? Just sat down at @KanpaiSnackBar for our #TapasJourney! Holy ? @estrelladamm is… https://t.co/7DOzAPAOmJ pic.twitter.com/39fItEGr2R — CASIE STEWART (@casiestewart) August 15, 2015 Twenty of the city’s best restaurants were featuring three mouth-watering tapas served with a cold Estrella Damm for $20. Participating restaurants include: Barsa Taberna, Beast, Byblos, Carmen, Cava, East Thirty-Six, El Catrin, Kanpai Snack Bar, Los Colibrís, Mamakas Taverna, Marben, Mata Petisco Bar, Nota Bene, Patria, Raca Café & Bar, Salt Wine Bar, Taverna Mercatto, The Good Son, Valdez, Weslodge ALSO, pick up a passport at any of the 20 participating Tapas Journey restaurants and get it stamped. When you share a picture of your Tapas Journey stamp on Twitter or Instagram with the hashtag #TapasJourney you’ll be entered to win a trip for 2 to Miami to attend the Estrella Damm Gastronomy Congress and see Ferran Adrià, the world’s most awarded chef. If you check out somewhere great tonight/tomorrow or want to share your Tapas Journey, tweet me! [symple_button url=”http://twitter.com/casiestewart” color=”pink” size=”small” border_radius=”3px” target=”self” rel=”” icon_left=”” icon_right=””]Tweet Me![/symple_button] Hope you’re having a great weekend. I’m still in my hometown hanging out with mum.  ? CASIE     Photography credit Jeffrey Chan courtesy of Estrella Damm.Except for my tweet of course!

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Planning for Life’s Unexpected Moments w/ TD Canada 

When I was growing up I didn’t really think about kids, marriage, wedding etc, but I knew I wanted to be in business. I like setting goals but after spending years what felt like forever paying off my school debt, I didn’t really have a nest egg. I mean, I never prepared for unexpected life events, buying a house, retirement. One of the things I’ve learned from working with TD Canada the last year is that it’s never too early to build a financial plan and set goals for your future. If you work for a business and you already have retirement on the mind, then make sure your employer has Employee Benefits so this process can be made easier for when the time comes and that you get what you deserve. Y’Know What I Mean? For many Canadians (especially us millennials) things don’t always go planned the way they did for our parents ex. finish school, get married, buy a house, have kids, get a boat, retire early, move to the Bahamas for a year. (OK the last part is actually what my mum did, except ‘retire early’) So if you’re soon to be retired, make sure you look around and make sure you’re planning enough to ensure you’re retirement ready. A recent TD Canada Trust survey found: – Nearly 6/10 Canadians have completed or are on track to complete their life’s milestones in a different order than they originally expected – Gen X Canadians are more likely to complete or be on track to complete them in a different order 64% than Millennials 52% – Only 4/10 Canadians say they’ve properly budgeted or are properly budgeting for having their first child (39%) and for retirement (41%) – Only 24% of Millennials and 33% of Gen X Canadians say…

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The Perfect Summer Road Trip #SummerCovered

Summer is the perfect time to hit the road with your BFFs and ditch the concrete jungle. You may already be in the process of looking at a Christchurch motorhome hire company to plan your trip to New Zealand, or maybe a road trip to California is something that you’d all agreed on. Either way, planning your trip is essential. I love packing up the car and heading up north, to Montreal, or across the border. Next time, I might plan on investing in an RV instead of driving. It’s just so I can have a different experience and I’d be with my best friends, so it’d be hard not to have fun! If you are like me and are considering going on a road trip in this fashion, seeing as I was recommended to check out sites such as good sam ESP here, I’m now offering my knowledge to you guys too! I’ve had some pretty epic road trips over the years! However, I’ve never been on a road trip in an RV, which is something that has been reccommended to me on many occasions. I know that Texas has outstanding rv routes, so this would probably be my desired road trip of choice. Once a couple friends and I drove to Austin, Texas for SXSW and another time we drove and sang our way to Chicago. Another one of my favs was a road trip to Montreal, so great in the summer! There’s always a few things I make sure to stock up on before hitting the road and you can find them all at Shoppers Drug Mart. This is my second post in partnership with Shoppers, your one-stop spot before you hit the open road for a summer road trip. Did someone say snacks? SUMMER ROAD TRIP…

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The Perfect Cottage Weekend #SummerCovered

If you’re new here or you’ve been around the blog for a while, you’ll be well aware just how much I love to cottage. I like spending weekends in Muskoka, on the dock, on the boat, tanning, floating, or cooking up a big feast for our guests. I’ve partnered with Shoppers Drug Mart to share a few of my cottage weekend essentials. One of the neat things about this post, my next post about The Perfect Summer Road Trip and working with Shoppers Drug Mart is, I’m truly an expert in their products. I used to work at Shoppers in my hometown! I spent the better part of evenings and weekends behind the cosmetics counter during college. Ok, now onto a few items to make.. THE PERFECT COTTAGE WEEKEND: President’s Choice S’mores Bites: No cottage weekend is complete without S’mores. Neutrogena Ultra-Sheer Dry-Touch Sunscreen Lotion SPF 45 – This is a great sunscreen. Dove Revive Dry Spray Antiperspirant: Quick spray after SPF/bug spray and you’re ready to roll. Off! Deep Woods Dry Insect Repellant – Cottage ESSENTIAL. Life Brand Allergy Caplets – Being in the woods can be a wonderful thing, unless you get allergies. St. Ives Naturally Soothing Oatmeal & Shea Butter Body Lotion:  Swim and sun can dry out our skin. A long day in the sun can be really draining, it’s hard work being cottage fabulous! It’s really important to make sure you stay hydrated, drink lots of water, and ALWAYS wear sunscreen. Even if it’s not sunny! I like this Neutrogena product because it’s dry and not greasy. I keep this Dove antiperspirant in the shared bathroom because aside from smelling nice, the spray means any of our guests can have a little spritz should they need it. Wink, wink. I recommend wearing this bug spray with deet in the daytime, not just at night.…

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 Photo Diary: New Hair, New Boots, Boats, Babes, Champagne, Rain

This week was a busy one. Not like ‘fake busy’, I mean I was full on running from one thing to the next every single day. I directed something Monday that was the 2nd day of shooting for a campaign. When we wrapped around 6pm, I went back to the 1188 office then over to RAINA+WILSON studio to celebrate the Globe Style Summer Issue.   It was only Monday but I was ready to wind down with a cocktail. Grey Goose was sponsoring and they had grapefruit juice, my fav. 416 Snack Bar was catering and the food was A+ too.     We were treated to a small private show by Calvin Love. The style issue comes out TODAY, Friday, June 12th. You can download it for FREE from iTunes right here.   Tuesday was rainy and my hair was a mess. I find it much easier to work and concentrate when it’s rainy out. When the sun is shining I wanna shut my computer and play outside.   You know what I mean?   I went to the Stage TEN office on Tuesday night for a live Pet Skills show.  It’s the world’s first live, interactive, web show! I’ll be sharing more about my involvement with Stage TEN soon.     The lower East side of Toronto is quite pretty, especially driving over this bridge when the sun is setting. It was almost 8pm here.   The bridge says ‘This river I step in is not the river I stand in’. It means the water is always changing, no river is ever the same. Think about it. Read more about it here.   Working together has been quite fun lately. I enjoy the morning drive and singing along to the radio.   Dylan and Sean dressed the same this week. So cute.   Really hoping we can get our car out for a drive soon. We’ve had…

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Today is #BestFriendsDay! Tell Your BFF You <3 Them!

Whether you’ve been reading here for years or you’re new to the space, you’ll know my blog a positive place on the Internet. If you’re ever having a bad day, you can always pop over in and see bright colours, and something to put a smile on your face. Usually me, shining back at you from across the Internet. 🙋💛 I was recently contacted from 3M to help spread the word about Best Friends Day, June 8th. As a long time lover of Post-It Notes (yes, they’re all over my home office, work desk, books, purse) and firm believer in spreading love, I was IN. It’s the perfect time to tell your BFF how much they mean to you. Late last year 3M joined forces with students across North America for Positive Post-It Day, encouraging people to grab a note, write something nice, and share it around campus. This movement on October 9th sparked a whole bunch of events where people were sharing positivity on Post-Its to friends and strangers. Today is Best Friends Day and I’m encouraging YOU to share a note with a BFF you care about. It could be a BFF, sister, brother, GF, BF, mum, dad, or anyone you wanna remind of their awesomeness. I didn’t have a lot of BFFs growing up but over the last few years I’ve developed a few relationships with BFFs who are now like sisters to me. A couple of my positive Post-It BFF Day notes below! Spread the love for Best Friends Day by writing a note to someone on a Post-It. If they’re close by, sick it somewhere they’ll find it, or snap a photo and tag them and @PostitCanada on Twitter or Instagram it with the hashtag #BestFriendsDay. Looking forward to seeing your messages! There’s already heaps of tweets today. 😎✌🎈 Today is #BestFriendsDay and the perfect opp to tell your BFFs how much you 💖them.…

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Sunday Magazine Selection: Wired, W, HouseBeautiful 

The sun is shining, and I’m gonna head outside, make the most of the day. Spent the morning finishing up House of Cards Season 3 and reading magazines. I won’t share any spoilers but man I really love that show. Clair Underwood (played by Robin Wright) is amazing. I remember doing a magazine review a few years ago (2011) and putting a little cut out of my face on the magazine, funny. Finished S1 of Transparent on Shomi today. Good show. The music is really great. I’ve added NextIssue added to my weekend relaxation routine since starting the trial last month. I love reading magazines but buying a whole stack is 1) heavy and 2) expensive. This morning I  read Wired, W Magazine, and HouseBeautiful. I’ve been given a code from NextIssue that allows you to get free 60-day trial of the app too. Download NextIssue – Easy as 1,2,3! Click here -> bit.ly/1EaIH3L Enter code 60Free Enjoy! I love scar Jo’s hair right now and am still on that mission to grow mine out. Now that I made it through House of Cards without being influenced by Claire’s hair, I feel I’ll make it to a bob no problem. This *slight* winter warmup has be thinking about the cottage and what we can do this spring to make some changes around there. We’re building a new deck and I’d love to get some new patio furniture and curtains. There’s so many great design ideas out there. I’d love to get my sewing machine in action and actually MAKE new curtains for the cottage. These lamps are lovely. I’m sure there’s a Pinterest on how to do this in detail. It’s been ages since I made anything but I really want to this spring. (I feel like I say this every single year but this time I mean…

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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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All The Girly Things Post on a Sunny Friday

First things first, HAPPY FRIDAY! Started my day with some work and an amazing croissant from Cafe Neon in my hood.  I’m all out of Tassimo so ventures out into the cold sunshine to treat myself.  I really love working from home and for myself. It’s been about six months and I’ve got myself a schedule. I can’t wait till summer when my schedule means staying up at the cottage during the week here and there and morning coffee on the dock after kayaking. I’ve started a new subscription with NextIssue, the Netflix of magazines and I love it. I spend so much time on my phone, and love magazines, but buying heaps and carrying them around is not practical for me. They’ve given me a code for you to get a 60 day trial (double the regular offer), visit this link and use 60free to sign up. Mum joined me at The Spoke Club for the press preview of Behind The Red Carpet film. Doesn’t she look amazing? Thanks for coming Mum! Love you. The film is on CBC’s doc channel 9pm, Feb. 23rd. I’M A JUNIOR MOVIE STAR! Ok, let’s not get carried away here. You CAN see all my film/tv stuff on IMDB tho. Let’s hope for more this year. I’m working on a few things and hope they pan out. You might be seeing even more of my face, if you can believe it. Are you on Snapchat? ADD ME OMG RIGHT NOW. You know I love short videos and this is your behind the scenes look at even more of my life and silliness and things I do in the day. You’ll not regret it. You’ll find me at: CASIESTEWART. Stopped into The Loft Toronto for a little snip to clean up my hair before the shoot this weekend.…

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Here’s a Friday GIFt for YOU! #TGIF!

When you wake up and realize it’s Friday! Get outta bed and do that FRIDAY DANCE! Did you know that back when Men In Black came out I was kinda obsessed with the move after my high school dance crew did a routine to the theme song. We even performed at a Cineplex on opening night. I know this move oh too well. Yu show up to work like “oh hey, it’s just me, chillin’ working till the weekend’ At lunch you DGAF, just relax, take a few extra mins to shoot the sht with your homies. Say wha? Someone called a meeting at 4pm. On a FRIDAY? Who DOES that! Ok, 5pm rolls around and no matter how cold it is outside you feel like, yeahhhhh. You dance again.   You have a cocktail. Or maybe you have a pizza? Who doesn’t LOVE PIZZA?! It’s heaven on the inside. Even if you’re like me and you’re only at home watching Netflix, it feels so good to be THE COUCH. It’s so cold and totally ok to stay home and hibernate. Tonight Sean and I are going to a Murder Mystery dinner tho. I wonder if I should wear a costume? Yeah, Netflix is awesome. HHhhuhhh, huuuhh. Been streaming The Fall Season 3 this week and it’s SO GOOD. Have to stop myself from binging the whole season. OH YEAH, it’s February today  almost February and HOUSE OF CARDS is back Feb. 27th. Mark your calendar. I’ll be staying inside that whole weekend to watch it. I’ve missed Frank & Claire. On that note, I send you my love across the whole wide Internet and wish you a wonderful day. Strut like a Spice Girl, hold your head high, and smile like you mean it! <3 CASIE

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Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can.

Writing each day is really good for you. It helps you get things done, assists in memory, and for me is really great therapy. If you’ve ever wanted to start a blog and think “what will I write about?”. Let me tell you, there’s so many things that happen in a day, you can find inspiration everywhere. What you eat, drink, wear, or where you travel to, even in your own city. If you open you eyes to the world and shift your perspective, you’ll see it in a new light. A photo posted by C A S I E S T E W A R T (@casiestewart) on Jan 1, 2015 at 1:58pm PST Day 1/365, 2015: Here are some great things that happened Made notes about my day in a new notebook. I like spiral bound 5.5 x 8,5 in blank sketch paper. It’s for things I don’t blog like what I eat, vitamins, workout, how many Mason jars of water I drank. Did a new workout. Sweat my ass off. Ate good food. Nothing deep fried or heavily processed/takeout. Not being hungover really helped with that. Reclaimed my for love for granola. Yes, I like granola. Used to eat it heaps when I was a kid and my new found love for lactose free milk, it makes a delicious snack. Got a selfie stick. Sean bought one for me at Pacific Mall AND I LOVE IT.  Opened my new Clarisonic Pearl and used it. Started with Clarisonic in December 2014 and have noticed my skin is more soft and ugly.  It’s important to write this down so I always remember to use it. One minute can seem like a long time when you are in a rush. Put on fuzzy socks with Vaseline. If you read any beauty blogs…

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