Hello, hello! Today is a very important day…it’s my dad’s birthday!

I wish that we could be there to celebrate him but hopefully we will have a belated celebration soon. My parents and my grandmother have all had their first vaccine so there is hope for a visit in the near future. I have to brag on my dad a little on his birthday…this past year he started walking and walks about six miles a day on the beach. He’s also made a few dietary changes and he just looks so healthy and happy. It’s been wonderful to see!

I feel so fortunate to have such a kind, loving, resourceful, smart, selfless and grounded dad. He does so much for me and for Finn and we love him very much!

We should all go back and read this post that I wrote on his birthday last year: 10 Things I’ve Learned From My Dad About Food And Cooking. 🙂

I have a few “almost Friday” favorites to share with you today since my Friday post has already been pre-written and I’ll be traveling to Tennessee tomorrow to lead the second weekend of our yoga teacher training at VIDA.

MY NEW STAUB DUTCH OVEN 

Speaking of my dad, he surprised me with a gorgeous Staub Oval Dutch Oven for Christmas. What a treat! It’s my first piece of Staub cookware and I’m a fan! If you’re unfamiliar with Staub, it’s French enameled cast iron cookware that is super heavy duty and known for its even cooking and heat. My dad told me he thinks his Staub bakes the best sourdough so I had to give it a try! I can’t wait to make many other delicious things in my Staub oven from stewed meats to shepherd’s pie to roast chicken to fruit cobblers and more!

THE NEWEST EDITION OF JOY OF COOKING

Let’s keep the cooking theme going here for a minute and talk about one of my favorite cookbooks of all time. You can see how well-loved my Joy of Cooking cookbook is. It is always one of the first cookbooks that I pull off of my shelf when I’m looking for a specific recipe or to learn about a cooking technique. The recipes in Joy of Cooking are so classic, tried and true. I was THRILLED when I was offered a media copy of the newest edition of Joy of Cooking. It features 600 new recipe and more than 4,000 favorites revised and updated.

OVER EASY BARS

I have a new favorite bar. The team at Over Easy offered to send me a box of their breakfast bars to sample and I was honestly surprised by how much I liked the taste and texture. My favorite thing about these bars is the super clean ingredients list. They are almost like homemade! Over Easy offers a three bar trial where you can try three bars for $3 and free shipping. 10/10 recommend trying Over Easy Bars.

SPANX FAUX LEATHER LEGGINGS

WHAT TOOK ME SO LONG TO GET ON THE SPANX TRAIN!? You guys, I ordered a pair of the Spanx faux leather leggings about a month ago and I cannot tell you how often I’ve worn them since. They are crazy comfortable. The fit is perfect and they are very flattering. They’re the perfect thing to pair with a cute top and boots. Just for reference, the petite small fits me great. The regular was too long and bunched at my ankles. I am 5′ 4″.

Also noteworthy, I got dressed to go out for an appointment and errands yesterday instead of wearing athleisure all day. It felt good. My top is from LOFT. I got a size small.  It’s on final sale right now for $30 + 50% off sale so highly recommend ordering!

I could use recommendations for cute casual sneakers that I can wear with these leggings or jeans. Help me out! What are you loving?

HOME OFFICE DECOR

I am making progress on my home office and I LOVE it. It’s such a bright, happy and pretty space for me. I got the rug and curtains (the curtains are much more blue-green than they look online) at IKEA over the weekend. The curtains need to be hemmed and don’t mind my yoga books flattening the corners of the rug. 😉 I love them both!

I really want to have my desk in the middle of the room and not against a wall but it does present a bit of a challenge with cord management. Any tips or tricks for hiding cords?

EVERYONE’S GETTING COZY AT HOME! 

Just one more update to say that the new dog bed was a home run. I got the jumbo size and love that they can both fit on it. Benji sleeps in the bed all night, Zoey starts on it and prefers the floor after she gets hot.

NEW CLASSES FOR FIT REVOLUTION

I recorded a couple of new classes for Fit Revolution last week and they are both so spicy and fun! One is a 20-minute fast power yoga flow and the other is a 35-minute bodyweight strength workout that pulls a lot of inspiration from yoga. I’m also thrilled that we will be releasing some new slow power flow classes with my friend Liz over the next few days.

If you haven’t taken advantage of the 14-day free trial…you should! And remember, you can use code JENEDDINS for 25% off your first month after the trial ends. 🙂

Okay, time for me to sign off. I have a few more work tasks to complete before I head out to teach yoga at 4p. Thanks for being here friends!

QUESTIONS

I’d love your casual sneaker recommendations for jeans/leggings that are a little “fancier” than traditional tennis shoes.

Cord management tips? 

Class format/theme/length requests for Fit Revolution?