#IMakeALiving MicroConference w/ FreshBooks: June 24th, 11am!

Hi, I am doing a short talk at an online conference on Wednesday, at 11 am. I’m the opener and will be chatting creativity, content, & social media tips. I think it will be fun! ? It’s the shortest presentation I’ve ever done and it looks kinda zany as a visual! #imakealiving By FreshBooks presents 5-Minute Mentors Signup is free and there are 9 great speakers each talking about business for 5 mins + Q&A. Get To Know The Other Speakers: Jon Rettinger is a tech YouTuber w/ over 15M views/month Lisa Carmen Wang is a former USA National Champion and Hall of Fame gymnast turned Serial Entrepreneur Dr. Nicole Garner Scott is a highly sought after serial entrepreneur, finance expert and coach. Mark Asquith, ‘the British podcast guy‘ is a U.K. podcast expert and CEO & co-founder of Rebel Base Media, a podcast tech and strategy company. Dani Nagel is the owner and designer behind popular art apparel line Dazey LA (@dazey_la), a brand with a mission to empower people through conversation. Follow her! I am obsessed with her whole social media presence and style! Neal Schaffer wrote ‘The Age of Influence‘ and I am really looking forward to what he has to share. Corissa Saint Laurent is a serial entrepreneur, professional speaker, and trainer on entrepreneurial wellness, marketing, and branding. Elaine Pofeldt is an independent journalist who specializes in small business and entrepreneurship. She is author of The Million-Dollar, One-Person Business, a look at how solopreneurs are making bank. Meghan Telpner is a Toronto-based author, speaker, nutritionist, and founder of the Academy of Culinary Nutrition. Forbes, and ranked her as one of the top 100 female entrepreneurs in Canada! I’ve been following her for years! REGISTER HERE

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Day 96: Today is Juneteenth

Today is Juneteenth. Not sure what that is? Look it up! Educate yourself! Freedom Day, Juneteenth is the celebration to commemorate the end of slavery towards black people in America. Today is my last full day up here for a week. Tomorrow Sean is taking me to our house in TO and picking up Emily. I’ll be spending the week there to do some work and then go visit mum on Friday for her retirement. I can’t wait to see her and my sister, it’s been months!

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Podcast: Lockdown Love w/ Jen Kirsch

I’m listening to this right now and have to share! One of my BFFs Jen Kirsch, journalist & relationship expert, has a new podcast on eOne called Lockdown Love and I love it! It was the Monday boost I needed this morning to kickstart my workday and have a little laugh. She shares real stories about her own dating during COVID, talks to experts and her dad Dr. Kirsch even makes an appearance to comment on her ‘dating’ during COVID. I love her voice, her storytelling, and how funny she is. I was literally laughing out loud. You don’t need to be dating to enjoy it but if you are, you might be going through some of the same things she is. I can’t wait to see what’s next in this 8-episode mini-series. Congrats Jenny Jen! Looking for love in lockdown? Join dating expert and columnist Jen Kirsch as she searches for a socially (but hopefully not emotionally) distant Mr. Right! She talks with experts and exposes her own pandemic love life to help you figure out the Do’s and Don’ts of the strange world of dating in quarantine. Expect funny stories, surprising insights, and just a dash of drama.

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Day 59: Support Your Friends!

Right now, more than ever we need to support our friends! We are all in this together and we will get through it by being there for each other, at a distance! Social media is an amazing tool to share the things you love, you like, and support others. This tweet has been pinned to the top of my Twitter profile for over a year! Last night I joined in a pop-culture trivia game on Facebook hosted by my friend Alex. Follow her on IG @lexniko, I love the content she creates and she’s funny AF. Today my friend Mariah sent me a message about her latest project, a film called Pamela & Ivy. I know I don’t do movies reviews often but today her message came just as I was about to have lunch. So, I watched it and put a few notes into a post here. You can also watch the full 16-minute film in the post or on YouTube. Mariah and I had been internet friends for a little while and last year we met for a coffee date. It was so since to meet face-to-face! I am inspired by her work and how much she has accomplished at a young age. She founded GTE Productions at 21 and is an award-winning actress & filmmaker. Her talent is out of this world! After lunch, I went to the post office to ship a wee package of a card & friendship bracelet + an item from Knixwear. I am so impressed with their customer service! A couple of weeks ago I placed an order from the warehouse sale and when the package arrived, the order wasn’t correct. That same afternoon I was refunded for the missing items and they asked that the wrong size item I received was…

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Day 55: Let It…Snow?

Would you believe it snowed if I didn’t have a photo to prove it!? Yes, May 9th, 2020, snow. Not just any snow, a full blanket of tiny snowballs coated everything around us. I had a small birthday party on Zoom last night and it was super fun! I’m quite proud of myself for not staying up too late or drinking too much. Woke up today feeling good but also like I needed rest. I did not run today. Decided to take a day to recharge my batteries. Having a birthday can take a lot out of you, add the anxiety of your birthday in a pandemic and it’s kinda overwhelming. I am truly blessed to have such a great group of friends. Lauren started a thing where each person took a minute to say what they liked most about me and it was so nice. I feel loved and appreciated! THANK YOU FRIENDS! Sean and I had a productive day of watching ENTIRE SEASONS of both Hollywood (miniseries) and Into the Night. Both shows were good. Very different vibes as Hollywood is sexy, fun, and dramatic while Into The Night is a doomsday thriller. Next up, I’m going to tackle S2 of Dead to Me which I think I can finish in a day. The way this is going we’re going to need summer or more shows! If you have any recos, please share!

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#Takeoutday: My First Writeup on Muskoka411!

#TakeOutDay is a nationwide effort to help our favourite local restaurants by ordering takeout. The national campaign was started by Canada Takeout in an effort to help Canada’s hard-hit food industry and is now being co-signed by celebrities, chefs, and notable Canadians nationwide. I chatted with a few notable Canadians to find out their fav spots to eat in the Muskoka region. See tweet below or read it here. Last week we ordered takeout from Muskoka Beer Spa, they’re offering pizza from pie Muskoka, beer & food from Clear Lake Brewing, and several other local items. We even got meat pies! ? For more information on how you can help, visit CanadaTakeout.com.

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Day 43: Isolation is Exhausting

Was not feeling great today. Felt sluggish and unmotivated. Did not exercise. Started a new book, read outside in the sun. Hung some new plants in the kitchen window. Had a dip in the hot tub. My arm has been very sore. Have been applying CBD cream and heating pad all day. Made a nice lentil coconut curry for dinner with rice. Took an afternoon nap and then went to bed at 8 pm. Tomorrow is a new day. Still have about 10k to conquer on my monthly NTC Challenge so hoping to get up early and go outside like I used to. I think my body and mind are exhausted. It’s ok to rest. This whole experience is tiring. Read a great article on Medium, see below.

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How To Avoid a Video Chat Faux Pas

Since we’re all faced with this new reality of connecting from home through technology, my friend Jen Kirsch FaceTimed me to chat about how to avoid mishaps on your video chat. The article is in the Toronto Star today, click below to read. Read on the Toronto Star Over the past few weeks, I’ve been more social than normal. FaceTime, Houseparty, Zoom, Google Hangouts, it can be exhausting! During the first two weeks o(f isolation), I was video chatting with several people a day! Tips for Video Chat Success: If using a phone, get a tripod or stabilize the phone (simple iPhone tripod, or tripod with a ring light) Check your wifi settings, faceTime needs wifi, if you’re in a limited wifi area, data might be your best option Wear something presentable for your meeting ex. casual attire for work, a shirt when chatting on Houseparty, maybe something spicy for a date or friends hang. Pants optional and not required. Log in to the video chat early to check your lighting Brush your hair or wear a hat If in a big group, someone should be leading the chat ex. boss, host, or person having a birthday I personally like lip gloss and mascara for daytime If using Zoom, change your background with something fun or download one of these nice design ones to give your home a makeover (or hide the mess!) Find more tips in the Toronto Star article! Have a great day!

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Day 17: Opportunity

Today I slept in a bit (8am!) and woke up feeling better. It’s amazing the difference a day makes. I need to set a reminder that this situation isn’t permanent. Last night Sean said to me, “we have the opportunity to make this the best, most memorable experience“. It helped shift my perspective, creating space to think differently. I chatted with a friend who has a child the same age as Em, she inspired me to take a more relaxed approach to the whole home education thing. The school stuff will work itself out and until then we’ll wing it. We have an opportunity to teach Em the things we know, how we work, life skills, gardening, cooking, making stuff. This situation is already stressful, we will figure out what works as we go. There are heaps of resources out there and the teachers are working to have online class material available. I made a Google Doc with a bunch of online stuff to do, you can access it here. The ice is starting to melt. Mum, don’t worry we won’t go out there! You can’t see it but there is a concrete dock under where Sean is standing. After breakfast, I worked with her to create a WordPress blog for her art. We talked about brainstorming, branding, I showed her fonts, hex colours etc. I work from the kitchen table so it was natural to sit and blog. She has been working on designing images and it’s nice to see her excited. We made a TikTok and I had her show me do most of it, she knows the app better than I do. (FOR NOW, haha.) I watched a YouTube on how to add VO to TikTok using screen capture on iPhone for another video. We dyed her…

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Day 8: Alone Together

Hi from the woods! ☀️??❄️Went for a nice walk this morning. It’s very cold but refreshing. Saw one neighbour out for a run and shared a smile & wave with the 2 cars that passed us. There is true beauty in the way we are all connecting right now through technology. ? How are you doing? I did yoga this morning w/ Misfits Studio and watched Snoop Dogg on IG Live. I think today I will try some new recipes and see what other workouts I can join in on IG Live. At noon I did a bit of the Fit Factory and some Barry’s for about 15 each. I didn’t feel like doing the whole class but something each day is better than nothing. Sean packed a couple of film cameras and has been shooting film. Yesterday he cleaned the whole fireplace. He hasn’t seen it that clean since he was a kid. He put a GoPro on the remote control truck. It’s pretty rad! Yesterday was so cold & gloomy I didn’t feel like doing anything. I basically lazed around all day eating snacks. The sunshine today makes me feel alive again. I have a feeling tonight’s internet part will be LIT, lol. If the internet was ever going to crap out, tonight’s the night! Everyone will be online. I wonder who will be going live? I might hang out with my BFFs on FaceTime and put IG Live on the iPad. Tonight is going to be the biggest internet party in history. — CASIE STEWART ☀️ (@casiestewart) March 21, 2020 Sending you love & sunshine!

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