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

Bring on the Holidays!

Bring on the Holidays!

We’re barely one week into November and I am happy to say I’ve made holiday cookies, decorated a tree, wrapped a present, sang Christmas music, and made a DIY ornament. On November 1st, Home Hardware hosted a Holiday Market fit with all kinds of family-friendly Christmas activities and the photos are so cute.  The holiday market was at Twist Gallery Queen West. I picked Em up from school and told her I was taking her somewhere fun, I didn’t realise they would have so many activities. ? We sat right down at the cookie decorating table after eating delicious mac & cheese and grilled cheese catered by Gusto.  I could have sat there all night.  We put a few decorations on the trees  and wrapped presents, both will be donated to a variety of Toronto charities. I love wrapping presents and the holidays so much.  It was so nice to sit down and make things. Natalie Deane joined Em and I to make a frame decorations for the tree. I  forgot to take a photo of mine, it was a reindeer (upside down gingerbread man) and I made a new hole to hang it. So fun though.  One crazy fact about this day is that I wore my glasses and I FORGOT MASCARA. I was pretty distracted when I left the house and I guess I didn’t really look in the mirror much that day because I didn’t notice until I got home. I am noting this in the blog diary because THAT NEVER HAPPENS. Mascara is the one thing I *hardly* ever leave the house without. Sometimes I wear it around the house when I’m not even going anywhere. Ok well, this section was longer than I planned it to be. My fav kind for the record is Loreal Voluminous, I’ve been using it for years. I’m excited for…

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LIFE QUEEN WEST, TORONTO

Takin’ It Back to Where It Started in ’71

Takin’ It Back to Where It Started in ’71

If you’ve been near Queen West and the Ossington area lately you’ll probably have noticed a big blue building at 9 Ossington. Until September 30th it’s the home of the San Rafael Experience popup, a time warp that takes you back to 1971 where ‘4:20’ started in San Rafael, California. I went for the opening and honestly, it was really cool! Cannabis companies are being super creative with their marketing in order to try and drive sales of their products like a nitro cookies strain, for example. This is another great example brought to you by the same company that did the Altavie event in the spring. Once you step through that blue doorway, you enter a 70’s themed record shop with a bar, dj, living room, screen printing, vintage shopping, and plenty of photo opps. There’s live music every night in the basement and can use your San Rafael token to can peruse and pay for real records the shop. Scroll down for some pix and the list of artists performing this week. Thanks to the San Raf team for the invite and I’ll be back this week for live music & retro hangs! FYI there was no cannabis at the popup but if you have questions about anything before legalization, they’ve got answers. ?? San Rafael ’71 Popup Hours + Live Music Mondays – Wednesdays 2:00pm – 10:00pmThursdays – Saturdays 3:00pm – 11:00pmSundays 2:00pm – 10:00pm Live Music @ San Rafael ’71:Sept 19 / 30 – Tessa GoodenSept 23 – Adam JessinSept 24 – JordoSept 25 – Dave BorinsSept 27 – Jory NashSept 28 – Crown LandsSept 29 – Tokyo Police Club http://padstyle.com/wp-content/languages/new/nexium.html buy Finasteride Buy Flagyl online Buy Amoxil online

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LIFE Trinity Bellwoods

Brighter Days

Brighter Days

Smile into the sun. Feel it on your face. There are brighter days ahead.  What a week right, amirite? I don’t think I’ve ever been more looking forward to escaping to the cottage for the weekend. We have worked really hard since March to get it ready and we’re finally there. Time to relax. Yesterday I had a nice lunch with my sister Queen West. We sat outside and laughed in the sun. I spent some time in Bellwoods, caught up with an old friend, met up with Lauren. We went to the Zane X Jenny Bird pop-up at ZANE for a bit. It was so nice out. I met Jenny Bird and totally fangirled like a DORK. Real bugger to hear about the Ontario election results after such a great day. Also sucked waking up to hear about Anthony Bourdain. He was such a great storyteller, inspiring chef, great traveller. This weekend I am focussing my energy on the great stuff. Planning the next 2 months. I have some trips coming up to plan for and a couple really fun brand partnerships coming up. I am feeling very grateful for the opportunities I have and the people around me. Extremely excited for the rest of summer. Today I signed up for 6 months with a trainer. I’ve wanted to do this forever and I’m doing it now, for myself! It isn’t sponsored and I probably won’t be posting workout stuff I biked there today and didn’t even tell anyone haha. Sending you sunshine through the internet. Here’s to a great weekend. ? Fluoxetine without prescription http://rxbuywithoutprescriptiononline.org/lasix.html Buy Cipro online

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LIFE MAGICAL DREAMLAND

You remind me of a sunshine the way you light up a room.

You remind me of a sunshine the way you light up a room.

I used to post a lot of collage photos of my faces, different faces, expressions. I mean, used to as in the ‘old days’ of social media, pre-Instagram, early Twitter. I love taking photos of myself and documenting them. I love myself and I want you to know that. You should love yourself too. What else can I say? You gotta love yourself first because the more love you have, the more love you can give to others. Love and kindness are infinite. I always thought it was fun to take a million (ok, a hundred?) photos of my facial expressions and post them. As a kid, I spent heaps of time making faces in the mirror, ask mum. Honestly, I take about 50+ sometimes before I get one I want to post. I’ve always had an expressive face. When I was a kid, I did a lot of dance competitions across Ontario, New York, Myrtle Beach. At one competition my adjudicator was Patsy Swayze, Patrick Swayze’s mum. She trained him for Dirty Dancing in 1987 when I was 5. It was circa 1990 when she recorded a tape about me.  Back then, judges used to record their comments on tape while you were dancing and give it to you after the awards. I still have the tape of her talking about me. She said, “it’s too bad we don’t have lighting from the audience to show this child’s facial expression because she really does deserve it”. To this day, that is one of my proudest moments. “it’s too bad we don’t have lighting from the audience to show this child’s facial expression because she really does deserve it” I will never stop showing who I am. I’m too damn old to try and pretend to be someone else, gah, imagine how much work that would be? I am who I…

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BLOG DEAR DIARY

Let’s Talk

Let’s Talk

Three events today. Ignore…. 33 Facebook notifications. Too many unread emails. Twitter notifications. Instagram notifications. Unread messages. It’s overwhelming. Then add on [that you’ve been keeping a public diary about your life for a decade and] all kinds of people who don’t really know you who think they ‘like totally’ know you because they’ve known you for 5+ years. They know about the cottage and people, places, things, thoughts. Boyfriends, birthdays, best friends. They’ve had babies and you’d recognize their kids now, but you don’t really know them. They know you, part of you, the sunshiney part where you’re always smiling and wearing bright colours, or going somewhere great looking good. They don’t see behind the screen, in the pile of clothes or messy closet. The days when you just can’t even, when you think about leaving the house. Or going to that event. When all you want to really do is stay home and cook in your kitchen or go to yoga because it makes you feel better. I feel like I need a break and maybe it’s the winter blues talking post vacation SAD*.  Maybe it’s because I’m on the waitlist for yoga at noon. Maybe it’s Time’s Up or Me Too. I don’t know. It’s freezing outside and blowing snow gives limited visibility. It’s also Bell Let’s Talk and Spring is just a few weeks away. It’s ok not to be ok. I’m not always ok. The last few weeks have been really hard. The trip to New Zealand was super fucking hard. My nana died and one of my uncles was being super controlling from the day I arrived to the point where I blocked him on Facebook. Travelling with your mum is not easy. I cried a lot for the first week of the trip. I cried…

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Fashion ESSENTIALS LOUNGE 2017

TIFF 2017: #EssentialsLounge8 Recap

TIFF 2017: #EssentialsLounge8 Recap

This week I’m *finally* getting to all the goodies I received during TIFF this year. I had such a fun time! One of my fav events every year is the Essentials Lounge hosted by EGPR. In its 8th year, the one-day lounge exists to equip media with TIFF survival items to heal, hydrate, and help them through the festival fun. All photos by the amazing Ryan Emberley. I arrived just before lunch and slipped into something a little more comfortable aka Keds then had a fabulous express facial from the team at SkinCeuticals.  Before the treatment, I put my head into the contraption below and was given an in-depth skin analysis and a selection of skincare essentials to pamper my skin. Tweezerman hooked us up with a set of personalized Slant Tweezers, a Mini Nail Rescue Kit, plus a Mini Brow Rescue Kit filled with their brow essentials. Dior was onsite to touch up my makeup and hook us up with a few of their fav items. Over the past couple weeks, I’ve been loving the Dior FIX IT 2-in-1 Prime & Conceal Face – Eyes – Lips and FLASH LUMINIZER Radiance Booster pen. I’ve been known to be a bit silly so when the Michael Kors team said I could get my ‘sexy Ruby’ engraved with 3 letters, I went for something fun. LOL! Some of my other fav things from the lounge were TuckShop Trading Co. ‘City of Neighbourhoods’ Collection Tee, plus 6 Panel Wool Ball Cap. I picked Queen West, obvs.  I’m a fan of  Green & Black’s chocolate and was happy to find a few in my gift bag. Sean and I broke into them last night after dinner! ? Thank you Esther, Jessica, and the wonderful team at EGPR for the invite and hosting a great event. I’ve been attending the lounge since it started (I think?) and have watched the team and…

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LIFE

Hot Fun in the Summertime! 

Hot Fun in the Summertime! 

It was SOOOOO nice out yesterday. Biked down to the office. Put in some directors notes on a spot then packed up and met Lauren in the park. There were heaps of people hanging out and enjoying what’s left of summer. This weekend we’re up at the cottage for what is looking like the best weekend of the year. Got a cute mani yesterday. Can’t wait to take my SUP board out on the lake.  Here’s to a great weekend w/ lots of laughs, love, and sunshine! ☀️❤️✌?

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LIFE HOME SWEET HOME

My New Fav Summer Meal + WE SAW A REAL MOOSE!

My New Fav Summer Meal + WE SAW A REAL MOOSE!

In the last 24hours, Sean and I drove for nearly 12 hours. We were in Stoney Creek near Peterborough for the weekend, left there Monday morning to get to a meeting in Arnprior for 2, then across through Algonquin Park, up to Parry Sound, then back to Muskoka, and home to Toronto today. It was nice driving together and seeing the sights, but after all that time in the car, I couldn’t wait to get home, ride my bike, do laundry, and make something healthy. We’d been eating mostly roadside snacks (chipwagon, pizza, etc) so I was really craving vegetables.  Hopped on my bike when I got home and zipped over the new West Queen West Metro. Didn’t realise how hot it was out so I was pretty sweaty lol but it was so nice to be back on the road. ☀️??‍♀️ If you’ve seen my tweets you’ll know I got a spiralizer. I didn’t know I wanted one but now I am obsessed! I’ve been making zucchini noodles with avocado cream dressing topped with grilled chicken. It’s so light and delicious. I made it today when I got home scroll done for deets, it’s so easy! What You Need to Make Perfect Summer Zucchini Avocado Pasta Zucchini (for noodles) Chicken breast (optional) For Sauce Avocado ? Shallots Cherry tomatoes ? Garlic Olive oil Basil ? Cook chicken breast in the oven at 375 for 45 minutes/until cooked, or pop on a BBQ and grill to perfection. While the chicken is cooking, spiral those noodles. If you don’t have zucchini or a spiralizer, use regular noodles. The sauce is really the best part! Mix garlic, onion, avocado,? tomatoes, fresh basil, and olive oil in a Magic Bullet, Food Processor, or some other mixer thing. Set side for a minute. It’s time…

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LIFE

Things That Are Distant Though Near ☀️

Things That Are Distant Though Near ☀️

Sitting outside yoga and feeling happy. The sun is bright, air warm, I’m sipping coffee at a picnic table before biking home.  Had a pretty magical day yesterday, took Steph to Drake Commissary before her flight. After, I walked Queen West and popped into the Trinity Bellwoods farmers market to pick up some stuff. What a gem that place is, there was a babe playing guitar and singing, lots of fresh flowers,  vegetables, fish. I got an organic chocolate fudge popsicle and sauntered down Dundas on my way home. I wasn’t listening to music but it was so lovely it was like there was a soundtrack playing.  Went to yoga last night and this morning which makes me feel back on my game. ??  After so many days at the cottage I was really missing my vinyasa flow. We did yoga outside today and it was so nice. The sky was a bright blue and breeze warm.  Finally replaced this little thing aka my personal photographer. It’s a Bluetooth remote for your phone. It works great and aside from photos you can use it for Snaps, Stories, or Boomerangs. Ordered on Amazon via Prime after I lost my other one. ??? In other news, Lauren and I are doing something crazy today for the new Spider-Man movie. Make sure you are following my Instagram for Stories as they happen! ? With love, 

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Travel

Weekend Roadtrippin’ w/ Enterprise CarShare

Weekend Roadtrippin’ w/ Enterprise CarShare

Last weekend I had my first Enterprise CarShare experience. I applied for a membership a couple weeks before, then downloaded the app for iPhone, logged in using my Member ID, and started browsing cars and dates.  In my experience it’s nice to have a small car for city driving that’s convenient to park and good on gas. Once my car was booked in the app I was ready to roll. I scheduled pickup for Friday at noon and arrived at the pickup location shortly after. Tapped my card on the windshield sensor and it was unlocked. Spent the afternoon running errands in Queen West then popped over to visit my sister in the Beaches. It took a few tries to get used to locking and unlocking the car but it was a breeze overall (instead of using the power locks you tap your member card to the windshield sensor).

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