Let it Bloom: September

It’s been such a wonderful weekend. I woke up at the crack of dawn feeling excited about life and the week to come. Took some time to sit on the dock and think about good intentions for the month. September is always one of my favourites. For my New Zealand (Kiwi) family and friends in Australia it’s the start of spring and always inspiring to see their posts about things in bloom and seasons changing.  I like to keep that in mind when I think about September, there’s heaps of energy in the air with back to work and back to school. Remember, things are always in bloom! <3 CASIE   Words Illustration via Jasmine Dowling  

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An Afternoon w/ Susur Lee at Bent Restauraunt

Yesterday I spent the afternoon at Bent Restaurant w/ world-renowned chef Susur Lee, learning about his cooking an sampling the upcoming Veggielicious menu. The five-course vegetarian menu runs September 9th-20th at Bent, which he owns with his sons. Yes, he is holding two fish in the photo but they’re for the raw sushi bar! In the garden w/ @susurlee just down the street from @BentRestaurant checking out fresh veggies they use in-house. pic.twitter.com/wVvmBv4Gc1 — CASIE STEWART (@casiestewart) August 25, 2014 First on the Veggielicious menu is ‘Dip Three Ways’, a mixture of hummus, baba ganoush, olives, and spicy mustard seed tomato stew.  These didn’t last long!     We started by making meringue desserts so they could bake while we explored the menu. I’m quite familiar w/ meringue as the Pavlova is a famous New Zealand dessert I’ve been making with mum as long as I can remember. We were given Susur Lee’s merengue recipe so I’m planning whip up a batch at the cottage this weekend and impress Sean’s parents. Look out! Below on the left is the meringue Chef made and mine is on the right. Added some almonds to fancy it up a bit. It was delicious. Scroll down to see the dessert presentation, it was a thing of beauty. Chickpea Tempura Tofu    Wild Mushroom Quinoa Risotto    French Merengie w/ Golden Licorice, feat. wild blueberry, peaches, passionfruit syrup, raspberry coulis! They have some stellar cocktails you can check out on Instagram at @bentcocktails. This is the Asian Caesar, the most popular cocktail at Bent. It’s got a whole bunch of ingredients including soy & Hoisin sauce. Yep, that’s an oyster on there too. Veggielicious at Bent runs from Spet. 9-20th so make a reso and take your fav veggie lover for a nice meal. There’s a raw sushi bar too. For more info visit bentrestaurant.com. Huge thank you to Chef Susur Lee and the…

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#SaveYourScreams #MMVA 2014: 2 Noms, 1 Commercial!

The 2014 MMVA show is next weekend and this year is an exciting one for me! Sean and 1188 Films are nominated for two awards in Post Production AND my sister is an MMVA commercial now playing on your TV. I’ve always loved the MMVAs and in 2010 I was the Social Media Manager for the show while I worked at MuchMTV. 1188’s nominations are for Hedley – Crazy for You and Sam Roberts – We’re All In This Together. He’ll be attending the show with his team and I’ll be prepping to hit the town after and *hopefully* celebrate them bringing home another award. Cross ya fingaz! Last year Sean & 1188 worked on Drake’s ‘Started from the Bottom’ which won video of the year. In 2012 they won an award for Down With Webster’s ‘Big Wheels’. Keep an eye out for my samurai-sword-swinging sister on your TV. Jenie Stewart is in an MMVA ‘Save Your Screams’ commercial. It’s pretty funny, they made the girls look pretty rough and fight against each other. Love it! Watch Jenie’s 2014 MMVA Commercial #SaveYourScreams It’s also pretty exciting Lorde will be at the show. GO TEAM NEW ZEALAND! She’s killing it! So proud of Jenie, Sean, and Lorde! As for me, I’m getting a Chevy Camaro convertible for that weekend from Klout so I’ll be feeling pretty great too. Happy Friday my friends! <3 CASIE

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Isn’t life a series of images that change as they repeat themselves?

One of the things I loved about DailyBooth (RIP) and love about selfies is they are a way to document your life as you grow and change. I wonder how many times I’ve taken a similar photo of my own face? This video is 4 years of my life on DailyBooth. I exported my archive before it shut down in 2012 and made this so I never forget this stuff.. So many memories here. Any you remember? Today is Anzac day in Australia/New Zealand. It’s like remembrance day in North America. My granddad was in the war. I remember him telling us stories of how he wasn’t old enough and snuck in then worked as a cook. He used to have a butcher shop in Palmerston North, NZ when Mum was growing up. I think he would be really glad to know I kept a blog diary because he was a writer too.  I can’t believe I’m still wearing a scarf and it’s almost May! Urgh! Longest fattest winter of my life.  Loving this new jacked I scored at the Rudsak sale this (deets here, it’s on till Sunday).   Saw this yesterday in my hood when I was walking home from school with EmBot. Here’s to an awesome weekend! <3 CASIE

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Fried Eh

It’s safe to say I am completely exhausted. The last few weeks have been super busy and fashion week really takes a lot outta ya. I’ve got nothing planned but staying in the house and not socializing one but this weekend. My batteries need recharging! Last night was Untitled&Co’s first fashion show and it was great. I’ll do a full post on it when the photos roll in. I took Sean as my date and we had a lovely night together. We had dinner at Hawker Bar on Ossington then hit the after party at Libertine on Dundas. I worked with Cameron one of the 2 designers to produce GelaSkins for the gift bags with his designs on them. They’ll be up in our web store soon. I have the WIFEY one which Sean thought was hilarious because it’s got Courtney on it. Dad is in New Zealand and getting married in a few hours. Oh how I wish I was there to see the wedding and have a fam jam! They’re going to the Coromandel Peninsula  after which is one the most beautiful places I’ve ever been.  Look at this, gah! I’ll be dreaming of this place for the rest of the day now. Beach and sunshine please! Cheers to the freakin’ weekend. <3 CASIE

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I’m Just Talking to Myselves

Day was good. Started with brunch. Got my hair done. Went for a hot tub at my old place. Took my GoPro everywhere I went. Had sushi for dinner. Spending the rest of the night at home watching movies. Still have no voice. Gonna practice being quiet as much as I can. Mum’s still away in New Zealand. Going to see Wolf of Wall Street tomorrow with friends. Dreaming of summer and vacation vacation, not work vacation but a real holiday. It’s been ages since I had one of those. I should clean the house tomorrow. Sometimes it’s hard to find the motivation y’know?  Watching The Iceman with Michael Shannon, love him. Lots of updates on tumblr and Pinterest if you’re in the mood for browsing. Hope your weekend is good. ♥   I’m Just Talking to Myselves US Drugs Online Pharmacy World Online Trusted Pharmacy US Pharmacy Online

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There’s Art in My Heart and It’s Beating Rainbow Bright

I love this weather and time of year for the sheer beauty of photos. I can’t wait to get out in the wild with my new Canon DSLR at the cottage this weekend and snap some photos. Have a new Canon post coming up next week. Saw this beauty new mural in progress near Queen and Niagara. It’s full of bright colours and even on a rainy day, was a beauty to see. Dripping and bleeding with rainbow bright colours. I’m decked out in lots of colours and leopard print today, there’s no rain on my parade, honey. Pants are from Gap, jacket and hat H&M, scarf Ted Baker London, shoes Sperry Top Siders, smile, natural. Umbrella was picked up on that fashion trip to  Calgary last year for Paul Hardy’s 10th anniversary. rainbow bright In other news… I have been telling you about Lorde for nearly a year, so happy the world recognizes her now too. New Zealand is talent baby! Happy Friday 🙂 <3 CASIE free viagra online buy acipex Buy amitriptyline

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What Came First – The Chicken or the Mercedes?

Watched both of these in the last 24 hours. The LG one is funnier I reckon but both good. I love the LG one but that’s probably because of the accent and  location that remind me of the hills of beautiful New Zealand. On YouTube, the Mercedes Benz chicken is dated Sept. 23rd, 2013 on w/ 3,983,000+ views and the LG chicken is dated Sept. 27th, 2013 w/ 503,400+ views. They’ve been making news on Mashable and more. I wonder if the chickens are related or have the same agent? Mercedes Chicken LG Chicken Who are the creatives and where did they both get the divine idea to use chicken head motion to illustrate the product at the SAME TIME? Reddit probably.   I don’t even know…

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Vancouver, Vancasie

Hey! Yesterday was a busy day. Went to work until noon, had a lunch party with the office, then a car picked me up to go to Vancouver. Reminded me of New Zealand so much as I was flying in and driving to the hotel. Beautiful city. Small though. Feels a bit like Auckland mixed with Austin at the moment. I’m no expert though, it’s my first time. Had dinner with clients last night and went straight to bed. Today is another busy day! Have a good one 🙂 Love from Vancouver, CASIE

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Stolen Girlfriends Club #TGIF

Weekend styles from Stolen Girlfriends Club in New Zealand. Got this last night. They’re always ahead down under! Follow @stolenGFclub ❤ Happy Friday, have an awesome day! CASIE

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