If you could change anything about your body, what would it be?

I’m working away and listening to the new q on CBC w/ Shad and the first episode has me moved.  I laughed at the jokes and just about cried listening to this poem. A letter from an 8-year-old boy inspired Shane Koyzan to write it, he asks ‘If you could change anything about your body, what would it be?’ I feel inspired now too. I’m a huge fan of poetry and wrote a book of it when I was a teenager.  I’ve been working very slowly on putting together a second edition. Coincidently just stumbled on this poetically written post from a few years ago (2012). Read, listen. Explore. More posts tagged writing here and poetry here. There Are No Walls In This Office I said to myself as I peeked out from behind my computer. There are no walls in this office. I looked up. Looked around. Ideas floating freely between the trees and with a fresh haircut feeling quite fresh in general. A rain drop lands on the touchpad. There’s a faint sound of a boy guitar while a girl reads a book and spins a hula on her hips. (It’s quite amazing really.) The breeze is cool for the first time in days and I wish I had a sweater. In any other season this would feel warm.  Another rain drop. Bugger. This office has no walls but it has no roof either. Hope you’re making the most of the day. 🙂 <3 CASIE  

View Post

A Blog Post About Blogging for Bloggers – WP 4.2, Mobile

I don’t usually blog about blogging but this blog post is about blogging because I have some blog updates to share on my blog. You know that I like giving tips and advice to those of you who want to start blogging. I’ve told you about SEO, the articles on MangoMatter about web hosting, different ways to come up with content, the list goes one! But today I’m going to be talking about WordPress! Ok, the new WordPress came out yesterday and this update has some neat things to help you as a blogger, communicate and share, globally. You can watch this quick video or read more about it after scrolling my list of favs from their post. If you blog you should watch it because it will make you a better (WordPress) blogger. Even more embeds: Paste links from Tumblr.com and Kickstarter and watch them magically appear right in the editor. With every release, your publishing and editing experience get closer together. Host of new characters: Native Chinese, Japanese, and Korean characters, musical and mathematical symbols, and hieroglyphs. Streamlined plugin updates: Goodbye boring loading screen, hello smooth and simple plugin updates. OMG! Emoji are now available in WordPress! Get creative and decorate your content with ?, ?, ?, or?!! IS YOUR BLOG OPTIMIZED FOR MOBILE? UPDATE IT TODAY. LIKE NOW. Google announced that the Mobile Friendly Update began rolling out YESTERDAY. This update is going to be the largest Google update ever and if you don’t get on it, you’ll notice a drop in traffic. And it might be huge. If you don’t know if your site is optimized for mobile, check this link to find out google.com/webmasters/tools/mobile-friendly. There’s a good blog post on searchengineland.com from yesterday that states: Postscript: SEO Clarity’s Ryan Heuser sent me some early data…

View Post

Travel Tuesday: Vacations Aren’t Just for Soaking Up Sun!

Dreaming of an experiential vacation – wine tasting in Italy, yoga in India, surfing in Costa Rica, visiting Lower Shotover New Zealand to go Bungee Jumping? People often think of vacations as a jaunt away to soak up the sun but one way to REALLY enrich your life is a vacation where you learn something or take on a new experience. An RV vacation is a very popular choice for many people who want to go and see new sights and cultures from the comfort of their own vehicle. Those that do embark on such a vacation will want to make sure they have quality equipment, like Lifeline rv batteries, on board before doing so. A couple years ago I went on a solo surf + yoga vacation to Costa Rica, it was so much fun. Visiting this country was on my bucket list and I had always wanted to tick it off. With this being said, if it wasn’t for a friend of mine recommending I checked out a site like https://små-lån.com (as she knew I was struggling financially), I don’t think this trip would have been possible, but I am glad that I was able to make this happen. While I was there, I learnt how to do aerial silks and perfected my wave riding skills in the ocean. This was the little cabin I stayed at in the jungle at Anamaya Resort. In 2013, I ventured to Thailand and took a cooking class in one of my fav cuisines. I came home with new skills and a bright outlook on a different culture. I recently chatted with TD Canada Trust about how to make an experiential vacation a reality. These types of vacations are often seen as more costly and harder to plan. BUT, if you knuckle…

View Post

Sunday Magazine Selection: Wired, W, HouseBeautiful 

The sun is shining, and I’m gonna head outside, make the most of the day. Spent the morning finishing up House of Cards Season 3 and reading magazines. I won’t share any spoilers but man I really love that show. Clair Underwood (played by Robin Wright) is amazing. I remember doing a magazine review a few years ago (2011) and putting a little cut out of my face on the magazine, funny. Finished S1 of Transparent on Shomi today. Good show. The music is really great. I’ve added NextIssue added to my weekend relaxation routine since starting the trial last month. I love reading magazines but buying a whole stack is 1) heavy and 2) expensive. This morning I  read Wired, W Magazine, and HouseBeautiful. I’ve been given a code from NextIssue that allows you to get free 60-day trial of the app too. Download NextIssue – Easy as 1,2,3! Click here -> bit.ly/1EaIH3L Enter code 60Free Enjoy! I love scar Jo’s hair right now and am still on that mission to grow mine out. Now that I made it through House of Cards without being influenced by Claire’s hair, I feel I’ll make it to a bob no problem. This *slight* winter warmup has be thinking about the cottage and what we can do this spring to make some changes around there. We’re building a new deck and I’d love to get some new patio furniture and curtains. There’s so many great design ideas out there. I’d love to get my sewing machine in action and actually MAKE new curtains for the cottage. These lamps are lovely. I’m sure there’s a Pinterest on how to do this in detail. It’s been ages since I made anything but I really want to this spring. (I feel like I say this every single year but this time I mean…

View Post

Wanna Earn Free Leafs tickets? Follow @TheFordFanatic :)

I usually get to one NHL hockey game per year. This season I’m taking Sean thanks to MLSE & The Ford Fanatic. I love going to the see the Leafs play and I hardly ever remember who wins. My friends and I often go to Leafs as I said, I try to go to at least on NHL hockey game per year, and sometimes we find it exciting to make up our own fantasy hockey teams to see who would win, so being able to see this game was an amazing opportunity to share this with him. This year, Ford Canada has partnered with the Leafs to help #fansgofurther. To date, between MLSE and Ford through the FordFANatic, approximately 4,800 tickets have been awarded to fans for 24 home games. I love it! How you can earn free Leafs Games tickets The purpose of the program is to engage, surprise and delight fans in a season-long program awarding positivity and passion both online and off . Fans have the opportunity to earn tickets and watch a game in the Ford Fan Deck. Follow @TheFordFanatic and take part in their weekly challenge. There’s still a few weeks left in the season. Official R&R of the contest can be found here. Behind the Twitter handle is Sarah D. and she’s been a Leafs fan as long as she remembers. Being Canadian, it’s in her blood. Growing up in rural Nova Scotia, Sarah and her peers cheered for any of the original 6 teams but, Sarah’s cheers have always been for the Leafs. Sarah was 18 when she first saw the Leafs play, when she came to Toronto to see a pre-season game. She remembers it as one of the most surreal experiences of her life, being able to see Darcy Tucker fight…

View Post

Distracted Driving is a Modern Problem

Last week I mentioned the OneTap app in a post along with the importance of NOT texting while driving. If you have an Android phone, download this app right now. Think of the olden days when people drove around without distraction of a mobile phone, then think about now…so many distractions. Even the smallest things like a sputter from your car can cause distractions! If your car is very loud and splutters all the time, you might want to soundproof your car. It will stop distractions from your car that the OneTap can’t prevent as well as making conversations inside the car much easier. Now, soundproofing your car doesn’t have to be expensive either, as long as you get it from the right place. OneTap is an app that keeps drivers focussed on the road. I know updates can be distracting (my phone is buzzing all day!) but there’s no text, email, tweet, or status update worth risking your life. Looking at these texting and driving statistics should be enough to make you realise this, as there are a shocking number of accidents that happen as a result of it, and I’m sure those involved would turn back time in an instant and put their phone away before turning on their engine. All kinds of small distractions can be so easily avoided. When you look away from the road it’s like driving blind and an accident can happen in a split second, which could end badly for everyone involved, it might end with you being charged with something like vehicular homicide and requiring the help of someone like these criminal attorneys to take on your case. Key features of OneTap App • Prevent distractions from calls, texts and alerts • Activate manually, or let it detect when you’re driving and…

View Post

Montreal | Hi-Speed Blogging in the Sunshine at 90MPH

This week was a busy one and I’m looking forward to a nice sleep at the Fairmont Montreal tonight. We’re on the train heading to Montreal for Nuit Blanche and thanks to Montreal Tourism. Remember that contest I entered and a bunch of you guys helped me fill the train? I didn’t win the contest but they invited me to come along for the ride and experience Nuit Blanche Montreal. Bae working away, looking all cute. Earlier this week I was working form the new 1188 Films office and dressed the place up with some spring flowers.  There’s 8 days until daylight savings, if you;re counting down like me. This is the before face of going through the worst pain I have felt in my entire life. I’ve been having high blood pressure along with those chest pains I mentioned so I’m unable to take my old contraceptive and got a IUD. I wasn’t expecting it to be so painful and felt nauseous after, it was brutal. Good thing it’s a five year plan. I’m thankful my doc was so lovely and took great care. Lucky for me, House of Cards is BACk so we binged a couple episodes last night while I was in recovery. Much better today and back to my regular bouncy self. Claire Underwood, I love you. Maybe I should keep short hair? This internal ‘cut it or grow it’ battle never ends. We’re on the train for 4 hours, currently going aboout 90MPH. I’m glad to have NextIssue and will be reading magazines once I hit publish. I’ve been reading magazines I never used to buy since I’ve got them all at my fingertips now (Nylon, More, Condé Nast Traveller, Dwell). This cover of Vanity Fair is awkward, no? Loving the images in Condé Nast Traveller. Makes me want to just…

View Post

Lookbook + Video: #JayuBlogged Fresh Collection SS15

A couple weeks ago I was on set at a Toronto studio w/ Canadian jewellery designer Sally Han of Shop for Jayu. Last summer Sally and I exchanged emails about their first look book and I wasn’t available to take part at the time but this round I was. We had heaps of fun on the full day shoot and I’m happy to share the final product! For my looks I went with, ‘Glamour Calling’, inspired by big hair and bright colours a là 1992, and ‘Vintage Traveller’ inspired by Twiggy & Pan Am Air in the ’60’s, with a bit of Edie Swgwick. The other bloggers featured are Jodi Blk in monochrome and Victoria Simpson from Haute Canada in with the pink balloons (and the legs!). Here’s a behind the scenes video by David Sztrimbley and a peek at the lookbook. See the whole thing here and check out the latest collection at shopforjayu.com. A photo posted by C A S I E S T E W A R T (@casiestewart) on Feb 20, 2015 at 3:57pm PST

View Post

End Distracted Driving with #JustOneTap

I’m not gonna to lie, I’ve texted while driving. Even worse, been stuck in traffic and taken photos. I’m sorry, it’s not ok and we are all guilty of it. I’ve made a point to put my phone out of reach or on the passenger seat. I know that if I get caught that I could get in trouble and have to attend an online traffic school or worse, get into an accident. That is something I’m sure no one wants. I know I don’t. Distracted driving is one of the main causes of accidents and if you’ve been involved in once recently you should contact an Accident claims specialist. There are plenty of lawyers out there that you can use, so you won’t struggle to find the right one for you. If you are unsure about who to use, then it might be a good idea to check out a law firm like lamber goodnow to give you a better idea of what sort of law firm you should use. Distracted driving is a HUGE PROBLEM and a Canadian-owned, Calgary-based startup has an app for that. AppColony has developed OneTap, a brand-new, free app for Android phones ( IOS version coming soon!) designed to help end distracted driving in Canada. They surveyed Canadians and found some statistics we can’t ignore. OneTap automatically senses when a user is driving and blocks out unnecessary distractions, while allowing you to stay connected. Even though you can just contact someone like this springfield il car accident attorney if you do get into a crash, it’s obviously better to avoid it altogether, not just to help decrease your own stress levels but also in case someone gets hurt. This tech is a brilliant potential solution to this ongoing issue. For more information on the…

View Post

Storia App: Keep, Share, Collaborate on Stories

* updated post 04/2015 For the last few weeks I’ve been on a team of Beta Testers for the new Seflish Storia app. With Storia you can build stories, collaborate with others, or keep them private. Something that makes this different from other social apps is you can make your stories public or private and still share them with people you choose. It’s a more provate and curated feed than something like Facebook. Last week I had a chat with Anastasia Ashman from Storia about some cool ways people are using the app including house hunting, sharing family photos, and couples things you want to keep between the two of you. On the weekend I was part of a collaborative, real time story about Superbowl Sunday between Selfish users. It was cool to see what everyone was up to.  See the full story here. Below are a few of my public stories. I’ve been documenting my ukulele progress and different nail designs. I’m on a LOT of social networks but the content is kinda all over the place. With Selfish I’m updating stories based on topics and documenting as time goes on. My ‘Lights, Camera, ACTION!’ board is documenting behind the scenes of a few shoots I’ve had recently.   I would love to know your thoughts on Selfish Storia and collaborate on stories with you. You can download it from the app store and it will soon be on the Google Play store for Android. You can also sign up and use the web version at storia.me. It was originally developed as a web app so there’s a bunch of features and editing options to check out! <3 CASIE

View Post

Blog Life: Sometimes I don’t feel like it. #11

I know today is Bell Let’s Talk day and I’m not sure how to talk about the depression and anxiety that I face or if I even want to. Being on the Internet in itself gives me anxiety. Some days I just don’t feel like it at all, written about it a few times.  Sometimes I want to hide and pretend I don’t even have a blog. (Or Twitter, tumblr, Facebook, Pinterest, YouTube, Instagram, Selfish, Rdio, Google+, Vine, or phone.) I like keeping to myself on on those days, not sharing stories.  Being alone. My dad battled depression growing up and it was really hard for our family. He moved back to New Zealand to be with his family when my parents split up and it was tough for us. It sill is sometimes. * Thanks Andrew Mitchell for drawing this photo of me. I love it.   I want you to know that I too have days when I’m down and I’ve been through some very dark times and almost not made it through. It’s not always sunny where I am but I do try to bring my own sunshine to the internet each and every single time I make an appearance. My blog is a place you can count on to have bright colours and a fun photo. It’s helpful for me to look back and remember the good times too. This is a place to make you feel happy when a cloud tries to rain on your parade. I’ve worked through a bunch of sad days wondering what to do with my life and I made it through. Don’t ever give up. I wanted to quit blogging a few times over the last 10 years and I am damn well glad I didn’t. I want you to know, I am actually happy most of the time and I…

View Post

Up Your Selfie Game Part 1: 10 Tips for Better Selfies

It’s 2015 and the selfie isn’t going away.  So, in the interest that you’re remembered in the most awesome and beautiful way, it’s time to up your selfie game! I’m not writing history with this post but I thought it’s about time I pull something like this together.  I’m practically a ‘Selfie Expert’ after 10 years of self-photography. Have a tip or trick I haven’t added to the list? Share w/ me on Twitter @casiestewart. Next week I’ll share Up Your Selfie Game Part 2: Apps & Accessories. Here’s a collection of tips to take better photos of yourself: Find your best angle. Know your good side. For most people the best angle is just above eyeline. Check your lighting. A good light source is your friend. Natural light is great. In a dark space, look for light to shine on your face so the photo isn’t dull. If you have a front facing flash I advise against using it as it will give you a forehead glare and redeye. Watch for shadows. If the sun is shining your way make sure you don’t get the shape of your phone on your face. Also watch for the shadow of your camera in your hand blocking the light. Rectangle on your face isn’t a good look. Be yourself. If duckface isn’t you, don’t try to be like KimK or someone from MySpace in 2004 (that was me). Show your smile, focus on those great lips or beautiful eyes. Do a background check. Make sure things aren’t in the way. Ex. bathroom selfie w/ toilet paper or toilet is not cute. Freshen up. Touch up your lipstick, make sure your eye makeup isn’t messy. Look into the camera or away, not at yourself. Remember where the camera is, that little black circle! Strike a pose or a…

View Post

Behind the Red Carpet Film is Coming to CBC!

From Internet, to Big Screen, to TV! Ladies and gentlemen, it’s with great pride I share with you that one of the documentaries I was in recently is going to be featured on CBC! Behind The Red Carpet, an in depth look at what goes on behind the making of one of the worlds biggest film festivals will be featured on the CBC Documentary Channel on Feb. 23rd, 2015 at 9pm. Watch the Promo Trailer In a world of smoke and mirrors, we expose the movers, shakers and key players who puppeteer the brightest talent and engineer the most exclusive events during one of the biggest film festivals in the world. Top Special Interest Movies for Today in New Zealand In other news, I was informed by our Director/Producer that Behind the Red Carpet is a Top 10 Film on iTunes in New Zealand in the Special Interest Category. I’m so happy! I’ve tagged all my friends and family in NZ to give it a watch. You can download or rent it here. There’s likely going to be a media screening and event at CBC and I think it would be really cool to invite some of you guys (if I can!). Please share this post with your friends and family, would love you to watch it! If you can’t wait till then, rent it on iTunes or GooglePlay. Check out the film on IMDB or the website for more info. Will keep you posted of any other details around the film! Thanks for tuning in and supporting me in all my adventures! 🙂 CASIE    

View Post

On Day 2 There Were Wearables & Edibles + The #SelfieStickSpin

Day 2 of 2015 started and ended great. It was beautifully sunny when I got up. Made Embot some brekky and dropped her at school. With my reclaimed love for granola, stopped by to pick up a few groceries, came home made a nice brekky and got to work. Selfie stick put to use to capture the sunshine. I have a feeling it’s only a matter time before we see “no selfie stick” signs or theres an assault with a selfie stick. They’re really intrusive and super annoying when travelling. People on phones are already a bother, add in a metal rod with a phone on it and things get a lot more hairy. I admit I’m fully part of the problem here but for the record, I am a documentarian observing culture and selfies are part of my work. 🙂 Decided I missed violet hair and tinted it again. It’s a bit brighter than I expected, it’ll fade with each wash though. This photo makes it look almost neon. I must remember this for next time. Later in the evening I headed East to visit my sister. We went for fish n’ chips (or fush n cups as they say in NZ!) and laughed our heads off while casually watching hockey. Not because the hockey was funny but when us sisters get together we can’t help but have a hilarious time.  Yay Canada for the win. In 2015, fashion & food come together for the latest in wearable edibles. Onion ring jewellery! Ate these right off my arm bc they were burning. And delicious. Moderation is key when it comes to healthy eating. Nothing wrong with throwing down some greasy goodness here and there. I think there’s no real point in limiting the things I love in life. YOLO! I was showing…

View Post