Travel |My Stay at Trump Toronto w/ HotelTonight

On Friday night I stayed at the Trump Hotel and booked my room using Hotel Tonight. I’ve known about the app for a while but was yet to use it. I was contacted to take part in an exclusive influencer event where a group of notable Torontonians met up for cocktails with HotelTonight co-founder Jared Simon. We were asked to pack a bag and come to the event where we’d leave to stay in a hotel later that night. Exciting!  We were each given a unique code that allowed us a stay that night at one of Toronto’s best hotels. I was gunning for the Trump Hotel as I’ve never stayed there before and it’s oh so fancy. Others in the group stayed at The Gladstone, The Beverly, and the Thompson Hotel. Earlier in the day I chatted HotelTonight co-counder & COO Jared Simon about the app and what’s next. HT is the world’s leading last minute hotel app with a rotating selection of rooms made available each day with bookings open until 2am. After working in the travel/hospitality industry they were inspired to create HotelTonight, knowing that most hotels operate at a 60% occupancy. I personally think it’s an awesome idea and recommend the app when someone visits my city or when friends are looking to do something special with their partner.  It was very easy to book my room using the app; pick a hotel, add credit card, book, arrive at hotel, checkin, stay, checkout. I asked Jared what’s next for HotelTonight and he told me expanding to even more than the current 500 cities, growing consumers (like us!), and innovating the app experience. I love adventure so next time I travel somewhere I’m gonna wing it and book a random night w/ HotelTonight. Jared dared me! Not a bad place to…

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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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I Saw the Premiere of #Outlander and It’s Steamy…

This week I hung out with Showcase + Shaw Media for the premiere of their new show Outlander at The Caledonian on College. The series is based on the books by Diana Gabaldon. It’s pretty steamy and by that I mean I was like ‘omg’, jaw dropped, hand on chest in the first 10 minutes. It’s based in Scotland, accents and all. Outlander airs on Showcase Sundays at 10pm ET/PT, beginning August 24. You can follow them on Twitter @showcasedotca and they’ll be using the #Outlander hashtag when the show is on. Social tv ftw. Thanks for having me guys! Sláinte!  

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Blog Life: This Is How We Do

You know face you make when you’re looking deep into the computer working away on something? It’s on  we all know well! This was me yesterday afternoon..and most days actually. Concentrating, editing, writing, coding, emailing, blogging, thinking, working, twerking. Ok, only sometimes on the last one! Went for a run this morning and pushed myself a bit harder. Feeling fresh and inspired. It’s so nice out, you should go outside. It was 21 at 9am! This is how we do! I’ve learned a lot of thing blogging the last (almost) 10 years. I can hardly believe it’s been so long. Persistence is a big part if making your dreams a reality. I thought about giving up a few times and doing something more traditional, like not keeping a diary of my life on the internet but each time I decide to go on, something amazing happens. This was a good little read: I’d Like to Be a Fashion Blogger, But I’m Mostly Wearing Sweatpants http://t.co/ZQnOVbqFTY via @thecoveted Thx for sharing @crystalgibson! — CASIE STEWART (@casiestewart) August 20, 2014 I’ve seen a ton of bloggers come and go over the years and I think that’s due the fact that people don’t realize how much work and energy it is. TBH, sometimes it’s totally exhausting! It also takes a time to build a brand, trust, a reputation, all which can be destroyed in an instant. I always remember this quote by Eleanor Roosevelt and think it’s best to surround your self with great minds. “Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people.” I’ve always counted on Mum to be my first phone when something exciting happens instead of telling friends or the world right away. She can always tell when i’s something big. I’ll ring her at work and say ‘OMG Mum, guess what?!”.…

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What great thing would you attempt if you knew you could not fail?

I had a great day yesterday. I haven’t taken the subway for a while. It’s different taking the subway during work hours. I always wonder what everyone is doing. I don’t mind the streetcar, I don’t like the underground. I used to write TTC Tales (last one 2012) when I took the TTC to work. At one time, I travelled about an hour each way to work. I made a few videos about TTC loudtalkers after that. I wouldn’t make those videos now, social media wasn’t as popular back then. Heading easton the Bloor Line; try not to make eye contact. Look out the window, look out window. There’s a young guy with his sunglasses on playing golf on an iPad. I can’t see if he has a bag…is just carrying the thing? I smell hot food. It’s not McDonalds. Doors open. Please don’t let someone gross sit beside me… Went to the Trinity Bellwoods Farmers Market yesterday to pick up some green goodness. The market is on each Tuesday in the summer from 3-7pm. I was so hungry that I started chomping on lettuce leaves as I walked down Dundas. It was delicious. I can only imagine what I looked like walking down the street eating leafy greens. 🙂 Passed this house on Dovercourt, as I so often do and asked on Twitter if anyone had seen inside it. Have you? Turns out it’s crazy! Anyone seen inside this enchanted palace at 224 Dovercourt? Been on sale for a while. #queenwest pic.twitter.com/wf7t0UIcw4 — CASIE STEWART (@casiestewart) August 19, 2014 The decor has some personality. It’s not for everyone but I would love to have this house. It’s right in my fav part of town and if I could afford it and do some renos, I’d be all over it. Kick out all the furniture and add some…

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