Interview w/ Sassoon Toronto’s Kimberly Wallace + #SassoonStyle Giveaway!

I’m sitting at Sassoon interviewing Kimberly Wallace while she does my hair. I’ve been coming to Sassoon since the start of 2017 and she’s my favourite colourist here. I’ve been following her on Instagram so we instantly start talking about the event I was at last night, her changing hair colours, and all the time I’ve spent at the cottage this summer. Safe to say there are lots of laughs and good chats every single time we’re together. I asked Kimberly a few questions about trends and tips to keep your hair healthy and happy. Interview w/ Sassoon Colorist: Kimberly Wallace What type of shampoo/conditioner do you recommend for my type of hair and why? Colour safe shampoo ex Kerastase Chroma Riche, because it’s for colour treated or highlighted hair. Great for blondes! What are trends you see for hair and beauty this summer? I’m finding that lived-in colour, balayage, ombre, are very popular.  Looks that are low maintenance. That way, you can feel like your hair is sunkissed but you don’t have to come into the salon every 4-6 weeks. What is one hair tip that I can share with the world? Be realistic with your hair goals. For example, if you have thick dark hair like Kim Kardashian and you want to go blonde in an afternoon, it’s not going to happen in one session. Or asking for pink hair but have brown colour, that’s not going to happen in one session either. Another thing to note is pastel colours are great but they only last two weeks. Instagram filters and editing can be deceiving, what you see isn’t always what’s real! (We chatted about how the Instagram is sometimes a web of lies, don’t believe everything you see on IG!) Being blonde is a full time job! A post shared…

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Subscribe to Behind the Blog – My Newsletter is Coming Soon!

Over the next few weeks I will be pulling the details for a newsletter I’ll be sending out in January called Behind the Blog. It’s for anyone with e blog or online business interested in learning about creating content, managing a website, having an online business, or other tech stuff like apps and gadgets. There is so much that you will probably have to learn though, and I know that I am still learning a thing or two. No one is perfect, even if I like to think that I am. However, I do think that I am good enough to teach you a thing or two, and hopefully, you will find it beneficial. For example, I might at some point talk about how you need to get a web hosting company involved (for example, a company like the one found at a hostiserver.com). I would like to believe that you would find something like this useful. It won’t just stop there though, I have loads of other things that I can tell you about in my newsletter. I’ll make sure that it’s all relevant for creating content, managing a website, having an online business, or other tech stuff like apps and gadgets. So it will be totally worth your time if this is something that you need a little bit of extra guidance with. I promise I’ll be able to help you. I won’t spam you and I really hope I can send it twice a month. Somehow when I am the busiest I feel like I should add another task to my life. I feel like sharing this information with you will help me be more organized. I’d love for you to subscribe/share. Email First Name Last Name Have a Website? Email Format html text

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Travel | Got Wanderlust? Take That Trip!

As winter starts to creep up on us I find myself looking back through old blog posts of my travels. I’m keen to book a trip for Sean and I for a little R&R under the sun early 2016. I’m thinking Dominican Republic, Cuba, or Costa Rica. I’m dying to feel sand on my skin and salt water in my hair! ?? Over the last few years I’ve been to Thailand, Mexico, Puerto Rico, and LA during the winter. I absolutely LOVE to travel but preparation is key if you want to have a good time for example, a travel shoe bag is a must for me and I don’t travel without them. Also, if you don’t manage your money right, it can be expensive. Up until a few years ago I didn’t even have a credit card because I was still paying off my student debt from school. This doesn’t mean to say that just because you’re at university, you can’t have a credit card; those studying away from their home country can still get a credit card for International Students. Having a card with travel rewards was really important to me now. I want to get something back from all the purchases I make on my trips. I’m also really interested in qantas credit cards which are another travel-based provider, as they offer rewards for frequent flyers which is certainly what I am! I would rather take a great trip in the winter to boost my inspiration and pay it off my credit card, than not go at all and let the winter blues get me down. You never know what’s going to happen, YOLO! I’ve partnered with a Capital One Canada one to tell you about their new and improved line of Capital One Aspire Travel MasterCards.…

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This Is My Life | Cyberbullying

Putting yourself out there on the internet or *IRL takes a lot of courage. Having a blog opens you up for all kinds of criticism, haterade, or anonymous comments. My world, the one I’ve created online, is pretty positive, but I’ve had my share of cyberbullying. It’s important to fight back against trolls, for example you could use an instagram story viewer app to save any abusive posts so that you can use them as evidence against them. It’s also important to learn how you can avoid being exposed to this kind of harassment and Telus has an award winning Canadian program about how to protect you and your family online. They offer online info and offline info like in-person training sessions for business customers and their fams. Thanks for this @TELUS! #TelusWise pic.twitter.com/uIpjxQArfZ — CASiE STEWART (@casiestewart) August 20, 2015 Telus is one of my longest standing relationships and this program is one of the reasons I love them. Not to mention the owl for this campaign. I like owls. I’ve had more than one stalker over the years and had to contact the police several times about something internet related. I don’t share this stuff often because it’s hard to talk about. There’s also SO MUCH sad/bad news out there I want this to be a happy place for you when you’re having a bad day or want a cheer up. The things about bullying is it can stay with you forever. It’s hard to forget the way they made you feel. A couple of years ago a ‘friend’ had been commenting mean things under an alias for months. It was really hurtful, the things she said were spiteful, stuff only someone who knew me would say to be mean. I did some investigating and finally tracked the…

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Contest | Show Off That Brilliant Smile! Brush. Whiten. Go.™

This is a sponsored post in partnership with Colgate* Optic White™. All thoughts and ideas are my own. Thanks for supporting me and the brands I work with. [symple_divider style=”solid” margin_top=”5″ margin_bottom=”5″] If you know me, you know I smile a lot, heaps in fact. It’s a huge part of my life and I’m generally a pretty happy person. I’ve always been the one flashing her teeth around, spreading sunshine with a smile. ??? Having nice teeth started early with mum’s influence. In high school, I had braces and unlike other kids, loved going to the orthodontist for updates. Brilliant smile! Skip ahead a few years after coffee, wine, age etc., keeping that smile bright is important. Colgate contacted me a couple weeks ago about trying their new Colgate* Optic White™ Toothbrush + Whitening Pen and I was totally down to give it a go. (Tbh, I’d seen it on tv and wanted to try it already). Got one for Sean too. I’ve been using the new Colgate* Optic White™ Toothbrush + Whitening Pen for about a week and it’s quick and easy. One thing to note is the whitening gel has a nice minty taste and won’t hurt your gums. Maybe you’ve considered getting your teeth whitened, but have yet to do so. If this is the case, you may find that visiting a Dentist in Healdsburg for example, could be the push you need to get you the smile you have always wanted. Anyway, I have sensitive teeth so I wanted to test this out before giving you my thoughts. This is a convenient and affordable way to get whiter teeth. Saying this though, if you have considered getting your teeth whitened professionally as you know that you won’t be able to be consistent while using this whitening…

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Tech | My DNA: 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. 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! 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. 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! You have to spit into this small container and put on the lid to mix in a chemical liquid with your sample. Once complete it goes into a bio bag and back in the box for shipping. 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.…

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Millennials: Getting the right mix of financial advice

I never thought I’d be in an article about having good finances, let alone millennials and good financial advice.. It seemed impossible back when I graduated from collegge and uni, faced with debt from school, and every major credit card. I moved back from Australia and was BROKE. I had mounting debt and wasn’t making nearly enough money. I was on this show called Maxed Out (now on the Oprah Network!) where I confronted my debt with a financial advisor and through that experience, got a better paying job. If you don’t think you’ll get a spot on a show so you’re able to tackle your financial issues head-on, instead just get in touch with a service like Traverse City wealth management firm so you’re able to fix your finances. The host thought me making a living by being ‘Casie Stewart’ was a total joke and nearly impossible since I didn’t come from money. She compared me to Paris Hilton and I officially launched my casiestewart.com website at the end of the show. I had been writing THIS IS MY LIFE at blogspot but finally went to my own url. This week, an article that I consulted on recently came out with a study from TD bank. It quotes me and was published on PR Newswire, Yahoo Finance and some other places. This is my real story and my actual serious advice is if you are having money worries, no matter how broke you are, it is helpful to see someone who can get you on the right track. I’m 31 and debt free now! When looking into loans and finance advisers, you’ll need to do your research and learn to understand the alternative lenders and options you have. I have also learned a lot about managing money and utility…

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Canon Blogtography: Holiday Portrait Session

I  LOVE the holidays! Nothing like meeting up with friends, letting your hair down with colleagues, boxing day deals, and making memories. In our most recent Canon Blogtography Session at Herman & Audrey, I was pleasantly surprised to see Christmas decorations, a tree, and lights.  It may have only been November but there was no stopping me from putting  on the Christmas music! You can bet I started with Mariah! In this session we learned how to take portraits. It was my most favourite session all the ones we’ve had so far. We went over a variety of ways to shoot perfect holiday portraits and what lenses to use. We worked on depth, putting things in focus, and shooting under low light. ex. candle light. I’ve been taking my own portrait since 2004 when I started this blogging so it was really wonderful to learn how to actually do it right. Our session was lead by top Canadian portrait photographer Steve Carty.  He’s taken a few of my portraits before, see here and here for video. Tips on Taking Portraits from Canon Canada My Portraits from Our Session We were encouraged to snap shots of each other. These are a few of my favourite shots from the session. I’ll share some they took of me before Christmas comes! Andrew Dobson  Corinne McDermott Steve Carty Nelia Belkova It definitely helps to have a tripod when you are shooting group shots like this around the table for example. You can pick up a tripod from any camera store. I love to use a tripod and the self-timer for taking self-portraits and making sure I’m included in group shots.  Aren’t they cute? 🙂 For more tips and tricks on taking great photos visit canonoutsideofauto.ca and check out Steve Carty’s portraits for creative inspiration. Happy Holidays…

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i totally had a dude where’s my car moment

No seriously. I’m not used to driving a car downtown. I love to walk and text and take photos and look at stuff. Yes, driving is fun but YES driving downtown in the middle of the day can make you a crazy person. A CRAZY PERSON. I feel like a tourist driving. Yesterday Toyota Canada gave me a Matrix to drive for the week. I’m not sure why I think this, but I have a feeling that they got it to me by using a car moving company similar to CarsRelo as it was the easiest way to do it. However they delivered it to me though, I was so excited to try it out. It’s a fun car. The ability to just get up and go is awesome. For example, today I had brunch at my Sister’s house:) Back to the story… Today my car was towed. I got it yesterday. “There’s a first for everything! #casiefail (@ JP Towing) http://4sq.com/i1vsxd“ Stop laughing. I thought I was fine where I parked but I was wrong. I left the office and was chatting away on the phone as I walked back to the car on King Street just after 5:15pm. I parked at 2:45. You can’t park there 4-6pm. My friend on the phone witnessed a mini panic. Where’s my car? OMG. All the cars were gone. It took me less than 15min to find it at JP nyc towing company and in about an hour I had it back. Thank you Shelly for driving me. The towing people were really nice and despite that it cost $180, it was kinda fun. I originally thought they’d put the cars on tandem trailers to transport them to the towing company but I later realised it wouldn’t have fit on one! I’m…

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love is in the air

Mmm, chocolate cake. Happy Birthday Joelle! This one if from Joelle’s camera. And this one captures a very serious conversation…total ‘OMG’ face on me. Back to my camera for some more real talk. Uh, pardon me? Omg. Hmmm, someone taking photo with shaky hand. Bad romance. Vodka/water/strawberry, good for sipping. Light, refreshing, hydrating and will keep you from hangover given you don’t go crazy. Joelle had this gorgeous dress with a fringe on the arms, look closely. Totally in love with fringe. Fringe everything. Hearts on everything too. I have two different heart tattoo’s in case you were wondering. Both on right arm, one pink, one red. Nice surprise to see you there Simon. Goo work on the tunage and fun times. Your date was a babe. borderline the girl artistic borderline artistic borderline is borderline artistic feeling borderline artistic borderline artistic borderline her borderline borderline artistic heart artistic artistic borderline on artistic borderline artistic borderline artistic fire. All these snowflakes are full of love & light. Mum collected all these heart photos on her sailing trip to the Bahamas. She sounds so happy when I talk to her. Imagine living there on a boat right now. Bliss. When I see a heart shape in something I always think it’s a sign she’s watching out for me. For example, this sweet potato tempura heart. Yum one, Mum! The more love you give the more love you have. If you need some it’s right here for you. Ok byeeeeeeee. Valetines night get ready time. xo

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