CASIE STEWART

THIS IS MY LIFE • BLOG EST. 2005
PLANTS Toronto, ON

Planty Places in Toronto

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Last night I went deep into a hole of finding and following Instagram accounts that are beautiful plants and planty places. Scrolling through Instagram content has become so much easier now that you can put multiple links in Instagram bio. I’m sure a lot of you at home will be desperate to do this too! Some were very easy to find because they had large followings on platforms like Instagram. Although, I did wonder if they had used Buzzoid.com to achieve such fantastic figures. Over the last month, I’ve really pared down everything I personally own and cleaned TF out of my bedroom, closet, and set up a new home office space. It’s been a lot of work, to say the least. I want to reward myself and bring life to the space with MORE PLANTS. This post is not sponsored I was just looking for some planty places in Toronto and I put them here because I found some really good stuff!

Allan Gardens Conservatory

Warm, beautiful, green, great spot to lift your spirits, take some photos, and make you forget it’s arctic outside. This place has a long history you can read about on toronto.ca. The have 2 Tropical Houses, a Cool Temperate House, Palm House, Tropical Landscape House and the Arid House which has unusual cacti and succulents. It’ open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., 365 days/year, with free admission, and is wheelchair accessible. Super cute for dates or BFF hangs. Afternoon sun is best.

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Daycation in Toronto

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I’m sure I’ve been there since this photo was taken on a cold day in November, 2011 for FAJO Magazine. I loved those Jeffrey Campbell shoes from Nasty Gal so much.

Fav old shoes. Don’t have anymore!

Plant World

THERE IS A PLANT SALE FOR ALL OF THIS MONTH. Saw this on FB and you can find more info here. Daily in February from 10am-6pm. They have a cute IG and this place is known for haveing a big selcection. I’m going. Bye.

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  • Location: 4000 Eglinton Avenue West, Etobicoke, M9A 4M2
  • Instagram: @PlantworldGC

Ontario Science Centre

Not just plants, a full-on rainforest ecosystem. The Living Earth exhibit is warm and damp like a jungle complete with a bridge and running water. We like to go on the weekend as a family. Ticket info and special exhibition details at ontariosciencecentre.ca. For access, you need to get a pass for the whole museum wich is $22 for adults, $13 for kids, and under 2 are free.

Dynasty

This store on Queen is so beautiful. It’s a fancy plant shop where you’ll find all kinds of beautiful indoor plants, big cacti, succulents, vintage pots, and planters. Expect boutique prices. Go in the mid-late afternoon to catch the sun coming in the front window.


  • Address: 1086 1/2 Queen St. West or new location 136 Avenue Road
  • Instagram: @dynastytoronto

Ottos Bierhalle

Across the street from Dynasty, on the ground floor of The Great Hall, you’ll find Ottos. Same cool peeps behind SoSo Food Club and the Mansion parties we used to hit. Expect lots of plants, beer, and really good food. Good people watching by the window but I suggest sitting under the plants and getting into the atmosphere. Lunch is M-F 12-5pm.

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2019 resolution? More plants ???

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Urban Gardener

This one is near my house, so I like to walk over (when I have a plant emergency haha). They have heaps of little succulents, small plants, and large ones. They also offer workshops, landscaping, and interiors. The owners Dave and Joe have been friends and worked together for nearly 20 years. Good selection of pots, soil, and gifty things. Prices are medium. Good photo ops.

  • urban gardener, plants, planty places, toronto, casie stewart
  • urban gardener, plants, planty places, toronto, casie stewart

Valleyview Gardens

I haven’t been here but I discovered them today and I want to go. It’s up in Markham and family owned since the 70’s. The likelihood of me driving there is looking slim right now but I’ll browse their beauty IG until it happens. The website has the current temp as 22 degrees and it looks lush & tropical. Let’s go!

I hope you enjoyed this list. If I’m missing a gorgeous green indoor garden somewhere please let me know! One of my goals this month is to spend more time in my space, around more plants, and make at least one macrame hangar. Crazy cool plant lady vibes all around. ?

If you want some inspiration here are a few posts from Instagram plant accounts/hashtags I discovered.

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LIFE HOME SWEET HOME

HIBERNATION STATION

This cold weather is so damn freezing it hurts. I’m thankful to work from home. Took Em to school, got groceries, turned up the heat, had an old school house music dance party w Sean. ❄️

Good thing about this weather is staying inside and working on yourself. Going through your notebooks, updating your website, fixing buttons, organizing your beauty products, cleaning boots, reading, taking an online course, or doing Kon Mari on every room, closet and drawer in your house. That has been my January. ???

If you put in the work and make the most of this cold/stay inside time, you‘ll feel lighter and accomplished.

There is no time like right now to make a change and shift your direction. 

I’m ready for February, love yourself! ???

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Travel San Francisco, California

5 Great Views in San Francisco

I originally wrote this post for Canadian Geographic after my press trip to SF last spring. Some good stuff in here and places I had no idea about until I went on a great afternoon tiki tour with a local friend. Scroll down for some fun SF moments and check out this post on Canadian Geographic with 5 great things to do in San Francisco.

I love San Francisco. The city is bright with lots of neighbourhoods to explore, each with a distinct look and history. There’s plenty of great spots to take in the city including the Golden Gate Bridge, Alcatraz, Pier 39, or the Coit Tower. SF is known for frequent fog so all views come with a recommendation for a clear sunny day. ☀️

There was a perfect rainbow when I arrived! View from my balcony at Hilton, Union Square

Here’s a few great views that weren’t in my first SF travel post!

Twin Peaks 

Here you’ll find a great 180 view of San Francisco from the centre of the city at an elevation of 922 ft. The hike takes about 45 minutes but the drive is only 10 min. I love the way the road and city and look from the top of the hill. You’ll notice the Sutro Tower in the middle of the hill (not pictured). I learned that it’s become ironically iconic and was once seen an eyesore but is now kind of, cool? Ha! There’s shirts, souvenirs, and a selection of sellers on Etsy with Sutro Tower merch. It reminds me of something from Aliens or War of the Worlds.

Museum of Ice Cream 

If you can get a ticket, the views here are like something you’d find in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. The Museum of Ice Cream is located near Union Square inside a former bank. Aside from learning worldly facts about the famous food, you’ll find incredibly cute backdrops for photos. The museum is 100% family friendly and encourages you check in as a kid at the door. They’re closed each Tuesday to re-paint and fix any of the fixtures throughout the interactive exhibit.  Small groups are taken through the museum giving you enought time to take photos and tast the treats. Check out ticket dates and availability here.

Cityscape, Hilton, Union Square

At the very top of the Hilton Union Square, on the 46th floor, you’ll find Cityscape, a 360 view of San Francisco. On a clear day, you can see everything from the bridge to Coit Tower, and across the bay. They offer a selection of SF inspired cocktails and open daily at 4:30. If you’re a guest at the hotel, you can pop in anytime for photos or to use the wifi.

Alamo Square 

You might not recognize the name but trust me, you know the view. Anyone who was a fan of Full House recognizes these houses from the opening credits. It was a childhood dream to visit this park! ‘Postcard Row’ is located at 710 to 720 Steiner Street across from Alamo Square. The best shot is at magic hour just as the sun sets in the west. I could almost heat hear Uncle Joey saying “cut it out!“.

Sutro Baths

This is the best place to see the sunset. The Sutro Baths are located at Lands End and opened to the public as the world’s largest indoor swimming pool establishment in 1896. The former mayor of SF and wealthy entrepreneur,  Adolf Sutro created the baths which burned down in 1966, amongst years of complications. There’s a path from the Cliff House down to the remaining ruins but you’ll want to check the weather and tides before walking down. It’s really magical here.

As I was updating this post I went through my photos from this trip and I would love to get back to SF. It’s such a beautiful city full of colour, great food, and stuff to do. There is also HEAPS of street art! I’ll get those photos rounded up into a nice gallery and share with some food recos.

Happy Friday!

With love,

Half of this trip was covered by San Francisco Tourism & Hilton SF, the rest was all me. Would 100% do it all again! 

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LIFE HOME SWEET HOME

No Winter Lasts Forever

And we’re glad about that! I don’t know what it is about this weather that makes me just want to stay home all the time and make things or sort through the clutter. Today is slightly warmer than it’s been but there is no end in sight as next week the temp dips back down to the unbearables. There are 54 days until spring and each day brings a little bit more daylight. ☀️

On Monday this week I had breakfast with Sunwing to announce their Blue Monday deals. I also found out the commercial I’m in playing at Yonge Dundas Square! If you’ve still not seen the latest version I posted it on IG this week here.

Tuesday I went to Art Battle Toronto, a monthly event in its 9th year that is live competitive painting. If you’re intrigued, I highly recommend checking it out. There are two round of painters, the crowd votes via text for who makes it to round three, and all paintings go up for silent auction throughout the night. It was really fun. Lots of telented people. Check out artbattle.com for more info or events around the world.

In other news, I spent some time this week updating my portfolio site. Feel free to check it out at casiestewart.biz or by clicking below. It’s a work in progress!

The title is part of a quote by author Hal Borlan via BrainyQuote. 

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Tech QUEEN WEST, TORONTO

Review: Roomba i7+ Robot Vacuum

Over the past 45 days, I’ve been testing the Roomba i7+ from iRobot. Overall, awesome vacuum, especially great for bungalows, love the self-cleaning feature.

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I’ve wanted a Roomba or years and talked about it on Twitter back in 2012. Hello, who wouldn’t’ want a little cleaning robot?!

We have quite a few stairs at home, so I decided Roomba would live at the 1188 office. Honestly, it’s been such a hit with everyone, they were all so excited when the big box arrived, it would be interesting to find out what is best robot vacuums to try out. It feels like we have an office pet again! This works for the floors, but for the rest of the Office Cleaning we do still hire a specialist cleaning team, as the Roomba can’t clean walls, fridges, technology, and other office items!

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Welcome to our lives little guy!

I would say the only downfall about the Roomba Robot Vacuum is that it can’t do stairs, yet! It does have Cliff Detect so it won’t fall down or take a tumble should you have some stairs around.

Once I got everything set up, it was really quick to download the app and connect the device. The Roomba i7+ is the smartest robot vacuum yet. It has a cleaning dock to empty itself plus an app that lets you control it and see where it’s cleaned.

You can see it was super quick to set up. I snapped these screenshots all in the same minute! My favourite part aside from clean office floors is the app (by the way, this is the perfect vacuum for wooden floors). I’m able to see if there’s an issue, what’s been cleaned, or set it to clean at any specific time.

Cleaning

Two features that make this an amazing machine are 1) Dirt Detect™ Technology and 2) The Edge-Sweeping Brush. Dirt Detect gets to know areas that need more cleaning like high traffic spots and prompts the robot to be more thorough when cleaning there. The magical Edge Sweeping brush gets into the edges and corners. I found this quite useful in the kitchen and around office chairs.

Self Cleaning

This is a handy feature. The robot cleaned 4h 57minutes before needing to be emptied. This feature means you don’t have to worry about emptying the little robot once it’s full saving you time and energy. It’s really easy and not messy to take out the full bag, toss, and put a new one in. The vacuum set comes with 2 bags and it was about a month before I needed to empty the bin. You can order new bags from the iRobot shop.

Smart Mapping

I love this feature. Some people mentioned it’s ‘kinda creepy‘ that it makes a map of your space but honestly, that doesn’t really concern me when I arrive at the office and the floor is tidy.

The Roomba i7+ robot uses Imprint™ Smart Mapping technology to learn the floor plan and it gets better over time. You can set it to just clean certain areas, pick specific times, or set to a schedule. Watch the video below to see how it works.

Another really cool thing is that the Roomba connects to Alexa enabled devices or Google Assistant. The joy of saying “Alexa, run the vacuum” makes me so excited for the robot future.

Great vacuum. Highly recommend.

casie stewart, roomba, toronto, review, tech, blogger

Also, this is my favourite comment from Sean about the new Roomba, haha.

“I dropped some chips so I woke up the Roomba”

casie stewart

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Disclaimer: iRobot sent this for me to review in exchange for my honest opinion and that's exactly what you've got here! 

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