CASIE STEWART

THIS IS MY LIFE • BLOG EST. 2005
Tech

Tech | My DNA: 23andMe Launches in Canada

23andMe Launches in Canada

This week I went to the Canadian launch of 23andMe. The privately held company is located in Mountain View, California and they specialize in genomics and biotechnology. I love this stuff. I don’t know heaps about it but I want to learn so I was reading the blog made by Dan Miller that’s all about these types of kits!

Using a saliva-based DNA sample, they provide genetic reports on ancestry, family history and connect you with your DNA relatives. They have over 650,000 paying genotyped customers and 20K are Canadian. CEO + cofounder Anna gave us some insight on how 23and me works. Informative article on FactCompany here -> Inside 23andMe founder Anne Wojcicki’s $99 DNA Revolution.

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I saw Anne on CTV this morning in Montreal. All Canada’s top media was there for the Canadian launch. CBC in my face right here!

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One of the neat things knowing about your genetic makeup is disease prevention. For example, people who have the BRCA gene are more likely to get certain types of Cancer. Angelina Jolie had a double mastectomy after testing positive for a likely lethal BRCA1 mutation.

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After learning about the company we were given a 23andme kit with expedited shipping so we could learn about our own genetic makeup. Mine was in the mail by the end of the day!

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You have to spit into this small container and put on the lid to mix in a chemical liquid with your sample.

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Once complete it goes into a bio bag and back in the box for shipping.

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I registered my sample and now I wait. It should take about three weeks to get an email that my results are in. When I get a notification, I’ll be able to login and see reports, ethnicity, ancestry, DNA relatives and more.

I’ll keep you posted, you’ll know when it arrives. For more info about the company or how it works check out 23andme.com. Thanks Edelman TO for putting 23andme on my radar! If you are thinking about getting your DNA tested you may want to check out a Lewisburg PA DNA testing kit from health-street.net if you are based in that area.

HERE’S TO THE FUTURE!

<3 CASIE

LIFE

CottageLife | A Boy And A Girl In A Little Canoe

CottageLife | A Boy And A Girl In A Little Canoe

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Back to the grind today after an absolutely wonderful weekend up at the cottage.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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I finally got to float in my donut. The water was pretty cold but I really didn’t care!

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Went on a crazy fast seadoo. Heaps of fun!

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MIDDLE OF NOWHERE, MY FAV.

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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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Events

Events | Streamers + Smiles: Creative Mornings w/ Tiffany Pratt

Events | Streamers + Smiles: Creative Mornings w/ Tiffany Pratt

Just over a week ago I attended my first Creative Mornings event in Toronto. It was one of the first chilly mornings and trench coat weather. Arrived to have my photo taken by a friendly blog babe instantly made friends with another girl outside too. The day was off to a great start!

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The theme for September was COLOR and they cold not have picked a better person to light up the room.

There was a pink card on each of our seats with Tiffany’s face and contact info, along with a beaded wooden rainbow mandala bracelet, which had been made by volunteers with Tiffany earlier in the week. There were streamers on the door, the floor, hanging from the ceiling. It was a colour explosion! If you check @thetiffanypratt on Instagram you day will be brighter the second her profile pops up.

Image by Laura Crowell via Creative Mornings

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She started her talk with a morning meditation and then threw streamers into the crowd, over our heads. I loved it. Here’s a little Instagram video I made. Creative Mornings just posted about the event and I will update this post with the full video as soon as it’s live.

See what I mean.

She’s so awesome.

Here are some notes I scribbled down on my iPhone while she was talking. Mostly I took in what she was saying and thought about life. There was so much positive energy floating in the room with smiles all around.

  • You need to happen to your life
  • Buy all the streamers
  • Make all the bracelets
  • Gigantic love circus
  • Plant all the seeds
  • Do all the things
  • Velocity
  • Be consistent
  • Putting your brain on paper
  • Beauty happens on budgets
  • And this quote from my #1 fav author growing up Roald Dahl…

“And above all, watch with glittering eyes the whole world around you because the greatest secrets are always hidden in the most unlikely places. Those who don’t believe in magic will never find it.”

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From Wikipedia on Velocity:

If there is a change in speed, direction, or both, then the object has a changing velocity and is said to be undergoing an acceleration.

I’ve feel inspired every single time I about that day. She’s one of those super awesome bright people that make you smile the second you see them. I hope you have some of those people in your life. If you need some of that glitter and sunshine, follow her on IG at @thetiffanypratt and me @casiestewart.

Accelerate yourself. Get your wheels in motion. Fill YOUR life with colour. Have an awesome day 🙂

<3 CASIE

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Fashion

Media | Dundas West #LoveMyHood

Bench Canada #lovemyhood

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Throughout September I was featured by Bench Canada in their Love My Hood campaign. You might have seen a couple of these photos on their Instagram or Facebook. We snapped these shot at  the Wallace Ave. bridge that was built in 1907. Their contest ends this week so scroll down for details on how you can enter.

The bridge covers the train tracks that are currently being expanded to service the new GoTrain Express to Person Airport. Alongside the bridge, is the West Toronto Railpath that I like to run on and where I took heaps of GoPro photos at last winter.

Dug up these old photos fro the depths of the Internet. I love seeing how the city has changed. I think about how the Internet has changed my life in the last 10 years, imagine how this bridge feels?! 🙂

Photo from 1951, taken from Dundas St. W.
Photo from 1951, taken from Dundas St. W.

 Wearing: Bench hoodie, dress from Brandy Melville, boots from NastyGal

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This is the last week to enter their #LoveMyHood contest. You can win $500 and 2 round trip flights anywhere in Canada. Tag your photos #LoveMyHood and make sure you’re following@BenchCanada. Good luck! You can bring a friend so like, if your BFF is away, you can always invite me. 

Thanks Bench Canada for this new monogrammed hoodie. I love things with my face and or name on them! See all posts tagged Bench from over the years here.

Have an awesome day. Remember, you’ll never be younger than you are today, so make the most of it!

<3 CASIE

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Speaking

Speaking | Social Summit in Kitchener-Waterloo

Social Summit in KW, Spet. 26th

Are you in KW? I’m heading to my hometown later this week to speak at Social Summit in Kitchener, and visit my parents of course. It’s been ages since I was back in my old stomping ground so I’m pretty excited to be going there to talk about my travels and adventures over the past few years.

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Speakers throughout the morning will enrich the audience with social media tips, tricks, lessons and more. I’ve been added to the mix to share stories from my social media travels around the world with brands and my blog. I’m digging up photos for my presentation and I hope to leave everyone feeling they can accomplish anything they put their mind to.  🙂

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Click to Read More About Each Speaker + Session

 

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If any of you new or old friends want to come out, get a ticket for $20! Use PROMO10 to knock $10 off the $30 ticket. I’d really love to see some familiar faces and make new friends. Thanks to the sponsors, Mad hatter Tech and the Waterloo Region Small Business Centre for having me.

If you’ll be there, especially if we have never met, please say HI. I’m a hugger. (Please don’t call me CASSIE.) My Mum will be there too.

Here’s to a wonderful week! Looking forward to it. 🙂

<3 CASIE

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Events

Media | Don’t Be A Can’t: Todd Shapiro Show on SiriusXM

Media | Don’t Be A Can’t: Todd Shapiro Show on SiriusXM

Had a great time on The Todd Shapiro show yesterday. There was a bunch of great guests including Tim Warmels, the new star of Bachelor Canada, and Trish Stratus. We laughed our heads off, talked about Rob Ford, and I swooned over Tim.  Radio is really fun. The show starts with original songs that will make you smile. Trust me.

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Tim is a a really nice guy. Smart, charming, successful, a tech founder, farm boy, part-time model. Click here to listen now!

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On this Episode:  Trish Stratus, Tim Warmels, and Casie Stewart!

You can listen to this episode in a variety of ways

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I’ll be back on the show Thursday at 5pm. Have something I should talk about or interested in sponsoring? LMK!

HAPPY FRIDAYYYYYY!

<3 CASIE

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LIFE

Tech | Muse Headband + Google Cardboard

Muse Brain Sensing Headband

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Last week I got to try out Google Cardboard. It’s a small Oculus-like box that attaches to your Android phone where you can experience virtual reality games etc. I went on a roller coaster ride and it was pretty trippy. You hold up the box to your eyes then move as if you are on a coaster, I nearly fell over!

1188 Films (Sean’s company) has been working on some pretty rad VR stuff for Oculus Rift and Google Cardboard. I ca’t wait to see what they come up with next. My love for technology knows no bounds. I volunteer to test out everything! I was trying out the Body Mind Change + David Cronenberg Oculus Rift experience and did not know what was going to happen… then, a monster popped out and I totally jumped and screamed. The office at 1188 roared with laugher at me. HAHA GUYS VERY FUNNY.

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My other latest technology toy is the Muse brain Sensing Headband. It’s been a neat journey so far trying to make myself relax. I may seem like a care-free, fun loving person, but TBH I can be really uptight sometimes! This is a snapshot of my (lack of) calmness last week on Monday right in the middle of TIFF. The second photo is Friday afternoon, post TIFF. HUGE DIFFERENCE.

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I’m going to test out my cottage calmness this weekend. You unlock different milestones the more calm you are. I’m going for a SERENITY NOW mentality.

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After I did a session on Friday last week I took the streetcar. A man across the car was playing his music loud, like NO HEADPHONES loud. The driver even yelled for the person playing the music to turn it down. It took every ounce of my patience to hold it together, it is so frustrating and RUDE for someone to do that. So, I reached into my purse, pulled out my headphones, walked across the streetcar and said “Hi, I think you need these”. He was a bit shocked but I insisted he keep them.  I felt instantly calmer and was thanked by a few passengers on the car.

I think the Muse Headband is working. 🙂

Have an awesome day. Nice and sunny out there, go soak it up!

<3 CASIE

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LIFE

TheTech | Business of YouTube: Buffer Festival Industry Day

BUFFER FESTIVAL INDUSTRY DAY 2014

There is no doubt that video is a powerful platform to connect with your audience. If you are a brand, blogger, or you want to be famous on the Internet, knowing how to work the YouTube machine is to your advantage. The key to this is to build a large follower base and have plenty of views on your videos. Luckily, you can buy these, just make sure you use the best site to buy youtube views otherwise you might fall to victim to one of the many scam sites out there. You might not like the idea of buying views and followers but it has been proven to lead to their authentic counterpart, and many people have chosen this path to the top. There are plenty of alternatives to Youtube you can also use. I had the opportunity to travel to Thailand last year with some of Canada’s top YouTubers and it was a learning experience. There’s a real science to cracking the YouTube code and the more you know, well, the better you’ll be!

I’ve partnered w/ the CFC to let you know about Buffer Festival Industry Day on October 16th. The one day event is not a YouTube fan event, but rather a chance to soak up information about the business of YouTube from some of the top YouTubers in the world. YouTube is the 2nd biggest search engine (to Google) and 1 out of EVERY 2 internet users visits YouTube. Innovation is key to relevancy in our ever changing internet world, so if YouTube is on your radar you don’t wanna miss this.

About Buffer Festival Industry Day:

bufferThis one-day conference is for industry professionals looking to optimize YouTube as a content and talent development platform and a marketing and distribution channel. It provides a unique opportunity to network with celebrity YouTubers, MCNs, CMOs and digital entertainment industry executives.

Who should attend:

  • Agencies
  • Advertisers
  • Broadcasters
  • Content producers
  • Digital executives
  • Bloggers
  • Future stars of THE INTERNET

Where is Buffer Festival Industry Day:

Speakers including top ranking YouTubers:

  • Harley Morenstein, Creator/Host, Epic Meal Time (6,500,000+ Subscribers)
  • Mitchell Moffitt, Co-Creator, AsapSCIENCE (2,800,000+ Subscribers)
  • Shay Carl, Vlogger and YouTube Creator (2,540,000+ Subscribers)
  • Craig Benzine, Creator, Wheezy Waiter (539,000+ Subscribers)
  • Tay Zonday, Creator, TayZonday (880,000+ Subscribers)
  • Shira Lazar, Executive Producer/Host, What’s Trending (195,000+ Subscribers)

Copy some of this post and send to your boss in an email with a ticket link or get one yourself right here. I’m stoked to learn more about YouTube. I’ve had a channel for nearly 10 years and I hardly use it. I need to up my video game!

I’d love to see you there. Hey, maybe you can get a selfie w/ Harley from Epic Meal Time!

If you need some more stats about why YouTube is an amazing content platform. Check out this infographic:

Created by Mushroom Networks

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LIFE

Get a Fresh Perspective ✌️

I’ve given myself a few days to check some tasks off my list. Nothing like the change of seasons to clean out your closet, rediscover your wardrobe, and organize before hibernation. If this winter is anything like last winter, I’ll be spending heaps of time at home and I’d like to be productive.

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One of my fav things about winter is to stay home and unleash creativity. I’ve been meaning to break out my sewing machine and creative cabinet since I moved over a year ago. What have I been doing!? Where has the time gone!?

Come Friday, studio will be back in session. I’ve got a few days to make magic happen.

Here’s to a great week! Get your creative juices flowing and share them with the world. There’s no time like right now.

<3 CASIE

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LIFE

I love you Mum, Happy Birthday!

Mum + Me

When I was a little girl I always wanted to do things my own way. I picked out my own outfits at a very young age and sometimes they were … questionable unique. Once I left the house in one orange sock and one green sock to match my orange and green outfit (mum may have made?). I left the house feeling confident and stylish, ready to take on the world. (I was like, 6 or 7.)  One of the neighbours said to mum, “you’re going to let her go to school that?”, she replied “if she feels confident she can wear whatever she likes”. Bam. Thanks Mum.

You have always encouraged me to be creative in all the things I do and now as a grown up weird and wonderful woman I could not be happier.

You are the best, ILU.

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