Anamaya Resort – Welcome to the Jungle, Pura Vida!

Good morning from Anamaya Retreats in Costa Rica! Yesterday was our first full day here and it was magnificent. I’m really making an effort to take a digital detox on this trip but documenting is something I love. I’m running on wifi and often not able to connect with the online world. I’ve been taking photos, making notes, voice recordings, I wanna remember all my thoughts and feeling on this journey. It’s absolutely beautiful, photos don’t do it justice! Feels good to be back on the yoga mat too, I’ve been a bit slack this winter and this trip is like hitting the reset button. Our menu this week is all gluten free and local, Anamaya has a farm that we’re visiting Wednesday to see where a lot of our food comes from. We are staying in a treehouse that is 50ft up with a yoga/hammock deck, and a loft bedroom. It’s the most beautiful treehouse I’ve ever been into, it’s fully equipped a king size bed, drinkable running water, and AC. It’s giving us some good inspiration to build one at the cottage.

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IWD 2016 – Women @ Work Managing Career, Family & Legacy

Yesterday I was feeling pretty overwhelmed. I know we all have those days. I’ve been working on something with my speaker agent, prepping for a keynote in Edmonton, and then there’s a mounting email, and social updates. Sometimes I feel like I just need to shut down and take a break, I wonder how the heck I’m gonna do it all?! That’s usually when I ring mum and she talks me through, reminding me not to give up, and how hard I’ve worked to get here. She reminds me I’m probably tired, and maybe hungry. For this, I’m grateful. I call her almost everyday with something, so today on International Women’s Day, I’m especially thankful. When I got off the phone with mum the other night I arrived at the Rotman School of Business at U of T for a special presentation with TD, their 10 Lessons: Women @ Work Report. I was happy to see my friend & fellow social entrepreneur Gracie’s smiling face and we sat down together, all ears. Tweets from the night can be found at #YourStoryYourFuture. Excited to attend @TD_Canada's Women @ Work talk tonight with my girl @casiestewart! WERK! #yourstoryyourfuture pic.twitter.com/ZBtplnt3h1 — Gracie Carroll (@GracieCarroll) March 7, 2016 TD partnered with University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management to release a joint report that uncovers insights about how women across the country perceive the challenges and opportunities in advancing professionally. Career, relationships, family, finances, it’s hard (and often stressful) to manage this stuff all at the same time. I don’t have my own kids yet but there’s challenges with a blended family, we’ve got a sassy 8yr old 50% of the time, and Sean and I are both entrepreneurs, managing very different businesses. Learning about the challenges of other women in professional careers, really…

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Events | New Creations Festival at the Toronto Symphony

If you’re looking for something cool to do tonight, check out the New Creations Festival at the Toronto Symphony Orchestra. I’m heading back from Edmonton to meet Sean there for a date! The festival wraps up tonight w/ Water by Jonny Greenwood from Radiohead.. It adds the beautiful sound of tambura, vocals from Brett Dean, and DJ Skratch Bastid wraps it up with a remix from the festival. Check out KNOCKING AT THE HELLGATE. [iframe id=”https://www.youtube.com/embed/Oziuu3Fk0_s”] I’m partnering with the TSO to share some of the great stuff they’ve got this season and remind you how much fun it is to go. Last time I went for was a couple years ago. I love live music and the TSO offers a whole bunch of great shows at a beautiful venue. [vimeo id=”3689591″] LMK if you’ve already got a ticket! 

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Artventure ? Artist Project + Winter Stations ?

This weekend was relaxing and cleansing.  Yesterday Sean helped me deal with my room sized closet of disaster hoarding (let’s get real here!) and it was therapeutic. I can’t believe how much crap I was holding onto. Including clothes, we removed about 15 garbage bags from the house. I feel so much lighter.  I’d left a ton of things undone and unpacked, they started piling up. I didn’t foresee everything going as calmly as it did but it was truly wonderful to have someone you love say ‘we need to do this’ and help. I’m still fighting a cold but overall my head feels more clear than it has for a while. A messy room makes for a messy head, being clutter free opens the mind. On Saturday I took Em to The Artist project. Art is her best subject and a fav of mine, so we set off an an artventure exploring. Lots of neat stuff to see. I was there on Thursday night for the opening party and we picked up a few pieces for the house. Next we went to the Winter Stations in the Beaches and hung out with my sister. It was really nice to be outside, in the sun getting fresh air. The stations are around till March so there’s plenty of time to visit. Was really quite hoping the warmer temperatures would stick around a bit longer but it looks like we’re getting a cold spell this week. Thursday night is the ‘Muskoka Bound’ cottage life theme dinner at Lisa Marie with U-Feast. I can’t wait, been thinking about those ribs since I had them a week ago. There’s only a few tickets left, get one here. Here’s hoping your Monday is off to a great start. I’m heading to an important meeting with myself, a much…

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Valentines Day | Do You Have Kissability?

It’s Valentine’s Day and I know it’s cheezy, but I love it all! ? Hearts on everything, love in the air, planning secret things for someone you love. I sent Sean a V-Day gift on Tuesday because I couldn’t wait till the weekend. Show love all year, right? According to the latest Emervel Kissability Report, Canadians are a pretty kissable bunch. Raise your hand if you’ve kissed a Canadian? I know I have! ??? 80% of Canadians rated their last kissing partner as “very or somewhat kissable,” and respondents said they lock lips with their partner about three times a day on average. I can tell you, I kiss his beard as much as I can, I just can’t help myself! Scroll for some interesting stats about kissing and making those lips more kissable.

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Life | WHAT A TIME TO BE ONLINE

Well, well, well, hello February. Feeling good about this month. I feel like I did enough work and travel in January to fill two months. ???? I stayed in a treehouse, went to Detroit w/ Ford, spent a week in Cabo, did a workshop at The Gladstone, partied w/ VICE at a hologram party, and had a cameo in a music video.

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Travel | Byeeeeeeeee Winter, Next Stop Cabo!

Well guys, I’ve been home for a few days and it’s time to get back on a plane and get outta here! Hopefully I spend WAY less in the airport than I did last week. Sean and I are going to CABO with Sunwing Vacations. Here’s a little sneak peek of what I’m doing there.  I’ll be sharing all kinds of updates on Twitter @casiestewart, Snapchat ?  (casiestewart), and even on Periscope. I’ll be sure to take you on a hotel tour, to the beach, and maybe out to sea in a glass bottom boat.

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Happy New Year! * Sweet Sixteen*

Well ladies & gents, 2016 is here and I am so glad.  16 is a favourite number of mine and to be honest 2015 was a hard year. Felt I was getting off track a bit and my health wasn’t 100%, so,  I’m facing 2016 with a clear head and excitement. The tattoo I have on my left arm is 16 dots, evenly spaced, in two shades of green like a beaded bracelet. It’s a perfect square, and 16 2x 8, my fav number of them all.  This is the sweet sixteen!  [symple_divider style=”solid” margin_top=”5″ margin_bottom=”5″] Today was a good day, went out for a drive around 9:30am, the streets were bare and the air was calm. After, I made a nice breakfast and spent some time cleaning up the house. I had this plan where I wanted to go out and take a great photo with my GoPro and a confetti cannon. After driving around with BF and child, we wound up getting lunch and coming home. I went out to an alley near our place by myself, set up my camera, and popped the cannon. Much to my disappointment, it wasn’t recording video and the confetti made a beautiful display, then flew away in the wind. That moment will forever be in my memory and NOT on Instagram. Whoops! It’s ok, everything doesn’t always go as planned! I took a deep breath, laughed it off to myself and went back home where it was warm. This is my first selfie of 2016. I mean it’s my ACTUAL first selfie in the 20 I took to get a nice one (which we all know is what happens). I added some lighting to brighten it up a bit, but the first one is always the best. I continuously take a pile to get the perfect one and then, voila, the first one…

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Monday Feelin’ Like Saturday

Had a great weekend. Good Christmas. Went for a nice walk to the park and enjoyed the warm weather on Chrismas day. Sean enjoying a scarf mum sent. Looks great on him tbh!  Had a bbq with some friends on Saturday night. Was great to get out of the house after hibernating for a few days. We’d been in serious holiday mode watching movies and binging Netflix. Not feeling so hot today. Feels like I’m getting a cold. Gonna rest up and keep this holiday mode spirit alive! Hope you had a great weekend too.

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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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