Thank you all  for your kind words and support about my recent surgery.  While staying at home recovering, here are some items that I cannot live without:

1. West Elm’s Ottoman:  go ahead, put those feet up and grab a good book!

2. Good books: the first four books are books that I’ve read so far which carried me through this ordeal. Gone Girl, a suspense thriller with sharp edge wit about a marriage between an alpha-girl perfectionist and a neglecting mid-life crisis husband.  Unbroken, an inspirational war biography written by the acclaimed Laura Hillenbrand, is about an Olympic track star, WWII air force bomber –Louis Zamperini– and his POW survival stories and ultimate redemption.  It really did make me feel like I can be stronger and braver than I thought I could.  Lean In, a must-read for career driven men and women.  The Getaway Girls, written by my kick-ass sister-in-law, is an edgy, dark, intelligent tale of 4 ladies (who also happen to be Moms) weekend getaway that turned out to be more than what they had bargained for.  This is a well written novel disguised as genre fiction. The imagery is so vivid that I can totally picture this as a movie: the movie version will be a combination of Kill Bill and Bridesmaids.  I’ve read “What I Talk About When I Talk About Running” by my all-time favorite author Haruki Murakami several times already.  This will be book that I read when I’m ready to get back into running.  The book “Unbroken” by Laura Hillenbrand was so inspiring that made me want to read the book written by the man himself, Louis Zamperini entitled, “Devil at My Heels“.

3. Light workout: remember to keep on walking.  I use Run Keeper to track my progress.  While sitting down, now is a good time to work on those neglected biceps and triceps with these 2lb weights!

4. Comfy clothes: the key to staying comfortable in the post abdominal/pelvic surgery period is to put as little pressure on the scar as possible.  Think: maxi dresses, fold-over skirts/pants, bathrobes, and boy shorts intimates

5. Skin care: rub on these indulgent L’Occitane shea butter once those unsightly surgical strips fall off for some ultra pampering!  I was told by my surgeon to rub on hard to avoid seroma development

6. The three light weight gadgets that I definitely cannot live without are my iPad, Macbook Air, and iPod nano.  Nothing more than 5 lbs!