Did you have a nice time over the holidays? I did! I took a break from blogging and IG to recharge my batteries and I feel so alive! It might help that yesterday I went for a b12 shot and IV of vitamins at REVIV. In 2017 I am excited to focus on doing great work, telling stories about tech, and helping others. As I was driving yesterday the sun was going down and it was so bright and beautiful I stopped to catch it lighting up my face. Over the holidays I did a couple volunteer shifts for different charities including cooking & serving lunch at Evangel Hall on New Years Eve w/ the #GivingBackVibes crew. [We did this last month too, see here.] I fulfilled my dream of wrapping presents at the mall before christmas w/ Nneka Elliot at TD centre in support of StepStones For Youth. The day before I volunteered to help sort clothes with the NuScreen Digital team at Brands for Canada. I feel so good that I was able to give some of my time to help others. You’re going to see more of this in 2017. Volunteering w/ @nuscreeninc at @BrandsForCanada! ?✌?? pic.twitter.com/b3C10jtwHK — CASiE STEWART (@casiestewart) December 21, 2016 I went home between Christmas and New Years to spend some quality time with my parents. Set both mum and dad up with new tech gadgets and had lots of laughs over great food. They’re only an hour away so this year I want to spend more time hanging out. Today was a really fun day. ❤ pic.twitter.com/P10zek09Nv — CASiE STEWART (@casiestewart) December 30, 2016 On New Years Eve, Sean and I went to Ikea to get some organizing stuff and things for Em’s room.  We watched the Minimalism doc on Netflix a couple…

Christmas is just over a week away and there’s a good chance you still have few people on your nice list (including yourself!). ?? Telus has a ton of amazing gifts you can buy online or from one of their interactive stores across Canada. You’ve gotta check out the Eaton Centre store in Toronto if you haven’t yet, theres heaps of things for your home, travel, audio, AND toys, aside from phone stuff. Last year I got a Nest thermostat, amazing JBL speaker, great USB cables, and a MIP robot for the child. Here’s a few of MY FAVS from the 2016 Telus Gift Guide. These are all things I’ve gifted or been given in the last year – Fitbit, Instax camera, BB8, and the PureGear Metallic Cable. BB8 Sphero Robot – $189.99 Last weekend I surprised Embot with a tiny little BB8 Droit. She loves Star Wars and robots. BB8 comes with a stand for charging and connects to Force Band through the app on your phone via Bluetooth. Once connected, you use THE FORCE to push, pull, and control BB-8 like Em is doing here. She’s been having so much fun using to guide him around the house. He can easily go over carpet, rug, tile and wood floors too. Instax Mini 8 Camera – $99 This camera is great. A total hit at holiday parties and with the parents. I took photos of everyone at mums one Christmas and this year I’ve packaged up some stuff to send back to New Zealand filled with Instax prints from the last few months. You can order one of these online or pick up at a Telus store. They’ve got the Instax Mini 8 cam available in Rose Gold, Blue, Black, and white. See this post for an #InstaxHolidays giveaway + Twitter party details for tonight!  Fitbit 2 Charge  –…

This week my computer had a non-fatal heart attack. Luckily I’ve got a backup of all my files. During my 3.5hr stopover at the Apple Genius Bar yesterday we wiped my Macbook Pro clean and started fresh with the operating system. It was so full before that it could not even. It’s so much faster now, I’m never letting that happen again! I’ve been looking through thousands of photos on my backup drive and came across these ones of my mum and sister. We hung out in the beaches one afternoon a while back and for christmas I edited and framed a few of them for my parents. One year I had a bunch of stickers made with Social Print Studio and stuck them on everyones cards. Once you download the SPS app you connect Instagram, and easily print your photos in frames, on wood, cards, stickers, life size prints. This year I’m working on 2 projects one for holiday cards and another photo thing for my fam. I’m a little behind but going through these photos is good motivation. Can’t wait to spend some quality time with these ladies over the holidays!