Cassie Bustamante

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Feel Good Friday 43

September 4, 2020 by Cassie 10 Comments

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Feel Good Friday 43

Well, sorry I disappeared on you last week, but at the beginning of the week I made the decision to take the week off of blogging and instagram.  As we were settling into the new school at home routine, I was feeling the struggle immensely, and needed to take a breather and assess what I want for my blog and social media at this moment in time.  I didn’t come to any conclusions, other than I will be posting when and if I can, and I pulled out of any Fall tours I was in this year because I know that there is NO way my house can be clean, styled, and ready for any of that.  I’m lowering my expectations of myself this year, and letting some things go to give myself room to breathe and take the pressure off.  That being said, I will still be showing up here, but not as much as I had hoped for this season, and I will continue to take things one day at a time. I do have some upcoming projects to share that I’m really excited about, like a new mural and a mantle we’ll soon be installing, so stick around.  In the meantime, here are some of the things keeping me on this side of sanity lately. (I am an Amazon associate and earn a small amount for qualifying purchases made through my links.  Thank you for your support!)

Farmers Market Tip

You guys might remember my love for making applesauce and canning it.  I shared my tutorial on how to make it the old fashioned yet easiest way here. When we lived in Maryland, apple farms were aplenty, and I could easily find inexpensive fruit for canning.  Here, we don’t have any apple farms too close, but we do have an awesome large farmers  market we try to hit each week.  Last week, I simply asked one of the apple vendors if she sold her “seconds” for making applesauce, and she was happy to put together the big basket you see above for just $10.  Seconds are imperfect produce items that are perfect for canning, baking, cooking, and more, and using them will save you a lot of money.  Monday afternoon I put my seconds, my canning pot, and my food mill to work and cranked out 5 large jars of applesauce, and it’s delicious!  It’s especially delicious when it comes out of the food mill, warm and steaming!  Our kitchen smelled absolutely divine and felt like fall, my favorite season of all!

Daytime Dates

Now that school has started, our weekly date nights became more challenging simply because I am too tired by 7 pm to want to do anything.  (I get up at 5:10 every morning, so cut me some slack!).  The first week of school we had a date planned for Friday evening.  Chris arrived home at 7 and I said, “Date night is cancelled, I am going to bed.” Last week I told him we were going to have to figure something else out… in the end we decided to have the kids babysit Sunday morning and take a day date which was awesome!  We had 90 minutes in the car each way to talk, plus we hiked for a couple hours at beautiful Stone Mountain.  We’ve actually got a little mountain getaway planned soon, and I can’t wait.  This little hike was a taste of having time along with my spouse when I actually have the energy to pay attention to our relationship.  If you have any fun day date ideas that are safe and possible during this pandemic, let me know!

Helpful Book

I read this book a couple of years ago, but there is a very good chance I will reread it soon as I feel like it’s the book I need at this moment in time.  I am struggling to keep up with everything, but the bottom line is that I don’t have to… I just have to be present in my life, stop living for perfection and the good things waiting for me around the corner.  I wanted to share this book now because I felt like it might help someone else who is feeling the same way that I am.  Let’s take a deep breath in, breathe out, and let go of all of the pressures and expectations we put on ourselves and just be in the moment as best we can.  This book can help you do that!

Delicious Healthy Muffins

rose shaped gluten free chocolate chip muffins

I shared this recipe last spring for mother’s day, but now that we have fresh applesauce in the house, I’ve been baking them! I thought I’d reshare as they’re perfect for this season.  I’ve also been toying with my favorite paleo pumpkin bread and replacing half the pumpkin with applesauce, replacing the coconut flour with oat flour, and changing the spices a bit and they’ve turned out SO well!  Of course, chocolate chips totally help. 😉

A little sneak peek

I have been wanting to paint a mural in my home, and I enlisted Emmy to help me a bit.  Truth be told, I wanted her to paint it because I was feeling so uninspired, but when I told her as much she looked at me and said, “me, too.”  Guess it’s not just the moms!  We pulled out the paint and just went for it.  I will be sharing it in a couple of weeks.

That is all I have for you this week, but I would love to hear what is saving your sanity these days.  I will say the one thing that truly saves me is my self care routine, and I wondered if you would be interested in hearing about that?  I’d be happy to share!  Hope you have a wonderful weekend.

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Comments

  1. Erika says

    September 4, 2020 at 6:31 am

    Happy Friday Cassie! I totally feel you on being tired. I hope you feel validated in that. And can we just talk about Stone Mountain????!!!! I grew up close to there, still have family close to there and often travel that way. Actually just realized my family is probably closer to you than Stone Mountain. We should totally meet sometime to hike or get coffee or both!

    And you and I are on the same book train because I am actually reading 3 books right now….lol…do you do that? They are all very different so I choose one of the 3 to read based on my mood. It’s takes me longer to finish, but fun. Anywayyyyy, I never read present over perfect and it’s up next for me (when I finish one of these!).

    Excited to see the mural! Good to hear from you and I agree, that this season is all about letting go and fully recognizing how to find joy and sanity in these times! Hope you have a great weekend.

    Reply
    • Cassie says

      September 4, 2020 at 7:26 am

      I would love to meet up with you in person!!!! YES, let’s make that happen!!!!
      As for books, I usually read one at a time, but I am currently in a book club that is taking its time through different social issue books. We read two chapters at a time to discuss and we’ve done White Fragility and are currently reading How to Be an Anti-Racist. We started out as an anti-racist book club but decided we really want to branch into other issues where we feel our eyes could use a little more opening. What are you reading right now? I took a week off reading after reading SO much this summer, the same week I took off IG because I needed to just be. Picked up a book this week, and so far so good- Shadow Baby, told from the perspective of a witty outcast 11 year old about her relationship/friendship with a poor old man.
      Hope you have a wonderful weekend and let me know whenever you are here visiting family!

      Reply
  2. Deb says

    September 4, 2020 at 6:37 am

    I give you props for showing up! I cannot imagine dealing with either homeschooling (shoot me now!) or dealing with zoom school. Or dealing with your own business in conjunction with all of that. I would be cowering in a corner. It’s a good thing to take time for yourself. Go and enjoy autumn!

    Reply
    • Cassie says

      September 4, 2020 at 7:27 am

      I mean, I would love to cower in a corner, but the two year old won’t let me! 😉 Seriously though, just trying to acknowledge that the best I can do right now is different than the best I can do at other times and I need to own that and make peace with it.

      Reply
  3. Linda Johnston says

    September 4, 2020 at 8:09 am

    These first weeks of return to school is full of lots of news and readjustments! And they are exhausting for everyone. I appreciate you recognizing it and taking a break. Hope everything runs smoothly for this school year with all the changes.

    Reply
    • Cassie says

      September 7, 2020 at 2:34 pm

      Thank you! I am feeling much more optimistic now that cooler weather is arriving, too! 🙂

      Reply
  4. Erin Young says

    September 4, 2020 at 9:43 am

    We all need to readjust our standards right now! I totally need to!
    Where is the basket from that is holding all of the apples? 😍

    Reply
    • Cassie says

      September 7, 2020 at 2:33 pm

      Yes, we totally do!! And the basket actually came from the place that I bought the apples from. I bet they sell them wholesale on some farm website, but I haven’t looked?

      Reply
  5. Shelley Westerman says

    September 8, 2020 at 11:23 am

    My mouth is watering like crazy right now thinking of muffins and pumpkin bread 😆 I have lowered my expectations for myself WAY down this year. Not in a bad way but in a I might not have really done anything today, but we’re all together, happy, healthy, and alive so the day was a success.

    Reply
    • Cassie says

      September 8, 2020 at 3:47 pm

      We just made more pumpkin bread today! Wilder asked for some for breakfast and we were all out, so clearly we needed to bake it. I let him help, and it’s so fun that he is at the age where he can sit on the counter and stir. I love it!

      Reply

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Hi, I’m Cassie!

I believe that you don't have to spend a lot of money to live a beautiful life and be your best self.  Here you will find budget friendly ideas to live happily, healthily, sustainably, and most importantly authentically.  We all get one chance at this life, and this ordinary girl plans to make hers extraordinary. How about you? Read more...
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Hi! I'm Cassie.

Mother, wife, shop owner, blogger, writer, incurable diy-er, furniture painter, coffee and wine drinker, friend. Seeking happiness and passing it on. Read More…

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