This weekend I had a lovely, relaxing time at the cottage w/ Sean. It was just the two of us and I made time for yoga, stretching, reading, naps, and drinking heaps of water.
Friday was a full moon and Friday the 13th, a special day for divine connection, with numerical significance (palindromic number date 9-13-19) and magical energy. The next Friday 13th + full moon isn’t until 2049. I don’t even want to think about how old I’ll be then!
I’m not super religious or spiritual but I definitely believe in the power of the universe. I made this video on Friday with some of my rituals. I haven’t been doing these each month but I was inspired by Friday’s date and decided to give it a go. I’ll take any suggestions to bring good vibes and light into my life! ?⭐️
Put water out in the path of the moon to charge up
Light candles (white, yellow, purple)
Light a fire
Write things you want to leave behind, burn them
Manifest your dreams, write them down
Write a letter to the universe, burn it
Give thanks to the universe
Make 6 wishes on the moon (mum says to make one for world peace! ☮️)
Burn incense and/or sage
Dance (naked!) in the moonlight
Charge your crystals in the moonlight
Eat good food
Healing Energy of The Moon
This past full moon signified BIG female energy it was the 13th moon and females typically have 13 cycles in a year. The full moon signifies the end of turmoil, renewal, new beginnings. It’s a time for growth expansion, a new cycle, a time for cleansing, where the truth is revealed, signifying positive change.
On Saturday morning I woke up early, feeling refreshed, drank some moon water, and read my book in the hot tub. It was magical! Who knows 100% if moon rituals work, but for me, going through the motions brings clarity & joy. I also heard that Victoria Beckham is really into moon water so it can’t hurt!
This week I’m feeling energized and ready for the changing seasons!
That’s a wrap on #TIFF19 for me! This week I’m working on a Vitamix commercial w/ 1188 doing props & set styling. I love it!
Over the past couple of years, I’ve been all about JOMO vs FOMO (see this post). The joy of missing out is something I’ve come to love, I think it comes with age and experience. This is the first TIFF, I didn’t go partying, stay out late, or drink alcohol. I put my happiness and health first, yay adulting!
Finding Balance: The Telus Happiness Workshop
This summer I spent a week in Vancouver for the Telus Creator Summit with the #Telus_Partner team from across Canada. It was 4 action-packed days of volunteering, adventure, food, drinks, and learning about the many sides of Telus business. I had heaps of fun and made new friends but by the last day, I was totally exhausted.
Telus anticipated this and used it as an opportunity to bring us together for a Happiness Workshop. We put down our phones, learned about disconnecting, and finished with yoga, meditation, and lunch. Not something you would expect from a telecom giant but that just goes to show how Telus is different.
During the workshop, something amazing happened…
The whole group of bloggers, YouTubers, and content creators started talking about how much social media stresses them out. The pressure to create, stay positive, be healthy, have a clean house, great photos, have good engagement, make money, collect the money, have good relationships, be a good parent, be a good partner, AND remain sane while living this crazy internet life.
IT WAS SO REFRESHING. It felt like a weight was lifted knowing we all have similar feelings about social media anxiety, it connected us.
The Telus Happiness Workshop was developed with input from expert psychologists to tackle online issues facing youth including excessive digital use and comparing themselves to others. As a group, we talked about spending too much time on your phone, social media anxiety, and the importance of taking breaks.
Over the holidays this past year, I took a 5-day Instagram break and let me tell ya, it was great. It’s not until you take a break that you realize how often you pick up your phone, scroll, and have feelings of self-doubt looking at other peoples highlight reel. I try not to do it, but we all do.
Telus gave a bunch of teens a 24-hour challenge to not look at their phone and it’s amazing to see their reactions.
The Happiness Workshop is available online or face to face, in both official languages, and hosted by a TELUS Wise Ambassador. The online workshop can be done alone or in a group, ex. in a classroom. I highly recommend taking the Happiness Workshop with your kids, it’s geared towards teens but I reckon everyone on the internet could benefit from it.
Aside from going over digital safety, the workshop talks about digital breaks, limiting the social comparisons, and practicing the Joy of Missing Out (JOMO) as opposed to the Fear of Missing Out (FOMO). For more information visit telus.com/en/wise.
If you want to see something crazy about internet usage, check out internetlivestats.com. We learned this in the workshop and it will BLOW your mind!
I have a partnership with Telus and love working with them.
Check out some of the great stuff we've done together here.
Yesterday was the ‘official’ start of #TIFF19 and I got a first look at #TwitterHouse! ??? Hosted by Twitter & Elevation Pictures, it’s the first time Twitter has reallllly had a big festival/event presence in Canada.
I was the first person to sit in the director’s chairs! ✌??
I am SO looking forward to this weekend bc I’m attending @Twitter’s #SheInspiresMe panel w Jennifer Lopez, Constance Wu and the cast of #Hustlers. Huzzahhhhhhhh! I love Twitter so much. It’s my fav social media platform. I’ve been by there Twitter Canada office a couple of times, check it here.
I love this time of year SO MUCH and am trying to enjoy every single moment! I’m grateful and thankful for every opportunity that comes my way. Please lmk if there is anything you REALLY want to see or if you have a question for @JLO? I doubt I’ll get to talk to her but hey, it’s #TIFF, anything can happen!!!!!
If you aren’t following me on Twitter, do you even tweet?
I’m not sure what else to say right now other than, I’M SO EXCITED!
Today is media day for TIFF, the day before the festival officially opens. This is my 10th year as a media (blogger) type person and each year I cover events, entertainment, lounges, and of course, film.
So far this year I’ve seen pre-screeners of two Canadian films, Black Conflux, and White Lie. (I’ll share a movie reviews post early next week.)
Last night I attended an event for Warner Bros ‘TheGoldfinch’ This is my attempts at painting a colourful ‘goldfinch’ at the event last night w/ The Crazy Plate Lady. Check out her amazing work here, she’s INCREDIBLE.
Yesterday I started my day with a fresh manicure then picked up a sweet red Volvo S60 so I can drive around to everything which is INCREDIBLY CONVENIENT.
Fresh mani & ready to roll!
Volvo S60 from Volvo Canada
Today tho, today is one of the most wonderful days of the YEAR. I’ve got a full day of visiting TIFF gifting suites to experience a range of products and services including a facial, botox, makeup, a blowout, and more.
What is a Gifting Lounge?
A gifting suite (or lounge) is a popup location, often during an award show of film festival, where companies give products to celebrities in exchange for the famous person takes a photo with the product, wears the gift on a red carpet, or while standing in front of a step & repreat wall displaying company logos.
One quick google search for ‘celebrity gifting TIFF‘ will bring up a slew of articles about the business of TIFF gifting. As a media, I get to go behind the red carpet to see and experience some of the stuff celebrities do. Media receive heaps of things but I will tell you right now, the celebrity bags are jam-packed with high-end designer items and top tier experiences you can only imagine. Remember my Biologique Recherche facial from Visage Medical two weeks ago? It costs about $400. On that note, my skin STILL feels good from it, soft, clarified, it feels cleaner, not clogged if that makes sense.
TIFF ’19 Lounges I’ll be Visiting:
Essentials Lounge by EGPR – a one day lounge for media only and in its 10th year!
Bask-It Style by GLO Communications – Celebrating its 11th year, this lounge is hosted at Thompson Hotel where celebrity guests can ‘bask’ in great products.
Ann Kaplan’s 2nd Annual Pre-TIFF Glamfest – Hosted in her home ‘Mulywood‘ on the Bridle Path, former Housewives of Toronto star has a lounge in partnership with her husband’s medical clinic offering a range of beauty and cosmetic services.
NKPR IT Lounge – Hosted by NKPR in partnership with the Property Brothers, this lounge has gifting, a Rolling Stone portrait studio, and also presents the TIFF Producer’s Ball.
Skean peek of the invite for Anne Kaplan’s Glamfest!
I’m working on a TIFF giveaway for will hopefully have details confirmed today.
The next few days are going to be full of adventure and exciting experiences. I have a loose idea of where I’ll be and when but it’s TIFF and anything can happen!
Good luck to all my media and film industry friends! If you’re reading this, my up-to-the-minute action will be on IG Stories or IG profile at instagram.com/casiestewart.
You would think that after being away at the cottage for nearly two weeks I’d be clear-headed and ready to hit the ground running but I’M NOT. I’m distracted, frustrated, and wondering what I’m doing with my life!
I played this song yesterday and sang out loud in my room. I’m just not sure what to do! I thought a lot about what I’ve been working on the last while and I don’t really want to do the same stuff anymore. I need a shift. Change.
Check back in a week, maybe I’ll feel different, maybe I’ll feel same?
On September 12th, I’m speaking at a talk hosted by Irisa inside the Stackt Market. It’s a bit different in most talks I’ve done as it’s not about social media or marketing, we’re talking about alcohol, cannabis, sobriety, and sober curious.
It’s no secret that over the last couple years I’ve stopped going to so many events and drinking as often. I made a lifestyle change to drink less in an effort to be healthier mentally and physically. There was a long period when I moved to Toronto and started going to media events where it was common to drink most weeknights and weekends. After work drinks, tweetups, long lunches, brunches, everything had booze and it was common to be at an open bar. I didn’t want to have that life anymore.
Learning about the Sober Curious movement inspired me. I don’t want to completely cut alcohol out of my life but having a positive relationship with it puts me in control. I’m now more comfortable going to events sober and not using alcohol to deal with social anxiety. Obviously, there are those who do abuse alcohol and they are the sorts of people who might want to seek out Clean & Sober Recovery Services in order to get their lives back on track. I drink here and there but mostly with close friends or at home. As I’ve gotten older, it’s WAY harder to recover from a big night out and not nearly as cute to be totally wasted. I know that for some people cutting out alcohol (or even limiting it) can be incredibly tough, although I don’t believe that I had an alcohol addiction, I know that if I was unable to stop I would have had to look at going to a place like this Pacific Ridge: Residential Alcohol and Drug Treatment Center to help me recover if I was completely dependant on alcohol. Thankfully, this isn’t the case for me, but I know plenty of people who are struggling with this sort of addiction, even if they can’t admit to it just yet.
The Pretty Elevated pop-up is presented by Irisa Cannabis and on until mid-September. They’ve got a whole bunch of workshops and talks happening, check out prettyelevated.ca for tickets and event times.
If you weren’t able to get a ticket to our talk (it sold out in 24 hours!), please come anyway! Tickets are free and we expect there will be a few who don’t show up. The panel is hosted the lovely April Wozny, a close friend, and advocate for mental health & addiction. She’s been sober since 2015 and will be sharing stories about sober life including sex, dating, and relationships.
I’m really looking forward to this event and being part of the conversation around living a sober-ish life! On that note, still a big fan of cannabis.! Mainly because it can be great at times when people have to deal with things like anxiety. You can Click here to read more if you want to learn how cannabis can help people deal with their anxiety so that they don’t have to deal with that issue anymore in their life. It’s a lot better than some other solutions. It’s not just anxiety that it can help with either, but there is so much more that it can help with! Definitely worth it if someone is struggling in their life. If you think medical marijuana can help you, then depending on which state you live in you could have access to medical cannabis strains that alleviate many illnesses as well as uplift one’s mood, fear not as there are now 33 states that allow for medical marijuana providing you apply for and own the likes of a Missouri marijuana card or the card of your residing state.
A couple of months ago, the guys at Occupied VR and I got really into AR filters on Instagram. The first one approved in the app was for The Holy City VR at Cannes Film Fest. The Spark AR program is now out of Beta and now anyone can submit filters to Instagram to be approved.
Monday I submitted my first filter to the app! IT IS NOW LIVE!!!
I had been wanting to make one for ages but hit a couple of roadblocks as developing a filter involves learning Spark AR, a program from Facebook. About a week ago I decided to send Sean some text I’d made on iPad to see if it would work for a filter. It totally does! He made the background pink and they added the same hearts you see on this very blog. I was so excited to try it for the first time! Big thanks to Sean & Daeve for helping me. Check out Daeve’s other filters here!
Earlier this month, I started a blog post called ‘make the thing’. For the past few months, I’ve been very tired, uninspired. I needed to take a break to get my mojo back. I spent heaps of time at the cottage this summer and also declining events to stay home. It feels good.
September feels like a new start. There’s 4 months till Christmas and 2020. What’s your 2020 plan?
Last week I had a Biologique Recherche facial at Visage Medical Spa, a cult beauty fav The Olsens, Nicole Richie, and heaps of celebs. Honestly, my skin has been glowing ever since, it’s like I have a teenager face.
Biologique Recherche is from France and has alpha-hydroxy, salicylic acids, horseradish extract, and it exfoliates TF out of your skin. My custom facial included caviar, collagen, and placenta! ? Highly recommend!
The Visage Clinic space is beautiful. I am totally obsessed with all the designer wallpaper. The swans are GUCCI!
This is inside the FACE LAB where we used the Biologique Recherche tools to examine the elasticity and moisture (or lack thereof) in my skin. Visage Clinic is the only company in Canada that currently has these tools. I received a printout of my diagnosis and it will stay on file at the clinic for my follow up on a few months.
The magic!
This experience was a gift and I am so grateful! Thank you Ashton Marcus PR & Visage for the invite. I am down to try just about any beauty service. Anything to maintain a youthful glow!
This week is the calm before the TIFF storm that kicks off next week. Excited, can’t wait!
I can hardly believe it’s almost TIFF! It feels like we were just in France for Cannes! After our trip to France, I was so incredibly tired, I’d spent most of May traveling or at conferences. I posted a few photos in this Telus post about our Cannes adventure but I wanted to share more about the experience so I don’t forget anything. It was a really cool experience!
From the moment I saw the red carpet and Cannes main building I was in awe. I’ve been watching celebrities grace that carpet my whole adult life! When I picked up my badge, I had this moment of “omg, we’re really doing this!”. I was there in charge of content for The Holy City, a film co-produced by Sean’s company, Occupied VR.
I loved walking the streets and people watching. Cannes is full of character with old cobble streets, beautiful beaches, a merry go round on the main strip, huge yachts lining the harbor, and bustling patios lining the sidewalks. I was happy to learn there are multiple Zara stores in case you have a wardrobe emergency and a tuxedo rental place if you need one a hurry.
A couple of my fav moments were walking out to paparazzi behind Elton John, walking past Chloë Sevigny, and seeing Tilda Swinton sauntering down the street in a gorgeous muumuu. She was stunning!
Each day we walked or took an Uber down to the festival building. In order to get inside, we had to pass security including bag search and badge check. We spent most our time on the first floor of the building in the XR Hub, on the film sales floor, or at the international pavilions.
XR Hub, Festival de Cannes 2019
The Holy City premiere was on the 2nd day of our trip so the rest of the time was showing it to industry people, doing demos, and taking meetings. I was in charge of social for the film so I spent a lot of time walking around documenting. Totally in my element!
International Pavillions, Festival de Cannes 2019
The Canada Pavillion was just outside the main building and a good spot to take a break, get a coffee, sit on the beach, or charge my phone. They hosted a mixer on one of the nights, it was great to see some other Canadians in film.
Croisette Beach, Cannes
I ate a lot of baguettes in the first few days. ? After the novelty wore off, I was determined to find other options with less bread and butter lol. I imagine it might be a bit tough in France if you are vegan or vegetarian, lots of meat, cheese, and dairy.
We rented an Airbnb about a 15min walk from the main strip. It was a cute listing and had all the amenities we needed including a pull-out couch in the living room. That’s where I slept we had a big night our because I snore and move around a lot haha.
Our Airbnb in Cannes
Our place was the top floor od the building with a huge terrace. It was a nice place to come back to in between long days of being at the festival and then going out at night.
View from our Airbnb, Cannes, France
We had a couple fun nights out! Similar to TIFF, there’s big parties by production companies or film studios and a lot of premiere parties. We attended the party for a film that was up for the Palme d’Or (Portrait of a Girl on Fire) after meeting the costume team at a bar on the street. So fun! One of the other hot spots was Petite Majestic, a small dive bar that took over the street when it got late with all kinds of people drinking and talking loudly. It was my fav place!
Sean and the guys went to a couple of big premieres. Getting tickets when you have a pass was kind of like a lottery were you requested admission from the login portal. It was so Sean to see him all dressed up. What a babe!
I stated home and ordered Uber eats including BEER. I love France. Europe is amazing. Maybe one day we will have this in Canada? He did check my ID before handing over the goods from his motorbike.
People were dressed up at all times of the day, there were tuxedos everywhere! Patios were lined with people smoking and drinking wine, even the McDonalds patio was full with tuxedos grabbing a quick snack. I wish I had a photo of them! ?
There were also heaps of people dressed up looking for tickets to premieres with small handmade signs.
On the way home, we passed through Munich, Germany. Beautiful and clean airport, still can’t get over the smoking lounges though. Crazy!
Thankful for the experience to go to Cannes w/ Sean and work on the film. Hope we can get back to Cannes another time but if not, happy to check this off my bucket list!
We worked a lot but also had a few dinner dates and long walks under the stars. All around great time!
I’m excited for TIFF19! I’ve been to one pre-screening so far and have a couple more next week. Tomorrow I’ve got a pre-TIFF facial! I’ll be doing a wrap up of TIFF films & events in 2 weeks.
Making the most of summer until then! Have an amazing day!
It’s been years since I’ve had my hair long as it is right now. I can’t remember the last time I was able to put my hair up in a pony, do french braids, or pop in extensions. I love it! It’s so fun to be able to play around with barrettes and accessories to change my look. At the start of summer, I stopped into SassoonTorontoto brighten up my blonde and trim my little bob.
LET’S COLOUR
In this post, I’m breaking down some of the different colour options you can get at Sassoon and what they mean.
I use to do all-over colour (blonde) but in effort to grow my hair longer and healthier, I’ve switched to highlights. They’re
BALAYAGE
This popular technique is pretty low maintenance if you’re looking for a look that doesn’t need a lot of upkeep. At Sassoon, they mix freehand painting with foiled highlights meaning you can have a natural sun-kissed look or something more dramatic.
Commitment: 2-3 Months
Great For: Creating soft, sun-kissed hair that is natural-looking, wearable, versatile
I love this look and it is VERY Sassoon. This technique uses darker tones underneath laters of lighter colors to create depth and tone. It’s a bit more of a commitment than balayage but so stylish! It really accentuates a haircut like this one I had a couple of years ago.
Commitment: 6-8 Weeks
Great For: Adding depth and tone to an amazing cut
On set for a shoot w/ Umbra
FACE FRAMING
Face frames blend into your natural colour accentuating your face and can be a variety of colours. This helps to illuminate your look and brighten your face without a big commitment.
Chances are you have probably had highlights in your life. if you’re like me and were in high school in the 2000’s you might have done the old cap/pull-through method as a teenager. Don’t try this now! Sassoon offers highlights and lowlights to either and some lights bits to darker hair or a few dark slices for depth and dimension. Highlights are great for hiding grey or if you’re moving away from all-over colour (like me).
Commitment: 2-3 Months
Great For: Enhancing natural colour, adding contrast, works on any hair length
Highlights
Lowlights
I think the most important things when it comes to your hair is finding what makes you happy. For me, my hair has always been a big part of defining my style and personality. I love working with Sassoon, they know who I am and how important my hair is to my look. I’ve learned over the years that a bright blonde is best and if I stray from that, I won’t be happy. Trust me!
BOOK A COLOUR CONSULTATION
Sassoon Toronto is happy to work with you to find a new style or enhance your current look with a cut and/or colour. I have my colour done by Kim, a wizard with blonde and cut by Tricia, the salon manager.
If you’re looking for a new look, they’re often looking for hair models for the Sassoon Academy or give the salon a ring at (416) 920-1333.
