World Elephant Day – Throwback to Visiting Maesa Elephant Camp

In honour of World Elephant Day, here’s a throwback visiting an elephant sanctuary in Chaing Mai,  Thailand.  ปางช้างแม่สา aka Maesa Elephant Camp is like a retirement camp for elephants that aren’t able to go back into the wild after they’ve worked. There are over 75 elephants and they do activities like soccer, basketball, and painting. I was so impressed with their painting skills!

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Thomas Sabo AW ’15 Press Cocktail: LoveBridge + #CharmClub10

Last week I went to a beautiful event at Malaparte in side the TIFF Bell Lightbox. It’s a great event space that’s bright, with a bar, and theatre screen. I was last there for the Nike Women NTC training sessions earlier this summer. Media and editors gathered to sip champagne and check out the latest Fall Collection for Thomas Sabo. You might remember a couple posts about Thomas Sabo and my trip to England with the brand a few years ago (see here!). The brand is originally from Germany and is planning to open 6 more stores in the GTA. I had an opportunity to meet the founder in England in 2012. The Canadian flagship is at Yorkdale Mall. Thanks Ryan Emberley for this snap. I’m wearing one of my favourite Ted Baker dresses. They gifted us all with a customized Love Bridge bracelet from the new line. Mine says CASIE. I’m kinda wishing I got something a little more creative or inspiring. Next time. Thanks Ryan for this snap too. Love it. I saw the balloon, looked at him, and he knew immediately what was about to happen. After the event I was invited to an intimate dinner with bloggers and editors. We each had little cakes at our table setting and an invite to join the Thomas Sabo Charm Club. Over the course of the dinner we picked out charms to add to our bracelets. Mine’s been ordered and I’m looking forward to it arriving. Mostly because it will be a huge surprise given I don’t remember what I picked! Doh. Thanks Faulhaber and Thomas Sabo teams for the invite and gifts. Find Thomas Sabo Canada on Twitter at @ThomasSaboCDN and see all charms and available jewellery at thomassabo.com. <3 CASIE * All photos except last 3 by Ryan Emberley. Check out some of his work…

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Beach Volleyball @ Pan Am Games 2015

This morning Hann and I went to a beach volleyball match at Pan Am Park. I’ve never been to a Pan Am (or Olympic) event so it was pretty neat to take the stands and get in on the action. The park is massive and takes up the whole Exibition Place parking lot. I imagine it gets pretty happening later in the day. The activations inside were just getting set up when we walked in.      Argentina took on Cuba and the girls were awesome. The last time I played volleyball was probably in grade 6 and I’ve not played since. Was really impressive to see them pound the ball and dive right into the sand.  They’re super fit!          Thanks Chevrolet Canada and Klout for the tickets. I was given them last week along with tickets to the opening ceremony.  Worth checking out the park while the games are on. You can sit on Muskoka chairs and watch the games on a massive screen. I recommend taking TTC or an Uber, parking was $30! 😂 ☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️ CASIE  

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#OfftotheRaces: The Queen’s Plate 2015 at Woodbine Racetrack

Last weekend I took Carla to Woodbine Racetrack for her very first Queen’s Plate. In case you missed my post about it last week, the Queen’s Plate is the oldest continuously run race in North America and Canada‘s oldest thoroughbred horse race, having been founded in 1860. (Wiki). We attended the Hats & Horseshoes party and dressed according to the ReThink at the Races theme in black and white. My dress is an oldie from JacFlash that has a cape and I absolutely love it. It’s that LBD I can always count on when I need to throw on a dress and feel fabulous.  (LBD = Little  Black Dress)   Picked up my hat at Winners while in Ottawa with Mum last week. Bag is Betsy Johnson, shoes Nasty Gal – Shoe Cult, necklace is vintage silver from Tiffany’s (Sean got me me a couple years ago). Glasses are from Polette Eyewear in France. These mirror men were awesome. It was the perfect day to be outside in the sunshine.  Felt like I was wearing a disguise hiding under my huge hat and glasses. It was great! Thought this was a funny moment. Once we arrived and did a tour we took a break to tweet about it. We did ACTUALLY talk to each other.     Caught up with Vanessa and the KP Squad. I decided to take my chances and bet on a whole bunch or horses for the Queen’s Plate. Unfortunately, I didn’t pick the RIGHT ONE. I’m learning to bet as I go here. The winner was Shaman Ghost by one and one-quarter lengths. I’ll be at all the big races for the rest of the season through a partnership with Woodbine Racetrack. Hope I pick a big winner at least ONCE. I did win $10 which is better than nothing. 🙂   Carla and…

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What a Day! Scavenger Hunt, Set Life, Zoo, and Shoes!

Started the yesterday meeting up with the #EskaQuest team in St. Lawrence Market. It was the first of my 2 giveaways with Eska Water. Read more about those here and follow @eska_water for clues. Saturday’s giveaway is for a $300 gift card for Stillwater Spa. Hellooooo! There were a few people waiting to meet me in order to win. ME! We had fun. Look at how cheezy I am in this photo, LOVE IT. Spent the afternoon working on an 1188 production. This is a RED Camera, fancy. Lauren, Steve, and I were extras on set. Years ago I spent an entire summer on set for a movie with my sister. We has heaps of fun and made tons of friends. I wrote about it not too long ago here: #TBT Diary of a Background Performer. I arrived back at the office to a super nice delivery from Nike Canada, NEW SHOES! The Nike Free Cross Bionic 2 is new in Canada and I’m looking forward to hitting the pavement with these guys tomorrow. This shoe is ultra-flexible, with breathable mesh upper and Flywire cables for dynamic support.  Yes, I run, but I don’t tell the whole free world every single time. I picked EmBot up from school for a girl date last night. We ate McDonald’s, ice cream, and went to the zoo. WILD TIMES. One of the zoo volunteers let us feed vegetables to the animals.   We were both especially fond of the peacock. Hope you’re having a great week. I’M READY FOR THE WEEEEEEEEKEND! <33333333 CASIE  

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#Esakaquest 2015 – Find Eska, Win Prizes!

This summer Eska Water is back for round 2 of Eskaquest. Torontonians are invited to explore the city in a Toronto-wide scavenger hunt. This year, ESKA will is teaming up with six Toronto influencers (including me!), and challenging Toronto to ‘Find ESKA’ for the chance to win tickets and prizes from June 22nd to July 31st. During the six week campaign,we’re each giving away 2 prizes per week. There’s two ways to get in the game, follow clues that ESKA releases on social media, or take a peek on the microsite (here), which contains a map hinting at the general location for each giveaway. The first person to successfully find the influencer wins the prize. Follow Eska for Clues Follow on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram as we release daily clues to help you find the next #eskaquest giveaway location. My Eska Prize Giveaways are July 8th & July 11th Stillwater Spa gift certificate$300 Dinner for 2 at a Summerlicious restaurant The rest of the Eskaquest crew includes blogger Yashy Murphy, Indie 88 radio host Brent Albrecht, MTV Live alumni Paul Lemieux, Sheena Snively, and  Daryn Jones. We’ve planned a really fun giveaway so I’m pretty excited to put the plan in motion. I’ll have more details next week! Until then follow ESKA water for another giveaway on Saturday. CASIE

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New Bike, Snacks, Shoppers, #SMDay

Well hello my friends. 😎✌This photo was taken yesterday and although I look very smiley, I’m not feeling great. I’m so tired. I’m not sure if it’s the small time change last week with my trip to Calgary or lack of sleep but I’m lethargic. I miss the cottage. It’s been weeks since we’ve got to have a good cottage hang and it’ll be at least a week before we get back up to Muskoka. I’m in Ottawa this weekend then back for The Queen’s Plate. In other news, I had some good things yesterday… I used to have a Red Schwinn cruiser bike that I LOVED. I rode that baby all over town for a coue simmers, Junction to Beaches and back. Unfortunately some jerk vandalized my bike and it was unridable, went to the bike graveyard. RIP. 2 years ago I purchased a new one from Bikes On Wheels, Queen West and it was stolen before summer was over. Last year I didn’t ride at all it made me sad. YESTERDAY, my brand new Schwinn Cruiser was ready for pickup. 🚲👍 Schwinn Canada has welcomed me as a bike ambassador and I’m back on the road baby! I’ve got a few things to add (bell, basket, lights) before we’re full time but one little cruise yesterday made my heart sing. 💛 If you stop by your local Shoppers Drug Mart you might see their new ‘Summer Covered’ Campaign. Next week I’ll be sharing some of my fav products for summer roadtrips and cottaging. I’ll also be featured on the SDM social + website. Received a shipment of this yesterday. Have you tried it yet? It’s Social Media Day today and in 2010 and 2011 I spoke at Toronto events. It’s amazing how social media has changed my life and taken…

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156th Queen’s Plate is THIS WEEKEND at Woodbine Racetrack! #OffToTheRaces #QP15

Who’s ready to get dressed up and join me at the racetrack? This weekend is the 156th Queen’s Plate at Woodbine! I’ve been the last couple years and it’s really fun. Food, drinks, fashion, and the chance at winning a few bux by betting on the horses! I love seeing all the big hats, beautiful millenary, and overall style of attendees. Here’s a sneak peek of what to expect. At the event, you’ll be able to sip champagne on the grass while playing croquet, horseshoes or bocce ball, while keeping an eye onstyle. Your red carpet photo (from the party) will be on the Woodbine Racetrack Facebook Page here post event. As the Official Charity Partner of the 2015 Queen’s Plate, $1 from every ticket and program sold will be donated to Rethink Breast Cancer. Things to Note for The 156th Queen’s Plate Races begin at 12pm Queen’s Plate Post Time is approximately 5:38 p.m Parking and Admission are FREE Walk the red carpet in style at the Hats & Horseshoes Party presented by Stella Artois Enjoy live performances by Emerson Street Rhythm Band & more There’s heaps of food trucks onsite, so come hungry! A couple weeks ago I attended Woodbine Oaks, first leg of the Canadian Triple Tiara series where I learned how to bet on horses (read here). At the Queen’s Plate, the The Betting Impact team will be roaming the Hats & Horseshoes Party to teach the Basics of Betting. You can pick based on the odds or get a little wild and just pick your fave horses name or number. Click here to read more about horse racing betting. For Queen’s Plate notes and early probability see here. Read more about the Queen’s Plate race at queensplate.com and learn about upcoming races by visiting woodbineentertainment.com.…

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Lovin’ the Crew – Tourism Calgary Arts & Culture Trip

Meet my crew! Sean and I were shooting w/ Tourism Calgary this week. If you follow me on the Twitter or IG you’ll know this already. Shooting in the pool was fun. Sean was a really good sport! Met up w/ Mike Morrison aka @MikesBloggity  to tour around downtown in the new bike lanes. He recently founded Calgary Bike, tours around Calgary by bike with landmarks, photo spots, facts, and history. We are inside this giant head, art sculpture.   It’s called Wonderland and is a female head that’s about 12 metres high.  It was created by Barcelona-based designer Jaume Plensa. The weather was absolutely beautiful. Rock show at Sloth Records for Sled Island. Picked him up a new hat. When in Rome, right? Went to the East End block party. Finally got him to let me do this. So cute. Had our caricature drawn by epic moustache guy. Finished the day at Wreck City, pre-demo car wash turned interactive art exhibit.    The sun sets just after 10pm. It was also super hot. Loved every minute of it. The video we shot will be shared by Calgary Tourism in a few weeks. I’ll post it too! 💛✈️👍CASIE

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Up Up & Away! 

Today Sean and I travelled to Calgary. ✈️🇨🇦👍🏼  It’s been two years since I was in this fine city and I’m happy to be back.    This week we’ve got a fun itinerary of arts & culture activities in Calgary. We’re shooting them all with Tourism Calgary and the video will be on their website once finished.     Got a nice new mani and passport yesterday. We have 10 year passports in Canada now but I only renewed mine for 5 years so I can get a new photo! I know mum will have a chuckle reading this. 😉    One of my fav travel accessories, cosmetics bag by Ted Baker.     Why does this July cover say Bruce?? Been loving this little shoes sent to me by Toms. The Huarache sandal is made in Mexico and comes in dove (off white) leather and black. They’re really comfortable. Pretty sure I had a similar pair as a kid.    I love traveling together. 💛  We’re staying at Hotel Arts, a boutique hotel downtown Calgary. I stayed here about 2 years ago and since, they’ve put $7 million into renovations. We’ve got a beautiful suite with kitchen, balcony, living room, and 2 closets so we can have one each.       Looking forward to a few days of fun activities. Follow me on Twitter @casiestewart for all the fun!  💛🇨🇦✈️ ✌🏼️😎 CASIE

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Off to the Races! Woodbine Oaks at Woodbine Racetrack

This weekend I went to Woodbine Racetrack for Woodbine Oaks, the first leg in Canada’s Triple Tiara of Racing, the prep race for The Queen’s Plate. I’ve been to the Queen’s Plate a few times and this summer I’m excited to partner with Woodbine Racetrack for the ENTIRE race season. I’ll be attending major races from from now till November. Better get some new hats! Since I’ll be at the races a fair bit, I decided to get a lesson in exactly HOW to bet and the fine details about horse racing. Some people pick based on names and numbers, which is ok (and what I had done previously). In my session learned about the odds, how they change, and Win-Place-Show. Picking a horse to win with 20-1 odds can really work in your favor! Grandad would be proud. Wish me luck! #OfftotheRaces pic.twitter.com/k2b5djXFpR — CASIE STEWART (@casiestewart) June 14, 2015 Both my mum’s dad and dad’s dad were really into horse racing, so it’s natural I like it too. When I lived in Australia, going to the horse racing was a HUGE thing. One of my fondest memories was going for a surf at Bronte in Sydney’s north beaches then rushing home to get ready for race day. Threw a friends dress on with my ocean tossed beach hair, grabbed a hat, and I was off to the races.  We had such a fun day. Paris Hilton was there too. This weekend I bet on a couple races and even won a few $$ back. It’s so exciting when the race starts and you see your horse leading the pack. Everyone is standing up and yelling, it’s exhilarating! The next big event is the Queen’s Plate on July 5th. It’s HUGE and one of the most stylish events of the summer. Last year, Sean and I raced home from…

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The Zombies Guide to Surviving Among the Living: How to Blend in at Dinner Parties 

Over the past couple weeks I’ve shared a few tips for surviving among the living them you’re a zombie in partnership with shomi Canada to promote the new show iZombie. This week for chapter 3 of The Zombies Guide to Surviving Among the Living, we look at easy ways to blend in at dinner parties. Always make sure you’ve got your phone close by, if we learned anything from the first two chapters it’s that humans are totally addicted to texting and are never without a mobile device. Don’t even think about taking a bite before snapping a photo of your food. You’ll notice this human behaviour is very common at any public eating facility. It’s a trend that’s totally taken over human eating rituals. Once you’re managed to get past the small talk and are seated at the table, snap a selfie. Then snap another after your first bite. Share how great our food it with the world on your fav social network. Avoid making eye contact and if you’re feeling bored, pick up your phone and text like you’ve got something really important happening. Even if it’s just jargon. Humans will assume you’re engaged in an intense text conversation. These tips will help any zombie trying to make it in a human world. This is my last post about The Zombies Guide but I’m passing the torch to Will Wong and Daniel (Do The Daniel) for the next  chapters. Check out the trailer for iZombie here and get yourself a free 30-day trial here. Follow along on Twitter and Instagram with the hashtags #shomi #TheZombiesGuide. CASIE

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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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Don’t Hate, Appreciate! Selfie Queen, New Tricks, New Treats

Omg heyyyyy! It’s FRIDAYYYYY or FRIYAY as kids call it these days. Woke up to find out my blog was BROKEN. Urgh. Always a scare. I imagine it’s like your child being unable to function. My blog is my baby and when it’s got a cold 403 error and not operating, my heart sinks and I panic. It’s ok tho, fixed now bc you are reading THIS! Went to dinner at the Trump Hotel last night because I am I fancy lady for a press event with LG Canada. I was given a brand new, unlocked (from Korea) LG G4 to test drive. I love new gadgets so much. My fav things about this phone so far is the selfie camera.  It’s got that beauty feature to perfect your skin (no editing required), there’s a front facing flash, and you can signal with your hand to take a selfie. Earlier tonight, things got a bit weird, but awesome w/ @LGCanada and it was fun. #LGG4 pic.twitter.com/SffJ6YAo5r — CASiE STEWART ? (@casiestewart) May 22, 2015 The PR team was like ‘Casie you’ll love these selfie features’ as then handed over the phone. Then, in the middle of the product demo I got called a ‘Selfie Queen’ in front of everyone. I don’t mind. I’d proud of my selfie skills. I have been taking photos of myself before they even had a name.  You’ll get about 12,300 results if you google my name and ‘selfie’. That takes real dedication! This is an oldie from 2008 when I lived in the East end at Broadview & Danforth. I was an IT recruiter in the financial district back then, seems like a 100 years ago now. After I passed by the new Yo Sox store to see Ryan and the gang. The once pop-up is now…

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