CASIE STEWART

Casie November 13, 2014 LIFE

Dinner with Chef Chef Nina Compton + Saint Lucia Tourism

Photo: @CasieStewart and @Dobbernation at the 2014 Saint Lucia Media Dinner by @Beccalemire

On Monday night I travelled to Toronto’s Queen East for a mini escape to Saint Lucia with Chef Nina Compton and their tourism board. I’ve never been to Saint Lucia but I’ve also never wanted to go more than right now after tasting the food and hearing travel stories from other guests.

Chef Nina cooked up some seriously delicious food. My fav was the cacao beef short rib with polenta and baby veg. The spicy cacao martini was a nice start to the night. You might recognize her from Bravo’s Top Chef, she was the runner-up and fan favourite on the most recent season. Chef Nina is in Toronto as the first culinary ambassador of Saint Lucia. Now that’s an awesome gig!

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Here’s some snaps from the night by the lovely Becca Lemire. Did you know Saint Lucia, aside form it’s natural beauty, has a tropical rainforest and one of the world’s few drive-in volcanoes. DRIVE IN VOLCANO. A DRIVE IN VOLCANO. I can only imagine the other magical wonders waiting there for me.

Thanks to the Saint Lucia Tourist Board and Chef Nina Compton for a delicious dinner and some time to catch up with Andrew (aka Dobbernation). I had a great time meeting Charlene who has been reading THIS IS MY LIFE for years had never ran into me IRL. HI CHARLENE. It’s a truly humbling and awesome experience meeting people who have been reading for a while. It’s nice to get to know ya. You know heaps about me!

Here’s to a wonderful day. It may be getting cold outside but that doesn’t mean you can’t take the sunshine wherever you go.

Fashion | Look Into My Eyes, Air Optix Colors Canadian Launch

Last week I went to the Air Optix Colors launch w/ Cohn & Wolfe. I got to pick out a pair of colour contacts and have my makeup done. This photo is really close, I hope it doesn’t scare you lol. Reminds me I’ve aged! Those lines are from lots of smiles though. My usual hazel green eyes were transformed w/ this vivid Sterling Grey. I’m not a usual contacts wearer but these guys come in a variety of colours and last 30 days. There’s a really bright blue I’d love to try! You can check them out at airoptixcolors.ca

Loved this fur. Sadly it’s not mine, was just there for the photo booth. Quick reminder that Rudsak Canada is having a sample sale starting tomorrow at 99 Sudbury and there will be heaps of leather and fur goodies. I’ll have a sneak peek for you tomorrow!

<3 CASIE

Lifestyle | Always Bring Your Own Sunshine

Hello sunshine, it’s nice to feel you on my face. It’s a beautiful November day and this morning I took a stroll through the park on my way to a meeting.

Thinking of my dear Granddad today and stories he used to tell us about being at war. He lied about his age and when they found out he was put in the kitchen to be a cook. When he returned to Palmerston North, New Zealand he opened a butcher shop. Mum still has one of his aprons. Thankful for all those who gave their lives for us. Lest we forget.

Wherever you go, no matter what the weather, always bring your own sunshine.

Anthony J. D’Angelo

With love,

<3 CASIE

Lifestyle | Interstellar IMAX, Korean Karaoke, Stew

Found these glasses while I was cleaning up this weekend. They’re House of Harlow by Nicole Richie and I can’t believe I forgot about them. DOH! It’s amazing what you find when you dig through clothes mountain and put your stuff away.

On Friday Sean and I went to see Interstellar in IMAX. I liked it. I didn’t know anything about the movie except it had something to do with space. I like seeing things in IMAX but this movie made me a little bit dizzy at times they were spinning around in the station. Matthew McConaughey was great and I don’t know why people hate on Anne Hathaway but I think she’s great too. I deff had space dreams/nightmares that night. I hope to go to space one day.

On Saturday we joined Lozzie and crew for for Karaoke in Little Korea and IT WAS SO AWESOME. I’d never been to one of those karaoke places where you get a room to yourself to sing your hearts out. I can’t even begin to tell you all the songs I sung. Sean loves it too. Despite just meeting the birthday girl that night we really helped out by being the entertainment!

I’ve been thinking about why I started blogging heaps lately and it was all in an attempt to keep more memories, documenting people, places, things, and thoughts. I’ve also been thinking about how much blogs have changed over the years.

Have you noticed a change? Is anyone even reading this? You know so much about me and I don’t know anything about you. Is that strange? I don’t know!

Anyhoo, here’s to a great week.

<3 CASIE

Fashion | Ted Baker London Now Open At Eaton Centre

Last week Ted Baker London opened a new store at the Eaton Centre. The store is located right across the the Apple Store on the second floor near Queen Street. Love that Apple & Ted’s new shop are so close.

Media, bloggers, and brand lovers filled the store to check out the latest collection, intimate details of the store, and dine on English treats from P&L Catering. These little savoury pies were divine! I ate my share of mini sausage rolls too.

Here’s some snaps from the event via Katherine Holland/Faulhaber Communications. I was wearing that darling hot pink dress I absolutely love. It’s available the store right now along with a bunch of other great dresses perfect for the holidays.

The whole gang of Ted Baker London Brand Ambassadors was on site for the opening. I’m sure you recognize a few faces!

Tweeters gonna tweet, tweet, tweet!

I really love the attention to detail in everything Ted baker London. Pattered jacket linings, quotes on accessories, little monogrammed initials, unique buttons, there’s personality in all the details. In the new ‘Bakers Arcade’ themed shop you’ll find something special in every nook and cranny.

There’s so many darling pieces in the shop right now. I love this blue number! Collar dresses are my fav.

This green suit. I die.

I have a version of this camel cape coat from last season. So nice.

I’m hoping to pop in over the next few days to pick up a super cute riding hat for winter.

Here’s to a wonderful weekend! Happy Friday!

<3 CASIE

Media | YYZ Living Magazine Issue 7 is Now Online!

I wrote a little ditty about my beloved Dundas West hood for the latest issue of YYZ Living Magazine. It’s their first time working with a blogger in the iSpy editorial. My masthead photo was shot by George Pimentel and I’m wearing Ted Baker London. In the feature I’m wearing a black & white dress from the Ted Baker London holiday FW14 collection. You can check out the issue here or click on the photos below.

YYZ LIVING shines a light onto our city, projecting its qualities through the lens of breathtaking photography, provocative storytelling, and exquisite fashion editorial. Each issue is a love letter to the city that is our namesake. We bring our readers the Toronto that parties with New York, dresses like Paris, schmoozes with London, and eats like Rome; a world-class city with a personality that is completely its own.

YYZ Living Masthead

Sneak Peek at Issue 7

iSpy: Dundas West

Not the greatest photo of me. Motivation to drop a few lbs over the winter. Photos on this page are by fashion editor, Alexandra Loeb.

Thanks for having me guys. Looking forward to the Issue 7 party later this month when the hardcopy hits the stands!

<3 CASIE

Events | Stanley Kubrick at @TIFF_Net ⬅ Don’t miss this one!

Last week I had the opportunity to get a sneak peek of the Stanley Kubrick exhibit now open at the TIFF Bell Lightbox. IT WAS AWESOME. I was at BOOMBOX, the annual TIFF Fundraiser. You might remember last years crazy Cronenberg exhibit.

A photo posted by C A S I E S T E W A R T (@casiestewart) on Oct 10, 2014 at 9:14pm PDT

Here’s some snaps from the event via at TIFF by Connie Tsang. The Instagram photos are mine of course!

A photo posted by C A S I E S T E W A R T (@casiestewart) on Oct 10, 2014 at 9:10pm PDT

You should DEFINITELY check this out. Great for fans and if you are not a fan yet you will be when you leave those doors. I hadn’t see 2001: A Space Odyssey but after being in the space ship, I had to watch it last weekend.

The exhibit features rare photographs, letters, original props and costumes (so cool!), screenplays, production materials, and cameras from his nearly 50-year career. For more information check out BOOMBOX, Stanley Kubrick: The Exhibition, @TIFF_NET on Twitter, and @TIFF_NET on Instagram.

<3 CASIE

A photo posted by C A S I E S T E W A R T (@casiestewart) on Oct 10, 2014 at 9:23pm PDT

Events | A Couple Great #Movember Vids

A video I did with Cision Canada a couple years back followed by details on how YOU can get involved with Movember this year.

From calendar photo shoots to judging moustaches to fundraising, Casie expresses why it’s important to support men’s health.

This video is a little on the creepy side. If you made a donation to the Biz Media team you got a video. This was mine!

Are you a MoBro or MoSista with a blog? Join our network here. For more information about Movember, visit movember.com.

MO LOVE!

<3 CASIE

CottageLife | You Might Just Need An Entire Weekend of Sleep

Hellooooo November! I love summer but there’s something so calming and creative about winter that makes me want to lock myself inside and write or organize the house.

I did neither of those things this weekend. I slept at least 25 hours. I took as many extra hours of sleep as I could find! We spent most of the weekend on the couch watching shows and movies from Netflix or iTunes. The fridge is full of takeout. I was tired. I had work to do but I just didn’t have the energy. Today I feel much better and ready to take on the world!

Whenever it’s a new month, year, and sometimes even day I look back and feel grateful for memories or think about how life has changed. Two years ago Sunday, Dad and I did the CN Tower Edgewalk thanks to Mastercard Canada’s Priceless Surprises. Timehop is a great app for looking back on that you posted on Twitter or Facebook that day (see posts about the app).

Saw this rusty rat rod truck that made me think of you Daddio! He custom builds hot rods and is working on his own rat rod right now.

It’s the start of Movember so I can’t help but think about the MoSistas TO pinup calendar from ~~last year~~ 2012. (Gah, I can’t believe it was 2 years ago!) The girls and I had a good time getting dolled up.

I was May. Apron was Mum’s and I love it. I use it on the regular. I hope I still have that scarf.

In other news, Regina George started following me today and I’m already into the Christmas music w/ one of my favalbums by She & Him.

If you need something to cheer you up on this gloomy Monday, press play, or check out THIS happiest Christmas playlist ever to ensure smiles all around.

Here’s to a wonderful week!

<3 CASIE

Fashion | Ted Baker London & Baker’s Arcade at The Eaton Centre

Friday marks the opening of the second Ted Baker London store on Toronto at the Eaton Centre. It was two years ago when the first store opened in Ontario at Yorkdale Mall and it’s been great fun working with the brand since. I’ve collected a bunch of beautifully designed pieces and had the opportunity to visit Ted Baker London shops in New York City and London, England.

Scroll down for some of my fav Ted moments from the last two years and info on the new ‘Baker’s Arcade’ shop at the Eaton Centre (opens Friday). I’m getting a sneak peek at the media preview tonight!

Look who did a little shopping at Ted Fifth Avenue… The always lovely @casiestewart!

A photo posted by Ted Baker (@ted_baker) on Aug 8, 2013 at 12:09pm PDT

Hosting Ted’s 25th Birthday Celebration at Yorkdale

In love with my first @Ted_Baker dress. The Scuba, its neoprene! A photo posted by C A S I E S T E W A R T (@casiestewart) on Nov 11, 2012 at 5:40pm PST

Queen’s Plate this past summer w/ my fav yellow Ted Baker beauty.

I can’t wait to check out the new store tonight! The steel ceiling trussles are spray painted in neon pink and series of framed panels of wallpaper, fabric, leather and detailed collections of relevant props define each ‘shop’ area: Umbrella Shop, Watchmaker, Optician, Jeweler, Perfumery, as well as a Tea and Cake Shop.

One of the most admirable things about Ted Baker London is the acute attention to detail in the design of stores, clothes, and accessories. My purses and wallet are lined with English Bulldogs, my camel cape coat has funky orange ribbon lining. I love it!

I’ll share some photos on the new shop after my visit tonight. Today I’m visiting the Shangri-La Spa and Evolve Hair Studio, before an audition at 4:30, then Ted’s baler’s Arcade event. It’s gonna be a busy one!

<3 CASIE

Tech | Buffer Festival Industry Day 2014

About a week ago I attended the first ever Buffer Festival Industry Day. Here’s a quick little snip of some of my fav moments!

It was great listening to top YouTubers talk about their experiences in brand building and projects. I was right up front to admire Harley from Epic Meal Time’s beard. He was my fav on the panel and it was neat to hear how the Epic Meal Time brand has evolved.

A couple years ago I was at a Biz Media party and the team from Epic Meal time was there (blog post here w/ photos). They made a bacon volcano and bacon roses to go along with a suite of other epic meat creations. There was a meat photobooth too.

I arrived just in time to catch my friend Brad Ford from Contiki chatting about brands, fans, and influence. This is one of my fav topics and it was cool to hear how the other brands were working with influencers.

I can speak first hand about the awesome job Contiki has done in connecting with ambassadors to tell their brand story. I’m working on a little something new with Contiki but no details just yet…you’ll know soon enough! Take a look at my adventure to Thailand with them last year here.

This was an awesome event for anyone looking to beef up their knowledge of how to make it on YouTube. I can only imagine how much the landscape will change by the time Buffer Festival rolls around next year. Something not to be missed!

Hope your week is good. I’m off to the OBEY Clothing spring preview then to hang out with Globe Style and Sophie Kinsella, author of the Shopaholics series.

Have an awesome day!

CASIE

Travel | Montreal Moments

Yesterday I had brunch w/ Montreal Tourism at The Richmond. They were in town promoting all the wonderful events that happen in their great city over the next few months. I was treated to Montreal’s mouthwatering cuisine, charming joie de vivre, and a look into fall and winter adventures.

Tourism partners and chefs included Guillaume Cantin from Les 400 Coups, Sophie Ouellet from EVO and Christian Faure from Maison Christian Faure along with Via Rail, Igloofest, Montréal en Lumière, Quartier des Spectacles, Phi Centre, The Montréal Museum of Fine Arts, McCord Museum and Grévin Montréal.

Earlier this month I was in Montreal to get a look at MTL à TABLE, their food festival starting October 30th. Three Ontario blogs were matched with three Montreal blogs then paired with a Chef to get a behind the scenes look at what goes into making their MTL à TABLE menu.

A photo posted by CASIE STEWART (@casiestewart) on Oct 10, 2014 at 3:42pm PDT

A photo posted by CASIE STEWART (@casiestewart) on Oct 10, 2014 at 6:12am PDT

The group included tour included myself, Amanda Cosco (Girl About Toronto), Taylor Stinson and Natalie Sehgal (Girls on Bloor) from Ontario and Jason Lee (Shut Up and Eat), Adnan Albakri (514 eats), and Na’eem Adam (Mechant Mangeur) from Montreal.

Check out this vid Amanda, Girl About Toronto, made of her experience.

Read about my trip to a farm and fromagerie w/ Chef Jason Nelson here. For more info about what’s happening in and around Montreal visit their blog at tourisme-montreal.org. To learn about MTL à TABLE and participating restaurants tourisme-montreal.org/mtlatable.

BON WEEKEND!

<3 CASIE

Fashion | CatFootwear in New York City

Last week Brock and I went to New York City with Cat Footwear to visit their pop-up shop at Lexington & 47th in Midtown. The shop is there until the end of October and hosting a series of PR and media events, along with a preview of their SS15 collection (details on their blog). We had a great time meeting the US Cat Footwear team, artists, and NY media.

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Cat Footwear challenged five NYC-based artists to look at their iconic Colorado as a blank canvas and create #ColoradoCouture. Here’s what they came up with. It was rad to see the boot transformed so many ways. I’m planning to customize my own pair when they arrive.

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Four of our #ColoradoCouture artists at last night’s opening, all wearing their Cat Boots of course. #catbootsnyc @ivanorama @lizlomax @sparkpretty @blubeard_misha_t View on Instagram

I fell in love with these platforms, they are my fav from the 2015 collection.

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Whoa CAT daddy, I need you in my life. Platform #SS15 from @CATfootwear. #fashion #NYC View on Instagram

On Tuesday, Oct. 21st, Style Bloggers Adam Gallagher and Sazan Barzani will be hosting a Shopping Night. You can pop-in to shop with them and chat fashion tips and styling advice from 7pm – 9pm.

Tuesday nights event in #NYC w @SazBarzani for @CatFootwear you’re invited to!!!! pic.twitter.com/1O6HUSS2ca

— Adam Gallagher (@IamGALLA) October 18, 2014

Thanks to the team at Cat Footwear Canada and Elevator Communications for taking us on a fun adventure in The Big Apple.Will share when I have more info about SS15 because I was super impressed with how funky and stylish the collection is.

Today kicks off World MasterCard Fashion Week in Toronto and I’ll be at shows the rest of the week. Tonight I’m speaking at Humber PR’s 2nd Annual Blogger Conference about my adventures in lifestyle through blogging. If you’d like to come out tickets are here and $10 for non-students.

Here’s to a great week. Happy Monday 🙂

<3 CASIE

Events | Romance Anyone? Toronto Sex Show

Loving this remix of Tove Lo’s ‘Stay High. I put all the recent songs from my Shazam (music discovery app) and put them in an Rdio playlist. You can check it out here.

“I eat my dinner in my bathtub, Then I go to sex clubs, Watching freaky people gettin’ it on, It doesn’t make me nervous, If anything I’m restless, Yeah, I’ve been around and I’ve seen it all”

Next weekend I’m going to The Everything To Do With Sex Show for my first time even thought it’s been in Toronto for 15 years. The three day event runs October 24th-26th at The Direct Energy Centre and features all kinds of seminars, art, wellness, celebrities, and other fun stuff to do with sex and romance.

It’s a great time of year for this show because we’re about to start hibernation and if we have a winter like last year, we’ll all be spending heaps of time at home. And hopefully not alone!

I creeped the event website and found this group of cool peeps I can vouch for that are worth checking out at the show:

Actor, musician, gamer, and bar owner Rainbow Francks
Artist extraordinaire Jessica Gorlicky
UFC babe Elias Theodorou (met him at Todd’s show last month)
Katrina McKay from Ohhh Canada!
The one & only Todd Shapiro
Adult film star Voodoo (met him on Todd’s show too)
Caryle Jansen from on Good For Her shop, did a seminar w/ her & Raymi in 2011

Other things I reco checking out are burlesque, the leather, latex, and the exhibitor floor. I’m not sure if you have ever worn a latex outfit but if you have you know how amazing it is. I used to have a gorgeous long latex shirt but it ripped. These are a few of my fav Gaga latex outfits.

Tickets to attend the show are available online or at the door and range from $20-$35. Show sponsors include Cupid Boutique, Lovedreamer.com, Love Shop, We-Vibe, Blow Vapor, Club Pro A.E., Cam4, and Monde Osé.

Wanna go? I’ve got two tickets up for grabs. I reckon it’d be a great date, fun afternoon w/ your bff, or a way to spice up your relationship. There’s always new things out there!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Contest closes Thursday, Oct. 23, 2014. Winner will be notified by email. Good luck and maybe I will see you there!

<3 CASIE

Lifestyle | Weekend Session: ON

After a busy week I’m so glad it’s the weekend. Was at the cottage last weekend for Thanksgiving, then this week, New York City, Buffer Festival, SiriusXM, and had a movie come out on iTunes. I’m on the couch, watching Netflix w/ my computer, and snacks. Basically heaven. I’ve got heaps of blog things on my list and there is nothing I’d rather be doing right now. Watched The Signal w/ Olivia Cooke & Laurence Fishburne last night. Great movie, sci-fi and futuristic w/ hackers. Found The Joneses on Netflix today too. Just started American Psycho in spirit of Halloween.

This week I found out Behind The Red Carpet documentary is now available on iTunes. Guys, I have an artist page on iTunes! 🙂 This is the film about behind the scenes of one of the worlds biggest and best film events, TIFF. The premiere was the day before Toronto International Film Festival opened, September 2014.

BEHIND THE RED CARPET Teaser Trailer from Mountain Goat Film Company

I play myself, ‘The Blogger’ along with Natasha from NKPR, George Pimentel, Huffington Post’s Chris Jancelewicz , and President of The Spoke Club President Pierre Jutras. You can watch the trailer, rent, or download it forever right here. (It’s in the US store right now so, my peeps in Canada, please lmk if you see it in the Canadian store after checking the US one.)

In other news, you can listen Thursday’s episode of The Todd Shapiro Show with guests Donovan Bailey, Rend Music, and Kevin D. Foster at toddshapiroshow.com or on iTunes here.

Donovan Bailey in the studio.

Rend Music performing.

Gril crush Rent’s lead singer Carol-Lynne Quinn!

The Todd Shapiro show is M-F on Sirius XM, canada Laughs, channel 168 from 4-6. You’ll hear me there on Thursdays!

Happy weeeeeeeeeekend!

<3 CASIE

Travel | Savour the Taste of Montreal w/ MTL à TABLE

I recently had the opportunity to travel to Montreal with their tourism board to learn about their upcoming food festival, MTL à TABLE. I had an awesome time discovering their culinary scene, meeting other bloggers/media, and being back in my second fav Canadian city. This is part one of my experience.

Scroll down to see what I got up to and get details on how YOU can win a round trip, including airfare to Montreal to experience MTL à TABLE for yourself!

MY MTL à TABLE EXPERIENCE – Part One

I arrived at Renard Artisan Bistro at 9am to greet Chef Jason Nelson and my blogger partner in crime Jason from shutupandeat.ca. After visiting the smallest coffee shop in all of Montreal and we decided to venture 45min outside the city to get local meat, wine, and cheese, a trip Chef often takes on Sunday afternoons.

It was about 10am when we did a wine tasting at Vignoble Vertefeuille. I loved being at the farm. The air was fresh and the wine was good. Not a bad start to the day! Chef gets chicken, rabbit and wine from the farm on a regular basis.

Our next stop was Fromagerie Au Gré des Champs where we sampled cheese and said hello to the animals. It was my first time at a fromagerie and I have never tasted cheese so delicious!

This award winning fromagerie is one of very few in Quebec that uses raw unpasturized milk to make the cheese. It was DELICIOUS!

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Love this beautiful lady.

We had heaps of laughs on the way back to the city where blogger Jason from shutupandeat.ca and I met up with the other bloggers for lunch.

Later in the day I really got my hands dirty prepping dinner. And by dirty I mean I got blood on my hands! This is the blood used for blood pudding. I tried not to think about it too much. Look at my crazy face, ahhhh!

Stay tuned for the next post about the rest of my MTL à TABLE experience…until then enter the contest below to win a MTL à TABLE experience for yourself.

WIN A ROUND TRIP TO MONTREAL FOR MTL à TABLE

Contest closes Friday, October 17, 2014

Savour Montréal’s foodie paradise with the MTL à TABLE contest. Enjoy a trip through Montréal’s creative gastronomy at MTL à TABLE Montréal’s Restaurant Week. Enter the contest and you could win a foodie experience in Montréal including:

Air transportation for two provided by Air Canada.

Two night’s accommodation for two in a Sweet Deal Package hotel.

Gift certificates for two including two dinners in a MTL à TABLE participating restaurant.

A culinary tour for two with VDM Global DMC

10 transit passes for bus or metro.

Total value $2,192

ENTER HERE

Winner announced Monday. Bonne chance my friends!

<3 CASIE

Events | #NHLFaceOff w/ Hershey Canada

Last week I hung out with Hershey Canada to kick off hockey season at NHL FaceOff in Dundas Square. Being Canadian it’s my blood to like hockey! I usually get to at least one game per season and we finally got the HD hooked up so we can watch in style at home.

The day long event shut down Yonge Street and filled Dundas Square with hockey fans. I was blown away by just how MASSIVE the event was! It’s always fun to see Dundas Square transform, there was a massive stage on Yonge Street and the Tragically Hip were scheduled to play just before the puck dropped.

Hershey Canada was sampling their new Oh Henry! Big Crunch which is a twist on the original (my fav chocolate bar since I was a kid) and a layer of cookie crunch. TBH I ate like 3 that day they were so freaking good!

Fans were lined up all day to take a ‘shot’ at the Oh Henry! Big Crunch Hardest Shot Challenge. The top scorers had their names posted on the winners board all day. I put my GoPro in the net and was gave it a shot and although I didn’t make the score board I managed to hit the camera RIGHT after I said “I won’t hit it’. Camera was ok!

Everyone who took part was rewarded with an Oh Henry! Big Crunch loaded with peanuts, caramel, fudge, and chocolate.

In addition to all the sampling, Oh Henry! Canada is donating $50,000 to Food Banks Canada and they want to give YOU an NHL experience of a lifetime. For details on how you can STICK IT TO HUNGER and win, visit them at facebook.com/OhHenryCanada or click the image below.

Sean and I took Embot to see the Tragically Hip after school and it felt REALLY Canadian. Sadly the Leafs didn’t win that night.

Props to the crew at Gearwerx for pulling together a great activation! The team sampled 30,000 Oh Henry! Big Crunch bars throughout the day and gave away 500 limited edition shirts.

Here’s to hoping our home town team can make us proud this year! Go Leafs Go 🙂

<3 CASIE

Feeling Very Thankful. #ThankFALL

We had Thanksgiving up at the cottage this year and it was so great! We headed up north on Friday to spend time with Sean’s parents and family. I planned to do some work around the house on Monday but instead I slept in, relaxed, and watched Netflix. It was a holiday!

Fall is a time of year we give thanks and think about what we’re grateful for. Target contacted a bunch of Canadian bloggers and asked us to share what we’re thankFALL for. Scroll down for a few of my favourite things and a chance to win a $250 gift card from Target Canada.

FAMILY

Sending love and hugs through the internet to my whole fam. So happy to be able to hug them or pick up the phone and give them a ring anytime. I recently went home to see my parents so I didn’t make the trek to KW this weekend but I’ll be back home to see them again soon. Much love to all my sisters and quite thankful for Facebook so I can see all my Kiwi cuzzies in New Zealand. Yay Internet!

FRIENDS

Lucky to have great friends around me! These are old photos of Lauren, Carly, Raymi, and Keri, our OG blog crew. We’ve had some rad times over the years!

THE INTERNET

I am extremely thankful for the Internet. It’s enhanced my life in SO many ways, I can’t imagine a world without it. We probably wouldn’t even know each other! I’m really happy that I’ve used the internet to document my life over the last 10 years. Hard to believe it’s been so freakin’ long!

MY LOVE

Sean, this one’s for you baby! So thankful to have a wonderful boyfriend who is also my best friend. We love travelling, spending time at the cottage, or just sittin’ around watching Netflix. I don’t share too much about him but it’s important to give him a shout out! LOVE YOU BAEEEEEE.

What are YOU thankFALL for? Good luck on winning the Target gift card 🙂

CASIE

Target Canada ‪#‎ThankFALL‬

Tech | Download Your Classic MySpace Blog

I’m finally getting around to seriously book writing like I’ve been talking about for 10 years. Found a blog post from 2005 where I said I was writing a book [insert crying emoji]. April marks 10 years of blogging on my own blog platform. I rediscovered my old MySpace blogs today now that you can finally download them. MySpace had originally deleted ALL blogs without warning. Downloaded a heap of posts and went through all the HTML files renaming them. It felt good. Unfortunately I’ve lost my first, first ever blog from MicrosoftSpaces back in 2004 (they stopped helping users recover them in 2012).

How To Download Your Classic MySpace Blog:

Dig up that old login you haven’t used in ages and login to MySpace
Go to to settings
Click Account
On the left you’ll see an option to migrate old photos to a new album and download old blogs
Download. Took about 60 seconds to download my 100 posts in a .zip file
Fall in love with your elf again OR have heaps of laughs at your MySpace selfies

One of the things I learned today was I haven’t changed that much. Well, I have but some things are still the same. I’m really inspired my going back over my old stuff and incredibly thankful that I didn’t give up and stop writing even though sometimes I really didn’t feel like blogging anymore. See 10 posts titled ‘Sometimes I don’t feel like it‘ here.

Recovered these old quizzes I shared back in 2006 from MySpace. Hahahaha Buzzfeed, you’re just stealing old ideas! Still love the Olsen Twins, still style twinning Nicole Richie, and still love summer.

I remember reading this quote in high school and thought, I will write things worth reading and do things worth writing about, watch me! And that was after I’d already written a poetry book called JEANS and started a small independent publishing company w/ my friend Holly. I’ve always been determined to make things and do things. The winter months are perfect for working on your plan to conquer the world.

I’m feeling really excited for the winter. I hope the weather’s not that bad but I am content to hibernate and write and work on stuff.

Canada, I hope you’re having a great Thanksgiving weekend. Everyone else, SUNDAY FUNDAY! Working on a post about things I’m thankful for. Feeling pretty happy and the sun is shining bright 🙂

<3 CASIE XO

Travel | New York State of Mind – See you Tuesday!

On Tuesday Brock and I are going to New York City. Yeaowwwwwww!

We’ve been besties for like 5 years so this is pretty rad.

Our friends at Cat Footwear are opening a new store and we’re going to celebrate with them. These are Brock’s fav boots.

And these mine. See photo for link to blog posts!

HAPPY FRIDAY!

Heading to the cottage tonight for Thanksgiving weekend!

<3 CASIE

Events | Samsung Galaxy Alpha launch party #GalerieAlpha

Came across these photos from the Samsung Galerie Alpha launch last week. It was a cool event with art stations scattered around the Neubacher Shor Contemporary art gallery, Queen West. Thanks Best of Toronto for the snaps! Almost the entire circle of Toronto Internet was there. Fun night!

Rudsak Canada jacket, necklace from The Store on Queen

Events | Give the Gift of Sight w/ ClearlyContacts on Oct. 9th

Last night I got an email from my friends at Clearly Contacts about World Sight Day tomorrow. I’ve worked with Clearly Contacts to share new products and contests for a while (see posts here) and I’m happy to share their latest charity initiative.

In exchange for this post, Clearly Contacts is donating a pair of prescription glasses to someone via Change the View on my behalf. The global #WHOBLINKEDFIRST campaign that kicks off tomorrow.

Over the last few years documenting my life, I’ve really taken time to smell the flowers, literally and figuratively. I take heaps of photos each day and really value my eyesight and ability to see beauty in the little things. I can only imagine how my life would change if I lost my eyesight.

For every video shared with #WHOBLINKEDFIRST, ClearlyContacts.ca will donate a pair of prescription eyeglasses, Vitamin A tablets, or UV protective sunglasses to someone in need through Change the View. Challenge your bff to a staring contest and upload to the WSD Gallery here to win new glasses and other prizes for yourself.

To learn more at clearlycontacts.ca/worldsightday

Here’s lookin’ at you loves! Share this post to spread the good.

<3 CASIE

Travel | Throwback! Virgin America Provocateur

This morning in my Timehop notifications I was reminded that four years ago today, I was riding the streetcar when I got a phone call from San Francisco saying I’d won Richard Branson’s Virgin America Contest. I was so excited that I left my phone on the streetcar! Luckily, the stars were aligned and it was returned to me within the hour.

The contest went for about three months and there were about 10K entries. We had to make a YouTube video saying why we’d be the perfect ambassador to represent the world’s loudest and sexiest airline. As the Virgin America Provocateur, I travelled North America with Virgin and gave away heaps of flights. It was a great experience and the campaign got heaps of attention.

Some of my fav moments from being the Virgin America Provocateur 2010-2011:

Making the announcement on my blog. Cute hair!

Virgin America’s Halloween Event at Parts & Labour w/ Broke Social Scene

Wilie Nelson at the Opera House in Dallas

VIRGIN AMERICA TORONTO PROVOCATEUR CASIE STEWART. from Victors & Spoils on Vimeo.

Casie Stewart was chosen as the Toronto Provocateur for Virgin America.

= = =

The crazy folks at Virgin America contacted us with an opportunity. They were about to launch service to Toronto, the first destination outside the U.S. for Virgin America. And they wanted a way to garner excitement for the launch of this service among local Torontonians. Together with Jesse McMillin – Creative Director at Virgin America – we devised a plan. Let’s create a web platform and initiative whereby we search to find one Toronto local to be our brand ambassador in Canada. The perfect person who embodies the sexy and cheeky brand attributes of Virgin America and can work to be a firebrand for the brand itself. So we decided to create a competition where the best video entry would win this coveted position. We decided we would call it “The Search for Virgin America’s Toronto Provocateur.” And we were off. We designed the site, wrote the site and produced the site with the help of Google moderator. And we launched it. The competition worked great. And Virgin America found their Toronto Provocateur.

Events | The Art of Entrepreneurship + The Art of Maintaining Violet Hair

This violet hair is awesome but it really fades fast. Checked out the bf’s new office space before heading to The Are of Entrepreneurship conference this morning. The day started with rain but before I knew it the sun was shining bright.

Shared a few tweets with the one and only Gary Vaynerchuk before getting to the Metro Toronto Convention Centre. Looking forward to his talk this afternoon. I love listening to other speakers, it really helps me pick out things that make them great to remember for me own talks.

The tents are being put up for World MasterCard Fashion Week already. It’s hard to believe it’s already that time of year again! I’ll be attending a few shows this season but don’t have anything mayor planned..yet.

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Had a Kiwi @eatkanga pie for lunch and discovered @Charge_Spot. Awesome & innovative Canadian product. #meatpie #mobile #vscocam #tech *on the spot charging! SO AWESOME.

View on Instagram

Alrighty, time to head into the first after lunch session for The Art Of Entrepreneurship. Gary Vee is closing the day after Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian.

My fav class in high school was entrepreneurship and one of my highest marks. I took the Gr. 11 course in Gr. 10 and still had the highest mark in the class. I started a business called OUT THERE, Creative Advertising & Marketing. It makes me smile that all these years later, creative advertising and marketing is still what I’m doing. 🙂

Hope you’re having a great day! <3

CASIE

Lifestyle | Dermalogica’s Little Grey Pass: Visit to Ritual Spa

Earlier this year I became a Brand Ambassador for Dermalogica Canada and was invited to experience some of Toronto’s best spas as part of their Little Grey Pass program. In my most recent spa experience I visited Ritual Spa on King Street for a facial.

I was left in the room to get all cozy on the massage table after having a consultation about my skin.

Since my first Dermalogica facial at Hammam Spa in March I have seen a big improvement in my skin. I wasn’t taking the best care of it or using a good moisturizer. Since bringing Dermalogica into my life my skin is more radiant. Yahooo!

A few of my fav products include the Pre-Cleanse wipes, Sheer Tint mousturizer, Ultrasmoothing Eye Serum, and Skinperfect Primer. The eye serum is my most recent addition, I’m in my 30’s now and I want to make sure I preserve my youth the best I can.

To learn more about Dermalogica’s Little Grey pass visit greypass.dermalogica.ca (open to Toronto + Vancouver). I’ve written about my previous Dermalogica Spa facials here, here, and here.

Look at this radiant face!

<3 CASIE

Fashion | Rudsak Canada’s New Yorkdale Store + Capsule Collection + Contest

Oh hey there! This week I hosted the opening of Rudsak Canada’s new Yorkdale store with fellow fashion bloggers Julio (fashionights.com) and Nicole (daintygirl.ca). This year celebrates 20 years of the brand and Rudsak launched a Capsule Collection with 20 unique pieces, 20 of each, inspired of cool rebels in rock n’ roll history.

Here I’m wearing the ‘Jimi’ hat named after Jimi Hendrix. Scroll down for your chance to win one of the 20 limited hats valued at $250!

In between styling Julio and I had a few laughs.

I pretended to be a rockstar. My mannequin is wearing the jet black ‘Polly‘ goat fur vest named after PH Harvey from the Capsule Collection. I’m wearing is my own Rudsak jacket I picked up last year.

These are a few of my favs from the Capsule Collection: Joni (Mitchell) shirt, Cyndi (Lauper) ‘Girls Just Wanna Have Fun’ pants, and the Janis (Joplin) jacket. Thanks Andrew Williamson for the photos. See more of his work here.

Win the ‘Jimi’ Hat from the Rudsak 20 Capsule Collection

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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.

I’ll keep you posted, you’ll know when it arrives. For more info about the company or how it works check out 23andme.com. Thanks Edelman TO for putting 23andme on my radar! If you are thinking about getting your DNA tested you may want to check out a Lewisburg PA DNA testing kit from health-street.net if you are based in that area.

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