Travel Essentials: Don’t forget these on your next trip!

I’ve been travelling a lot this year and have a routine when I pack.  I never forget, a hat, an eye mask, thongs (aka flip flops), multiple pairs of sunglasses (no matter what the temperature), a couple scarves, insurance, and my passport. Wardrobe and accessories always depend on where I’m going. Something  REALLY important people often forget is INSURANCE. Millennials, I’m lookin’ at you. Apparently, we’re more likely to hop on a plane without insurance (55%) than without our cell phone (45%). Raise your hand if this is you?! In a recent TD Insurance survey, more than 1/3 of Canadians forgot to purchase travel insurance at least once (37%) or said it’s the last thing they think of (36%). Over a third of Canadians think they have travel insurance with their credit card (37%) or their job (37%), but don’t check what coverage they really have. You should definitely double check before you get on that airplane and consider buying a supplemental health insurance policy if you don’t have out of country emergency medical coverage. We’ve all heard stories of people having accidents on trips and you don’t want to rely on a GoFundMe to get you home safe.  Almost half of Canadians travel outside the country/province more than once a year. It’s important to have Canada-wide coverage as well as international. DYK that government health plans won’t always cover out-of-province emergency expenses like bringing a family member to see you in hospital, returning you home, or ambulance rides? If you travel heaps like me, check out the TD Annual Plan that covers you for unlimited trips of 9, 17, 30 or 60 days throughout the year. This will save you from *forgetting* insurance again and save you unwanted expenses in the event that something bad happens.

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5 Things To Do In Prince Edward County

Last week my sister and I went on an adventure to Prince Edward County. PEC is southern Ontario with a coastline on Lake Ontario’s northeastern shore. It’s been about 20 years since either of us were in The County. I have fond memories of Jenie and I camping at Sandbanks Park with our parents, playing on massive sand hills, making things with clay. Our trip was courtesy of The Drake Hotel and their PEC property, The Drake Devonshire. We were there to experience Countylicious, similar to Winterlicious/Summerlicious where restaurants feature 3-course prix fixe menus for $40/pp (+ tax & tip). In 24 hours we did so much more than just eat great food.  The County has so much to offer so here are a few thing I recommend for your PEC road trip. 5 Things to Do in Prince Edward County Visit Wineries There’s 40+ wineries in PEC and a whole bunch of breweries. If you love great wine, you deff want to visit the princeedwardcountywine.ca and make a plan of places to visit. On our tour we stopped into Wapoos Winery, the very first one in the region. It’s absolutely beautiful and right on the water. Check out the Wapoos menu for Countylicious here. If you happen to drive a Tesla, they have a charging station. Eat Great Food There is no shortage of great places to eat in Prince Edward County. Starting today, Countylicious kicks off with a celebration of fine dining featuring prix fixe menus from local restaurants. Chefs have created unique, County-inspired menus with an appetizer, entrée, and dessert. I highly recommend checking out The Drake Devonshire, Courage Bar, and The Public House at Jackson Falls. Visit a Farm Have you ever smelled fresh carrots from a farm? Had arugula straight from the earth? I can tell you that the produce from Blue Wheelbarrow…

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SCROLL – 5 Good Things for Monday, March 6, 2017

Hello & happy Monday, here are a few good things to start your day. ☀️ On Sunday I went to detox yoga at noon and it was a really good class. Sean picked me up after and we got groceries and other stuff. Lately I’ve been more conscious of things I’m doing and why. I think it goes back to that sound bath I went to in LA. I swear something happened that day. So, instead of laying the couch and scrolling I’m sitting on the bed writing. I promised to write more. Although, one of my favourite things is sitting and scrolling. I love reading Steph’s The Catch Up or Weekly Enabler Posts on her blog LEOPARD is a NEUTRAL. I also love Gracie’s recipes, yesterday I tried to make cauliflower rice but it ended up being mash. Which was still good. I tried to do a newsletter but I failed miserably, despite ‘wanting‘ to do it I only sent it once. Sorry subscribers. ? Maybe one day I will get there but baby steps are ok. Here are five things I think you might like too. ONE: TRAVEL & LIFE TIPS FROM ONE OF MY FAV BLOGGER/YOUTUBERS Kristen Sarah created Hopscotch The Globe and has been travelling for 13 years with her husband. They’re also moving into an AIRSTREAM. If you haven’t read noticed, is one of my travel goals. TWO: VICE + OCCUPIED VR + CREATORS PROJECT OCCUPIED VR (Sean, my bf’s company) is featured on the VICE Creators Project right now. Watch it here or check out my behind the scenes experience at the shoot in yesterday’s blog post. THREE – THE BANKSY HOTEL  This place is all over headlines with it’s “worst view in the world”. The ‘Walled Off Hotel’ (a play on Waldorf?) is in Bethlehem and looks right out to the concrete wall around the West Bank.The decor inside is crazy/awesome, every room…

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Money Hacks for Millennials: Have You Saved for a Rainy Day?

Coincidently I am writing this post on a rainy day, and despite always hearing this expression, I didn’t know exactly what it meant. “Save for a rainy day?” more like “save for a rainy three to six months” in case you lose your job, break a limb, or god forbid some other unexpected life moment goes down. Over the past two years I’ve written a few posts with money tips for millennials. If you missed those, let me give you a little background on my situation, in 2005 I returned from Australia, tiny, tanned, and educated. I brought something else home with me tho, a HUGE debt. I owed over $30k in student loans and credit cards!? It was a tragic look at reality when all the bills started rolling in and I’d barely started my first full-time job in Toronto making under $30k/year. It seemed literally impossible to dig out of the hole I was in. I found myself saying “I need cash now ” more often than I wanted too. Having to find quick ways to get cash is difficult and I did struggle. Payday loans such as Fresh Loan were constantly recommended to me for a short term solution. Soon enough, I’d had enough and decided I needed to gey myself in gear. There is no way I was going to live in this debt forever. For many others it’s the same circumstance, they find themselves in a vicious circle, having to take out loans, ending in debt and hardly seeing a way to get out. Small loan lenders like this Norwegian based company, små-lån, can help people finding themselves in the same situation. Before taking out a small loan, you should read every detail carefully and fully understand your repayment methods. Not long after that I…

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Return on Enjoyment: Finding That Work-Life Balance

I find taking vacation or ‘staycations’ essential to my sanity. If you’re following my Twitter or Snapchat you’ll know that I’m always on the go doing something, events, speaking, dinner, travel. I love it, but tbh it’s pretty exhausting. Putting heaps of energy out (friends, work, or social) can take a lot out of you. In a recent TD survey, they found that us millennials have a hard time finding balance between financial and work commitments, and taking time to relax is a challenge. I can totally relate to this. TD found that 46% of millennials don’t take their allotted vacation days, mostly due to heavy workload (31%) and lack of travel funds (29%). Back when I was working in an agency, I hardly ever took vacation, felt pressure to work late, and when I did take vacation, found myself constantly checking my phone and responding to emails. I know I’m not alone here! The survey found, 90% of Canadian millennials agree that vacation time, even mini-vacations or “staycations”, are essential to keeping them happy. Taking time to recharge doesn’t have to be expensive, I find a good binge weekend with some cooking, takeout, and a nap (or two!) boosts me up. Having a financial plan and a budget will help you get that ROE – Return on Enjoyment. ? This weekend we opened the cottage, going there, even for a 24 hour getaway gives me leaps and bounds of energy. Don’t have a cottage? Make friends with someone who does (heh heh) or check out options like Airbnb or Glamping Hub for affordable getaways. Millennials like us can save for activities by creating a financial plan to account for funding life’s pleasures (or unexpected moments). We could all use a little more vitamin SEA, amiright? ? Other activities with…

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Travel Tuesday: Vacations Aren’t Just for Soaking Up Sun!

Dreaming of an experiential vacation – wine tasting in Italy, yoga in India, surfing in Costa Rica, visiting Lower Shotover New Zealand to go Bungee Jumping? People often think of vacations as a jaunt away to soak up the sun but one way to REALLY enrich your life is a vacation where you learn something or take on a new experience. An RV vacation is a very popular choice for many people who want to go and see new sights and cultures from the comfort of their own vehicle. Those that do embark on such a vacation will want to make sure they have quality equipment, like Lifeline rv batteries, on board before doing so. A couple years ago I went on a solo surf + yoga vacation to Costa Rica, it was so much fun. Visiting this country was on my bucket list and I had always wanted to tick it off. With this being said, if it wasn’t for a friend of mine recommending I checked out a site like https://små-lån.com (as she knew I was struggling financially), I don’t think this trip would have been possible, but I am glad that I was able to make this happen. While I was there, I learnt how to do aerial silks and perfected my wave riding skills in the ocean. This was the little cabin I stayed at in the jungle at Anamaya Resort. In 2013, I ventured to Thailand and took a cooking class in one of my fav cuisines. I came home with new skills and a bright outlook on a different culture. I recently chatted with TD Canada Trust about how to make an experiential vacation a reality. These types of vacations are often seen as more costly and harder to plan. BUT, if you knuckle…

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Nella Bella FW 2012 Collection @ Urbanspace Gallery

Last night went to Nella Bella’s FW 2012 media reception. I’ve been taking NellaBella bags on all my travels, bike rides, festivals & fun for the last two years. They’re got lots of different shapes & styles this year. One of the designers for this collection, Andreas Kyriakos who started working with them at 15, he’s 16 now, but still,  he designed a whole batch of beautiful things. I got to catch up with a few really lovely girls I hadn’t seen in a while.  Thanks Raymi, you babe, for photos and Tarek for the invite. Can’t wait to get something new and BRIGHT! Bring on, SPRING on! My current fav is the KIEV bag in black (in photo but hard to see). It fits my 11 Macbook Air, camera and a few other necessities. Comes in handy when’re always on the go/working!  Shirt: Joe Fresh Cardi: GAP Pants: Bench – shopping trip! Hair: Ken Murphy Color Bug, Goody Accessories Shoes: Ego & Greed One things I love about clothes is the stories they tell. Links to the above items go to past posts wearing. Archives rule. Crashed my bike the day I got the Joe Fresh shirt, ordered shoes from solestruck.com. Got GAP  cardi over holidays cruising vintagey shops in Cambridge with Mum. Tarek, Val Photos via WE REPRESENT THE LOLLIPOP GUILD  on RaymitheMinx.com   Walked home home with the Septembre & Bella. Made .gif with Loopcam, from Berlin! Check out Jessica’s post & pic here. It was really fun. Good night. Nice to see beautiful bags and smiling faces. The food was excellent and catered by The Daily Bread Food Bank’s catering campany. They put all the proceeds from catering, right back in. Been busier than ever planning and preparing things for SXSW. We have a new blog coming. I’m super excited. Let’s do this.  😉 <3 CASIE    

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yesterday on twitter, this happened:

excited for a great week. bon nuit! # watching “Friends with Money” on Netflix. Good movie so far, half way. # Photo: Aggy? http://tumblr.com/xmj37r13lf # Photo: › *This relaxes me. Therefore I like it. http://tumblr.com/xmj37r016q # RE: @ValTorontoGal like, duh. “blog girl gets fat after being paid in chocolate bars” epic fail omgaga.  http://disq.us/2f5ydv # RE: @zachbussey Exactly! Last year I went to New Zealand for 2 weeks as VIP for #NZFW 10 bloggers from around the wo… http://disq.us/2f5kls # new photo is hot @danadearmond # RE: @dobbernation So many ways to integrate. I’m with you Andrew. Totally agree & great job BTW! http://disq.us/2f53x1 # RE: @zachbussey It’s more about companies pitching 2-5 ‘top bloggers’ to do a campaign. I turned down one recently th… http://disq.us/2f4xk9 # The Dark Side of Successful Blogging http://t.co/zYWtS0y # RE: @zachbussey Good post Bussey. You kinda missed my point though, I was saying there’s a difference in blogging abo… http://disq.us/2f4fsf # ate the most delish ice cream. hope i don’t get a tummy ache. haven’t had real-cream ice cream in years. ahhh # Find happiness within. # Holykawwww this place is freaking amazing! (@ Marble Slab Creamery) [pic]: http://4sq.com/kcHAzV # Thinking of you @crystalgibson. #cupcake http://twitpic.com/5hv791 # “Dad, bluetooth has nothing to do with teeth” # Great start to a new week today! Excited 🙂 # BBQ #2 of the day @ Dad’s. Salad is fresh lettuce from garden. Woo hoo. # I would love to drive to the cottage this weekend. # So many mosquito bites omg. # Dinner w/ Dad tonight! #

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yesterday was a really fun day

An old friend visited and we measured our balcony for synthetic grass. Would I have the coolest condo balcony everrrrr? Yes. I reckon we would. If you interested I can intro you to Joe. He’s a nice dude, The GrASS Man. Then I went to 1188 Films to work on an Angry Birds commercial. Yes, the worlds most best selling mobile game. I also stole the MAYORSHIP which is pretty freaking amazing. Stamped myself with their bank stamp, I’M MONEY GUYS! It was a very Queen Westy day for me. Walked from Spadina/Gardener to 1188 Queen (near Gladstone) and back home again stopping at a few places along the way. This warm weather makes me feel just like a child and I wanna play outside all day. Reminds me of a song by my friend Devendra. Press play & keep reading! Got ma hair did at Darren Kwik Studio (I’m Mayor there too NBD). Beautiful spot right across from Trinity Bellwoods. Hipster discount if you tell him you’re my friend on the internet (or IRL). Call him @ 416-361-1016 right MEOW. He’ll take real nice care of you. SALON PLANK. Darren was teaching a class after me and his student was a STUD. Ladies, I can hook you up 😉 Post hair stopped into Melagro for some Mexican upstairs at La Perla. I can’t WAIT to have a event/party here. Place is stunning & upstairs roof patio is a GEM. (Jarvis have you been there yet?) Cute boy(s) & girl(s) work there too. Think I got some sun. Everybody’s free to wear sunscreen (Baz Luhrmann). Food was good. Look at this queso! LA PERLA PLANK.

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yesterday on twitter, this happened:

full bodied & bright, @senseappeal. http://post.ly/1yz9N # Fenway http://post.ly/1yz0W # Oct 21, 2009 – Interiors of "School Bakery & Cafe" in Liberty Village. For restaurant review. Photo: Charla Jones/Gl… http://post.ly/1yyzN # Photo: › Shalom Harlow wearing Marchesa at the Met Costume Gala tonight › › Shalom is always so freaking… http://tumblr.com/xmj2d7y2ex # Photo: Body Parts http://tumblr.com/xmj2d7xcre # exciting day # Photo: mermaid http://tumblr.com/xmj2d7s47c # Photo: › Christina Ricci at the Met Costume Gala tonight › › I am obsessed with this Zac Posen dress. http://tumblr.com/xmj2d7abxu # I favorited a @YouTube video http://youtu.be/aEolW1x9O3k?a N'importe Comment – The Toxic Avenger featuring Orelsan # I favorited a @YouTube video http://youtu.be/3ojq5qQk6AQ?a Yelle – A Cause Des Garçons (Official Music Video HQ) # Emma Stone in Lanvin – › Emma Stone in Lanvin › › The Met Costume Institue Gala 2011 › › (Source:… http://tumblr.com/xmj2d74rxf # Photo: Stewart. http://tumblr.com/xmj2d74gex # election tweet stream is like so fast man. #elxn41 # 1 for green. # this is not boring. #elxn41 # #tweettheresults http://post.ly/1yxmn # Photo: http://tumblr.com/xmj2d6ajva # PARTY LEADER # Whoa Jack, in the 80's. #movember #elxn41 # I can't believe how low the Liberal vote is. #elxn41 # trinity spadina!! #elxn41 # Photo: › Rihanna in Stella McCartney Costume Institute Gala in NYC. http://tumblr.com/xmj2d5zmuy # my vote counted. # Photo: › Mary-Kate Olsen in vintage http://tumblr.com/xmj2d5p912 # Photo: › Ashely Olsen in vintage http://tumblr.com/xmj2d5p1gp # here we go. the polls have oficialls closed! #elxn41 http://goo.gl/fb/zRTft #blog # alonetogetherxoxo: http://tumblr.com/xmj2d570j2 # proud to be Canadian. # #THEPARTY #elxn41 (@ Canada Federal Vote 2011 w/ @melissaiscool @stephanieceline @danspr @rlangdon @withoutayard) http://4sq.com/iB7Bm1 # Photo: › Christina Ricci wearing a Zac Posen gown at the Met Costume Gala tonight › › Breathtakingly… http://tumblr.com/xmj2d4q72b # Photo: › Blake + Karl @ Met Ball 2011 http://tumblr.com/xmj2d4okmc # Photo: Giselle http://tumblr.com/xmj2d4o1pd #…

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