Encouraging Women in Tech w/ Ladies Learning Code + Booking.com

Last week I attended a Women in Tech Panel hosted by Booking.com to kick of March which includes International Women’s Day. It was nice to see some of my fav ladies and be inspired by powerful women on the panel. The panel included: Melissa Sariffodeen, CEO & Co-founder of Canada Learning Code; Helen Papagiannis, Ph.D, a world-leading expert in the field of Augmented Reality; Huda Idrees, the founder and CEO of Dot Health; and Ioana Popa, Strategy Manager at Booking.com. It was refreshing to hear their stories of creating new things, fighting stereotypes, and career struggles. “Surround yourself with good people, be confident, and don’t be afraid to ask for what you want.” Closing advice from an excellent #womenintech panel #BookingFEMpowers @bookingcom pic.twitter.com/lqnjjFEqDY — Women of Influence (@WomenOfInflnce) March 1, 2018 This year, Booking.com is honouring International Women’s Day with a month-long series of events in partnership with Canada Learning Code. I’m quite familiar with Canada Learning Code, it was Ladies Learning Code was founded by some awesome Toronto Women. Since 2011, LLC has had over 17,500 participants and held over 600 events. The organization is dedicated to ensuring all Canadians – particularly woman and girls – are given equal opportunity to access education in tech, a field still mostly run by men. Yes, ladies!  March Workshop w/ Ladies Learning Code Booking.com has a two-part Ladies Learning Code workshop on March 21st and 28th. For $65, you’ll learn basic coding skills and build your own website in a positive and encouraging environment. It’s totally a-ok if you aren’t a code whiz, this workshop is perfect for beginners. There’s more! Everyone who takes part in the workshop is has a chance to win a $500 Booking.com travel credit which can be used at any of the 1.6 million properties available on the site. PLUS, you’ll receive a professional one-hour mentorship…

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New Year New You!? Same Me!

I mean new me kinda because you’re like,  you’re always changing. Right? Maybe you’re looking to make some changes in your life this year and there is no time like RIGHT NOW. Tomorrow you’ll wish you started today. I really want to get fit this year. I’ve been home a couple days and made yoga + hit the gym. I feel good. I’m not sure when or IF jet lag is going to kick in but I’m ready for it. Update: I feel it today. I don’t have heaps planned this week in an effort to maintain self-care and get a fresh start on 2018. When I go to the gym I don’t stay for a super long time but I’m proud of myself every single time I go. I’ve had gym anxiety my whole life, until now. I hated going up until I had my breast reduction last summer. It took a while to be emotionally ready to workout, but last summer I signed up for my first every gym membership. YAY ME. Before the operation, I hardly ever worked out and when I did never wore anything with cleavage to avoid getting unwanted attention. I used to wear 3 sports bras to keep those bad boys still if I wanted to run. I was always fully covered in t-shirts for yoga and tank tops were out of the question. For years, I had a hard time getting dressed in the morning or for events. It gave me anxiety. Sean used to be like ‘are you ready yet?‘ and there were so many times I was upstairs in tears or not wanting to go anywhere. I would try on a million things and nothing would fit those big boobies and don’t even get me started on working out. This year I’m excited to…

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CREEP IT CUTE ?

Happy Halloween weirdos! I wasn’t really feeling in the ‘spirits this morning but Sean asked what I was dressing up as so I started into a ‘little’ Halloween lewk. Well, about 45 minutes and huge coffee later, VOILA! This haunting creeper was born out of a desire to make a cute skellie with pink and sparkles. I love looking like this so much. I also really adore this wig (from Amazon) and will likley wear it more just for fun. BTW, superzoom in Instagram is so much fun. See video below.  I tried it out finally. I’ve been a but quiet the last couple days dealing with some family things but I’m a-ok. I’m working on a HUGE adventure for December and I want to tell you about it so bad but it must wait. Be safe out there and let your freak flag fly! A post shared by CASIE |Writer Speaker Director (@casiestewart) on Oct 31, 2017 at 8:06am PDT Not sure what my plan is for tonight after handing out candy but I’ll be creepin’ it real all day!    

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Hocus Focus, Put a Spell On me Please!

I really should not be blogging right now. I have a report to finish but I just can’t get my head in it today. Back in the day when I worked at a big agency I was the Director and had a team and would oversee the reporting but didn’t have to make the reports. It takes me so long, I hate doing it. It’s nice outside. I already went for a walk, got a snack, opened some packages. Looked up flights. Scrolled FB. Sent a few tweets. Talked to other people in the office. Looked for music. Got some ie water. Had a call. Omg, time is moving so fast and the deadline is getting closer. WHY DO I DO THIS TO MYSELF. I do this every single time though. Urgh. We are our own worst enemies sometimes! I think I’ll have a cookie and a coffee. It’s really nice outside. I wish I was at the cottage. Help! I just can’t concentrate today. Do you have tips? Music suggestions? Help, I need to get a report finished asap. pic.twitter.com/P9OhA5fdxi — CASIE STEWART ☀️ (@casiestewart) October 24, 2017

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IF YOU GOT IT HAUNT IT!? Haunted Houses + Halloween Things ?

I had a very Halloween weekend and it was so much FUN! ????⚰️ On Friday I went to Screemers at Exhibition Place with my sister. We put on zombie makeup, all black, and had a few spooky cocktails. There wasn’t really anyone else in costume so everyone thought we worked there. ? We took heaps of photos with randoms and spent a good part of the night scaring people. Seriously so fun. It was hilarious. We almost laughed our heads right off. Screemers has 7 haunted houses and most are inside. They’re super scary. We didn’t do them all bc were too scared tbh. You can have drinks at the Vampire Lounge, there’s food onsite, and you can smoke outside.  I highly recommend paying the extra $12 for front of the line access. Screemers hooked up with passes and it made the night more fun because we didn’t have to wait! Screemers is $32.95 and +$12 for front of the line access. There is metered parking onsite. ?? On Saturday Lauren and I went to Canada’s Wonderland for Halloween Haunt. The entire park is lit up for Halloween with hundreds of staff in costume creeping around corners and popping out all scary. I was super nervous going because the park is huge and the so are the haunted houses. There’s a lot of ground to cover.  A bunch of the rides are open so aside from scary people everywhere, the’s roaring rollercoasters soaring past your head. If you are not into being scared you can get a No Boo necklace and workers and creepy people won’t try to give you a fright. There was haunted house experience called Blackout where it is literally pitch black and you have to walk through not knowing if someone is going to jump out at any minute or where you are going.…

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Light Up Your Life with Best Buy Smart Home

Last week I went to the National Home Show as a guest of Best Buy Canada to check out smart home accessories. After CES and the Interior Design Show this year I’ve become obsessed with making our home more efficient with smart things. Upgrading appliances in your space can help save energy (thermostats/appliances), make things more comfortable (lighting), and keep you safe (security camera). For the National Home Show, Best Buy partnered with designer Christine Dovey to design a fully stocked smart home pop-up where you could see all kinds ways to pimp your place with technology. I left dreaming about new appliances for the whole house complete with a super skinny & smart Samsung QLED tv. I was obsessed with the Samsung ‘Family Hub’ fridge, this thing is totally from THE FUTURE. It’s got a wifi touchscreen and three inside cameras that take a photo every time the fridge closes. Then, you can check your phone to see what’s inside, it also knows what’s inside, it make recipes, it can track expiration dates. Kinda hard to wrap the old brain around! I LOVE THE FUTURE. My friend was telling me about how they recently got a new smart AV system from Crestron System and I think she is as much in love with the future as I am! When I was at CES in Vegas this year, one of the award winning new products was the Nanoleaf Aurora light panel.All the lights connect to my iPhone and can change a zillion colours and different shades of white (warm vs cool). I was so excited to order this for our house! I would love to say I went for the cool lights knowing Emily (9) would love them but they were totally for me too. We had guests over this…

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2017 Tech Trends from from @WeAreWearables & #CES2017

Last week I was on a panel at We Are Wearbles TO Meetup. Five journalists took the stage on a panel to talk tech trends from CES 2017 earlier this month. I was at the conference in Vegas and there was definitely lots to see.  If you’ve not been to CES, IT IS HUGE.  Imagine Toronto’s MTCC x 10 with other demo areas set up in massive hotels (ex. Aria). During the panel we talked about trends and products we saw on the CES floor. Mostly sensors, wearables, VR/AR, fashion, hearables, & smartwatches. A really cool sensor I saw at CES was the Corning ‘Glassie’  a smart mirror class that has a camera in it and can take your photo. Perfect for those OOTS amirite?! Next evolution of the selfie is GLASSIE. @Corning Glass just took a video selfie of me and it was so cool. NEED FOR HOME ASAP. #CES2017 pic.twitter.com/RoBw8ueAMn — CASiE STEWART (@casiestewart) January 5, 2017 I learned about the Nex Band that has 5 customizable buttons unlike any other smart watch wearable. The Nex band is ‘a smart band that lets you create custom hacks in seconds, with no coding required!”. Very cool, like to try one of these out.  [?? waves hiiiiii!] Lowdown Focus is the latest from Interaxion, makers of the Muse Headband. I wrote about using the Muse here. The glasses are packed with sensors including EEG, EOG and EMG technology, they also have a 3-axis accelerometer, 3-axis gyro, 3-axis magnetometer, UV sensor (UVA and UVB), temperature gauge and a pressure sensor. Pretty incredible considering they look like a totally normal pair of glasses. The Lowdown Focus is the brain-child of Safilo, the Italian eyewear giant that produces sunglasses, sports eyewear, and helmets under its five house brands, including Smith Optics and 22 licensed brands like Dior and…

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Visiting the Google Shop within a Shop + $250 Best Buy Giveaway

About a week ago I was out the door bright and early one morning for the media preview grand opening of the first Google shop in North America at Best Buy in Mississauga. I love going to this type of event! Ever since I was a little kid, my dad used to take us to stroll around Future Shop, look at all the gadgets, test stereos and TVs. I think I have him to thank for my lifelong love of tech. Google Shop is a ‘shop within a shop’ that’s got all kinds of Google goodies and product demos. I visited one of my favourite beaches in new Zealand via the Portal, tried Fantastic Beasts in w/ Google Daydream VR, and was sent home with Google Chrome. ?? I thought this was a neat thing to do over the holidays! Hangout with Santa in the Google shop. Select your city at g.co/instore to find your closest location. Before touring the store I chatted Best Buy’s Angela Scardillo, VP Marketing & Communications. The main thing I learned from her was how they’re really trying to make tech approachable. Their new round of ‘experience stores’ have a more immersive experience where you can touch, feel, test things. The new store design has raised access flooring that expands and contracts expand so they can actually move the store around and change the shopping experience. The new flagship Google shops are now open at Best Buy locations in Mississauga, Calgary, Edmonton, and Vancouver. Angela also showed off her Google Pixel phone and I really want to try one. It takes great photos and organizes them in your phone like Google Images. I’m still thinking about it days later… To celebrate the new Googley space at Best Buy, we’ve giving away a $250 gift certificate.  To enter leave a comment, visit FB, follow us on Twitter, or send a…

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Bachelorette Canada Best Tweets via Twitter Moments

Well, well well, did you watch Bachelorette Canada last night?! I watched most of it by myself and then Sean came home. He always says ‘urghhh, not this show‘ but then he watched it with me and his commentary was some of the very best. Last night there was another helicopter date, the guys did ‘manly’ things like carry logs and chop wood, they gave Jasmine massages, and went in the hot tub. It was pretty steamy! Was funny watching them struggle doing outdoorsy jobs, Sean does that stuff at the cottage all the time!  As you know my FAV part about the show is tweeting along with the hashtag and posting comments as the drama unfolds. It’s so funny. I love how fast the internet reaxting to things with memes, GIFs, and jokes. Years ago when I worked at Much/MTV I thought I had the best job watching TV and tweeting all day at my desk. Now through my partnership with Two Oceans Canada, my job is to sit on my own couch, drink wine, and tweet the show. Lesson to be learned: FOLLOW YOUR DREAMS GUYS!  Yesterday I went to the Twitter Canada head office and one of the things I learned is everyone can now create Moments on Twitter. Until recently, this feature was reserved for Twitter and major news outlets. So, I created a Twitter Moment of my fav tweets from show last night. Best Tweets from #bacheloretteCA! ? For next week’s ep I’ll be in Arizona so I wont get to watch live but I’ll tune on online for the recap. Check out the Watch Kit for downloads and recipes to whip up a perfect cocktail to go along wth the show, or whenever really! For info on Two Oceans Wine Canada visit twooceanswines.com. Until next time, keep fit & have fun! ?????   *…

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Best Buy Life & Tech Show @ YD Square

Last week I went to two wearables events sponsored by Best Buy Canada. Fashion and tech are two of my fav things so being part of, and covering events like this is so much fun. On Wednesday night was the We Are Wearables event at MaRS where I took the runway as a model. Ya, me! Took me back to my teenage years!  The following night I attended the Best By Life & Tech event at Yonge Dundas Square. In this post, I’m sharing some of my fav tech and moments from the show. ???

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Long Weekend! Make It Count ☀️?????

In Muskoka for the weekend. ☀️???? The weather is so nice. We came up today instead of last night because it was a long week! Finished Stranger Things on Netflix, great show. ?  I hate that empty feeling when you’ve binged something good and then it’s over. ? We’re at PIE right now waiting for pizza. ?????  There’s a couple locations in Barrie, this is the first in Muskoka. The pizza is SO GOOD. We order a coulple then take some home each time. Cold pizza is my fav breakfast. ? Saw this sweet Corvette outside. Sean has one from 1982 sitting in our garage. ? This weekend I’m driving a new Cruze from Chevrolet Canada, it’s sweet! I borrowed a tent from Mountain Equipment Co-op and Emily and I put it together with no sweat. ?☀️??  The last time I put up a tent I think I was her age. Things have gotten easier since then!  Tonight we’re having fireworks and a fire.  ??  PIZZA IS HERE, OK BYE. ❤️?

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Travel | Win a Trip for 2 to Cabo w/ Sunwing & Los Cabos Tourism

I bet the beach sounds preeeeeeety good right now. This weekend Toronto is looking at some really cold temperatures, -15 to be exact. So, perfect time to daydream about being on a beach like I was a couple weeks ago. Los Cabos Tourism and Sunwing Vacations sent a bunch of influencers to Cabo, there we documented our adventures, in food, fun, and nightlife. Watch the video below and visit cabonow.ca to win a trip for two to Cabo! I wish you all good luck, you’ll love it! [iframe id=”https://www.youtube.com/embed/BochC2jstCA”]

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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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Events | Woodbine Racing 2015 Season Comes to an End

This weekend, before heading to the cottage Garret, Sean and I stopped by Woodbine for the last big race of the season, the Breeders Cup. Over the past few months I’ve attended a bunch of great times there with friends. Almost everyone I took this season came home with $$. I’m still working on my luck! A photo posted by C A S I E S T E W A R T (@casiestewart) on Oct 18, 2015 at 11:31am PDT Saturday night @WoodbineRacing with this babe @casiestewart #Crown15 pic.twitter.com/SxF4dRsqsa — Garrett Tonge (@GTONGE1) October 24, 2015 One of my fav events of the summer is the Queen’s Plate. Carla had never been to the races so I took her as my date. It was a nice sunny afternoon and we started with the Hats & Horseshoes party. All season, Woodbine hosted a selfie contest with a $1,000 gift card prize. It was easy to enter, snap a selfie with the racetrack in the background, post to Twitter or Instagram with #OfftotheRaces and you were in. Aside from the Queen’s Plate there’s Woodbine Oaks, the Pattison International, and Breeders Crown. Before Dawn moved back to Scotland I took her for an afternoon at the races. Woodbine Oaks was a fun one for us as there were rock n’ roll bands playing for us to jam out to. My sister Carynn was the big winner of the summer with a near whopping $100 for the day. We went in the middle of October and it was an absolutely gorgeous day. We dined at Futures where they offer a sit down lunch, private viewing area, and full buffet. They also make some pretty good cocktails here! 😉 I’d like to thank Woodbine for a fun summer. It was great sharing my #offtotheraces experiences and taking friends for the first time. My Grandad…

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