CASIE STEWART
THIS IS MY LIFE • BLOG EST. 2005
BOOKS

5 Books to Read This Summer & The New RECO App

5 Books to Read This Summer & The New RECO App

When I was a kid my summers were spent playing outside or at the library. Each year mum had us join the Summer Reading Club where we would read a bunch of books, play with the other kids, talk about books, and at the end of the summer, a Teddy Bear Picnic. ??? I have such fond memories of reading but over the last few years I hadn’t read many book, this year I set a goal to read more. A couple months ago I got an ereader a couple months ago and since then I’ve read 10 books. More than I’ve read in five years! Here’s my top 5 summer reads that will leave you wanting more. Download the new RECO app from Chapters Indigo and read reviews of all the books I’ve recently read. Reco is about inspiring your friends to read great books more often, so on that note, here’s my fav five I’ve read recently. 5 Books to Read This Summer This list is a mix of light summer reading and suspense drama. I like to switch it up! I love books that take me on an adventure and leave me thinking about the characters when I’m going about my day. Safe to say I loved each one! She’s Not There by Joy Fielding – This is my most recent read.  Darling daughter Samantha (2) is kidnapped from their hotel room in Mexico while Caroline Shipley and her husband are celebrating their 10 year anniversary. This book is a suspenseful thriller and has a few twists as the story unfolds. I couldn’t wait to finish this one,  was left wondering what would happen next every single time I put it down.  You by Carolyn Kepnes – I was sent a copy of this from Simon & Shuster and it was SO GOOD.…

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DIY

Simple Summer Hosting Hacks for Outdoor Dining

Simple Summer Hosting Hacks for Outdoor Dining

Last weekend at the cottage Emily helped me put together lunch for the fam. It was so fun to do this together, she’s 8 now and a great little helper! She was also quite stoked to help with the blog. ? Scroll down for a few ‘hacks’ we can up with using stuff you just might find around the house, the kitchen, or the garage.  It was all pretty simple and not too expensive, BUT when we put it together, it looked great! I guess that’s why they’re called HACKS. On the Menu We made mini sushi-style BLT wraps, a hot dog bar,  and mini bacon grilled cheese using products from Butterball Canada we picked up at Loblaws. Simple Summer Hosting Hacks for Outdoor Dining   Make an outdoor table using an old door.  Use wrapping paper to decorate the table. Makes for easy cleanup!  Organize your napkins or cutlery with Washi Tape. There are HEAPS of colours/prints! Freeze lemons to use in cocktails. ??? No need to water down those drinks with ice!  Use a muffin baking tray for condiments.   Raid the dollar store for plastic plates and stack them. These same items were more $$$ at houseware stores.  Baking cups inside little mason jars for sauces. Heaps of colours in these making mason jars even cuter.  Put skewers in watermelon for easy snacking. I put them in the freezer so they were MAD CHILL. ☃️ If you loved this post LMK! Was fun putting it together. It was my first time trying turkey bacon which is 50% less fat than using bacon from pork. Found that it cooked a bit faster and made our meal a *little* healthier. The following day we used some leftovers to make cracked pepper maple bacon  that I’ll share in another post soon!   * post sponsored by Butterball Canada but Emily and I totally did this all ourselves!

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Beauty

Skincare Stuff You’ll Find in My Summer Bag

Skincare Stuff You’ll Find in My Summer Bag

Summer, yay! ?? Hard to believe it’s almost the of July! ?? Have no fear, there’s still plenty of time to soak up the sunshine, read books in the hammock, and have delicious snacks on the dock. As you know I spend most weekends at the cottage over the summer, this list of skincare stuff isn’t super fancy but it’s a combo of things I was sent to try out (then replaced with my own money) or products I stock up on so there’s one at home and the cottage. I love all things skincare and there are so many other products I want to try. If you’re as passionate about skincare as me, you could become a social marketer. If you don’t know what this is or you’d like to learn more, click here. This post is sponsored by Boxed Water, is a socially conscious packaged-water company re-thinking the way water is sold, shipped and consumed. For every photo posted of Boxed Water with#ReTree on social, they’ll plant two trees. ?? I love the little box, so cute. Ok, here we go! Summer Skincare Stuff I Love 1. WATER – Drink heaps of it. Your skin will thank you. ? Drinking water has some fantastic benefits, it can make your skin look really bright. The Neostrata Enlighten Ultra Brightening Cleanser is a creamy foaming cleanser that also brightens the skin if your skin often looks a little dull. Boxed Water is triple filtered for purity using reverse osmosis, carbon filtration and UV systems and filled in both Michigan & Utah. The entire carton is recyclable and 100% BPA free with 1% of all sales going to reforestation. ? ? ? You can find it at Loblaws or Sobeys in Canada. ?? Keep your skin and immune system healthy by…

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LIFE

Simple Style, The White T-Shirt

Simple Style, The White T-Shirt

I know this may not seem like a big deal to anyone (with small boobs) but today I put on a while tshirt and it actually looked cute. ???

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LIFE

Morning Commute for a Change

Morning Commute for a Change

It’s amazing how much you forget how to take the subway when you haven’t in a while. This morning I went from Dundas West to Summerhill and somehow made three mistakes along the way, wrong stop, wrong way, wrong side.  What a n00b! I’m nearly done my book on Kobo so I guess that’s the real reason.  I use do take the subway to work at my first job in Toronto. About an hour each way from Broadview to Yorkdale. It was worth it because I wanted to work in fashion SO BAD and this was my foot in the door at a really big private retail company.  It’s so weird when you catch eyes with someone on the subway. Quick, look away.  Typing on my phone is a great way to stay entertained. Almost done my coffee but I’m here now. Took way longer than I expected. Should have taken an Uber. It’s not as close to the subway stop as I thought, I really screwed up these directions but it’s pretty nice out today. ☀️

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LIFE

New Mattress Love – Endy, Made in Toronto

New Mattress Love – Endy, Made in Toronto

A couple of weeks ago I sent a jokey tweet to Endy (a Canadian mattress company) asking them to be my friendy, cute right? I was hoping it would be the start of a beautiful friendship where we got a new mattress and then had better sleeps forever. The end. Well, that’s exactly what happened! Sean and I have been looking through the best mattresses 2020 and contemplating whether or not we should get a new mattress. If you are in a similar position, The Dozy Owl has more info on buying a mattress for those interested. The process of finding the perfect mattress can be quite difficult if you don’t have time to head to the store to test them for yourself. Sites like Mattress Battle can remove some of the stress by supplying you with comparisons and reviews of the best mattresses so that you can make an informed decision. After checking out Endy, Sean said ‘why don’t you tweet them’ and that’s how it all started. A couple of days later I received an email from them and worked out a dealio. Working with brands via social can be really fun. When I’m looking to get the attention of someone, I often reach out via tweet or slide into their DMs. Building relationships with brands or influencers is a lot easier if you keep an eye on what they’re up so, and start out with a compliment or nice message instead of asking for something right away. Endy is manufactured in Toronto, compressed and rolled into an easy to move box, then delivered to your door (by bike if you’re downtown!). @EndySleep hi Endy, be my friendy? ???? #LoveSleep — CASiE STEWART (@casiestewart) March 22, 2016

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LIFE

This Is My Life | I have found that if you love life, life will love you back.

This Is My Life | I have found that if you love life, life will love you back.

I’ve kinda neglected my blog the last week… Posts have been few and far between but I’ve still been active on all the socials. Over the last 10 days I won a Canadian Screen Award as an innovator in social & digital media (Voice Pioneer), I spoke at a conference in Edmonton where my name trended in Canada (ahhh!), spoke at the United Nations of Canada International Women’s Day event, and was a director on a TV commercial. So, safe to say lots has been happening! I’m happy and healthy and wanted to let you know, in case you’ve not peeped my daily Snapchat stories (follow here ?), read tweets, or seen posts on Instagram. I’m hustling hard to make 2016 the best year ever! So far, it’s been amazing. These flowers were on set yesterday and now they’re brightening my home office and filling it with a springy scent. I’ve FINALLY organized the spare room to have an office that’s tidy, with a great work station, and bright light. I’ve been spending more time at the 1188 offices since January but I’m planning to spend more time working from home and the cottage for the next few months. Title of this post is a quote by Arthur Rubenstein and it really resonated with me today because although i’ve slightly neglected my blog the last two weeks, I’ve been showing my life extreme love and appreciation. Each day I’ve put my head and heart into my work and feel like the universe is rewarding me with gratitude and more of what I truly want. On the day of Canadian Academy of Film & Television’s #AcademySocial Awards I had a complimentary psychic reading with Angel Morgan at the Spoke Club. I’ve not really been into that type of things but with…

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LIFE

IWD 2016 – Women @ Work Managing Career, Family & Legacy

IWD 2016 – Women @ Work Managing Career, Family & Legacy

Yesterday I was feeling pretty overwhelmed. I know we all have those days. I’ve been working on something with my speaker agent, prepping for a keynote in Edmonton, and then there’s a mounting email, and social updates. Sometimes I feel like I just need to shut down and take a break, I wonder how the heck I’m gonna do it all?! That’s usually when I ring mum and she talks me through, reminding me not to give up, and how hard I’ve worked to get here. She reminds me I’m probably tired, and maybe hungry. For this, I’m grateful. I call her almost everyday with something, so today on International Women’s Day, I’m especially thankful. When I got off the phone with mum the other night I arrived at the Rotman School of Business at U of T for a special presentation with TD, their 10 Lessons: Women @ Work Report. I was happy to see my friend & fellow social entrepreneur Gracie’s smiling face and we sat down together, all ears. Tweets from the night can be found at #YourStoryYourFuture. Excited to attend @TD_Canada's Women @ Work talk tonight with my girl @casiestewart! WERK! #yourstoryyourfuture pic.twitter.com/ZBtplnt3h1 — Gracie Carroll (@GracieCarroll) March 7, 2016 TD partnered with University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management to release a joint report that uncovers insights about how women across the country perceive the challenges and opportunities in advancing professionally. Career, relationships, family, finances, it’s hard (and often stressful) to manage this stuff all at the same time. I don’t have my own kids yet but there’s challenges with a blended family, we’ve got a sassy 8yr old 50% of the time, and Sean and I are both entrepreneurs, managing very different businesses. Learning about the challenges of other women in professional careers, really…

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LIFE

Events | Towards Tomorrow w/ Toyota

Events | Towards Tomorrow w/ Toyota

This week I ventured out to Square One is Mississauga. I hadn’t been there in YEARS, man that place has really changed! Toyota invited me to check out their pop-up inside the old Target store that’s directed at millennials like me with a love for tech & digital. Yesterday the story was featured in Marketing Magazine and Strategy online with me in VR as the lead photo. Huzzah! The event is spearheaded by Desperado and Saatchi & Saatchi Canada. Scroll for my experience & see some stuff I made ?. Toyota’s ‘Towards Tomorrow’ opens this weekend during mall hours and is around till the end of May. Fresh out of the oven! our VR game for Toyota gets a write up from @StrategyOnline https://t.co/4eu8kSVBPH #vr — Globacore Inc. (@globacore) March 3, 2016 Being an artistic individual, I was feelin’ the digital paint/graffiti wall. My creation features pink wheels and rooftop gardens, because why not? I’d love to see customizable car colours and more gardens in the future. Toyota is looking attract next gen of car buyers by giving us tech-focused experiences and a place to interact with cars outside the dealership. “ Inside the space you’ll find the iM (read my review), Rav4 Hybrid, Prius C, the 4th-gen Prius, and a slew few tech showcases like VR driving with Samsung Gear VR, digital painting (love this), a selfie station (see top photo??) all with sharing capabilities for social & email. If you’re keen to get behind the wheel, you can test drive the vehicles on display and a couple other models outside. Test driving is always fun because you can really get a feel for the car and whether it is the right car for you, trying out different models and testing them to see whether they are worth purchasing…

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LIFE

Are You There Fitness? It’s Me, Casie.

Are You There Fitness? It’s Me, Casie.

I’m loving this warmer winter. Yes, a temperature around freezing in Canada is a warm winter! The last two years have been insanely cold, blaming them for my lack of motivation to do anything but Netflix and chill w/ takeout and sit on the couch. Ok, let’s be real with the excuses, I blame myself for being lazy. After a few ups and downs with my health this year combined with early 30s kicking in, I’m looking fitness right in the face. HEY FITNESS, REMEMBER ME? I was always one of the smallest in school, dance, cheerleading, tae kwon do, skating. I was thin through college and university and didn’t really exercise much or regularly. I turned 30 three years ago and all those “it’ll catch up with you” people I rolled my eyes at, yeah, they were right. If you’d like to look into options for you in order to keep fit and healthy, you may want to look firstly at this Shepherd’s Code review and see if the book may help you in finding your new fit and healthy side again. So, I’ve found a yoga studio in my hood to test out and I’ve worked out the past 5 days. I decided to get a jump on the whole New Years fitness thing by starting a week early. It’s January 2nd and I’m feeling good. I’ve eaten great food the last week and haven’t had any alcohol. Maybe it’s just me but my face feels less puffy and I’ve been sleeping better. Drinking has been a big part of my life the last ten years and I need to cool it. It’s time. ???? Digging the Nike app with a trainer that’s been reminding me of the next workout. I get why those people who run all…

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