With the passing of Memorial Day, no matter what the solar calendar says – summer is here. Hello, half-day Fridays, white shoes, and HEAT. GLORIOUS HEAT! Well, at least if you’re ready for it.
How to summer-fy your apartment/life?
First, think about your air conditioner situation. Do you have one? Does it work? Is it 10 years old, making your energy bill go sky-high? Air conditioners have a rap of making life super expensive, but, uh, that’s not necessarily true. New ones from Target only cost $100 and they’ll last years. Or, the uniform price on Craigslist tends to hover around $50 (with those, make sure they’re energy efficient). As for your electric, in my apartment last summer all three of us gals used AC at night and our bill only went up about $30 per month. Divided by three, that’s an extra ten bucks to be comfortable. I do grant you though, they are a huge pain to move. So, start recruiting strong friends NOW.
What else? Well, if you live a city, you might consider 1) seeing if you have roof access and 2) considering buying a small, portable grill. That way, even if you don’t have a yard, you’ll be able to put as many shrimps on the barbee as you like! Or ya know, burgers and dogs. I was at a Memorial Day BBQ this weekend, on a friend’s roof, and it was both awesome and summer-tastic. Made me almost feel like I was home again. . .which brings me to my ultimate point.
For whatever reason, people tend to miss home the most during summer months. Maybe it’s the fact that city life is devoid of wildlife. Maybe it’s because summer means house parties at the lake? Whatever it is to you, there’s probably a way you can bring it to the city. What are my plans for next weekend? A water balloon fight in Central Park! So, watch out!
