Today was a good day. Left the house late afternoon to meet Natalie and her dog Chloe for a walk before the sun went down. We sat outside in the park by the Telus Centre near the Royal Conservatory of music, then went around the park. Walked through some of the University of Toronto buildings and I recognized a bunch of from Tiny Pretty Things on Netflix. There are heaps of recognizable locations if you’re watching the show, see some of them here on BlogTO. Good show, I’ll finish it tonight. Before heading home I had a little meetup outside with Nelson & Talia. We went to Eatily and got groceries. It felt like being out on the town! It’s been so long since I went to a place with anyone other than Sean. We were all wearing masks and only inside a grocery store, but it was invigorating! Earlier in the day, after my run, I tried a TikTok hair trend to do natural, heatless waves with a belt from a robe. I wasn’t sure how it worked at first but as the day went on, the curls relaxed and my hair looked great. I can’t wait to try it again and get really good at this. I’ve dreamed of having long hair for years and without the pandemic, I would have probably cut it. The title of this post on Day 311 is Amber by the band 311. My sister and I used to love this one so much. It will make you smile. ?

Took a casual day for myself to watch Tiny Pretty Things on Netflix, do my nails, put a mask in my hair, and relax. I am determined to be more productive this week after feeling off my game the last 2 weeks. I want to focus on the work I’m doing and accomplish my goals. It’s easy to be distracted by social media and everything going on in the world but we ALL have the power to focus. This sweater is one of my favs, it says ‘Create Better Days‘ on the back. I posted about it a while ago where I featured some of my fav CBD products. I ordered it from Sugarhigh Lovestoned and it was too small at the time but it fits perfectly now. Sending love through the internet from my keyboard to your screen. If you need a cheer up, call a friend, a parent, or someone you love. We need to stick together and connect right now more than ever.

The sky is grey and it’s raining, again. We’ve hardly had any sun over the last week, today is a gloomy Monday in the woods. Friday was beautiful and over 20 degrees, but I was inside working the whole day. We had a really relaxing weekend, I swear I could have used another two days to charge my batteries. I did nothing but watch Netflix all day on Saturday and it was glorious. I’m on S3 of Gossip Girl now. Yesterday I did a bunch of food prep and then took I nap. Things are really exciting these days lol. Sunday afternoon, we met up with Emily’s mum in Gravenhurst to do the switchover. This morning, ‘Stage 2’ is trending on Twitter and Ontario is seeing the highest Corona cases since the start of the pandemic. Sean and I are thinking to stay up here in the woods for most of the week. The cottage isn’t fully winterized but I would be happy to stay up here as long as we can. Please stay safe and wear a mask. We’re all dreaming of the day this is over. I hope you have a great week.

Wow, 200 days, here we are. What a time to be alive. I met up with Blair for coffee and we both wore our jumpsuits from Zara Kids. We sat outside, distanced on Jimmy’s patio and it was cute to see how people smiled at our outfits. Gotta appreciate the small joys these days! I came back home after our date to make a 1pm meeting. I don’t know exactly if it was the news, the weather, or just life, but I felt totally tired in the afternoon. Sean and I finished Ratched on Netflix and then I remembered tomorrow is Halloween. I was ready for bed at 6pm, then had a burst of energy around 9pm when I put on some spooky tunes and danced around the kitchen. I’m excited about Halloween this year, I love dressing up. Halloween is a spirit, a feeling, and if you’ve got it, go ahead and let it out. I’ve been wearing ‘costumes‘ for the last few weeks and things are about to get a little more creative. I’m tempted to go out dressed as a witch for a bunch of days in October. Zombie? Why the hell not!?

Different taking the subway these days but I like being back in the city. There are fewer people and the seats are marked for distancing. Felt so good to put on regular clothes and spend a few hours working outside the house. I miss being in that type of environment. Sean picked me up on the way home from 1188 and I made fresh pasta from Pusateri’s. In other news, I started watching Away on Netflix starring Hilary Swank, good show. Hooked!

On days I don’t document in real-time, I often go back and try to remember what happened that day. If there are no new photos, I hardly remember what happened, I have to really think about it. If you are reading this diary in daily order, I am writing this to you from the future on Day 183, September 13th, 2020. It’s Sunday, we’re getting ready to go back to the city from the cottage. I recommend watching The Social Dilemma on Netflix, it’s good, you’ll find it interesting.

A little bit of a different birthday than previous years but we made the most of it! Last night we had a family sushi picnic. It’s been over 6mo since I had sushi and it was delicious! I packed a cake and sparklers and we sang to Sean in the park. I biked home with the cake before the picnic so it was a little dishevelled but still tasty! Gave Emily one of my Masks for Music by Melanie Goldman. She’s created hundreds of masks and raised over $15,000 for the Unison Benevolent Fund’s Covid-19 Relief Project. Learn more or donate here. This morning we drive back up to the cottage and there was so much traffic. Sean and I were both pretty exhausted and fell asleep in the afternoon watching Netflix on the couch. Woke up to a beautiful sunset over the lake. At night we heard pretty loud music and a cottage down the road had a live band! We were just about to head over when our friends rolled up in their boat to check it out from the lake. There were about 20 boats in the water jamming along to the tunes. We also did a few fireworks on the dock and everyone in the boats cheered. It was a nice ending to a few days of celebrating Sean’s birthday! HBD ILY!

For about a week of this month, I fell off my fitness game, I just didn’t feel like it. I’ve learned over the past few months of working out that consistency matters more than exactly what you do. I find I’m happiest and most productive when I get moving and sweat at the start of the day. It helps me relax, relieves stress, and opens my mind. Some days I totally zone out to music or a podcast. This week, I’m back at it! Since January, I’ve joined monthly challenges on the Nike Running app hosted by Amy (aka @lesbest) and they’ve been SO HELPFUL with motivation. This week I need to run 20k to make up for the week I missed, so I can get 60km for the month. Today I broke my own record for fastest 1 mile and I AM SO PROUD OF MYSELF. Late 2019 when I started, it was a struggle to run one full kilometre and now I feel great when I run 5Km. For the record, I usually walk a little of the 5km but I’m getting there. Today I dreamed about running a 5km for charity, a race but only really to beat my own best time. Today was a great day! We had a BBQ for dinner then took a family trip to town. Picked Em up a new bathing suit and I got two new plants. Watched Floor Is Lava on Netflix before Em went to bed and I finished reading my latest book Invisible Girl by Lisa Jewel. GOOD READ. If you’re looking to get running or join a challenge, add me to the Nike Running Club app (CASIE STEWART) and join my challenge for August. We’re gonna start with 2km a day! I’d love to have some new…

Slept in. Watched Netflix. Took naps. Made vegan spaghetti. Ate snacks. Did some work. All around lazy Sunday. It was really hot and we stayed inside the whole day, lazying on the couch in front of the fan. It started raining as I was heading to bed, it’s gonna be a great sleep. Tomorrow Emily’s mum is dropping her off to spend a few days up here with us. I think my sister might visit for a day this week too. I’d really love to see her! Here’s to a great week! And a great sleep!