I love summer in Chicago, but it gets crazy, crazy hot this time of year. And don’t get me started on the humidity, especially this summer, it’s making it hard to spend most of my days outside – even if I wanted to. While I love exploring the city in the summer, there’s a big part of me that likes to stay home on the weekends, chill in the AC, and be a very happy homebody. And after a few years of resisting it, I’ve started to embrace my invertedness – with a somewhat healthy dose of enjoying summer outside too! I teamed up with Direct Energy for this post to share some of my favorite ways to cool down at home this summer on those days where it’s just too hot to do too much around the city!
For the days it’s too hot to go outside in Chicago, I usually spend my weekend days staying cool in my little apartment – spending the morning walking around the corner to get a latte and treat, and spending my afternoons enjoying the AC, listening to music on my Amazon Echo Dot (I just got one from Direct Energy and it’s been a game changer!), blogging to pass the time and making my home feel cozy. I’ve been slow to make over my little apartment over the past few years, so recently I’ve been trying to do little things each weekend to make it over corner by corner. Even a few colorful books and some flowers can make a corner look a little more summery inside my apartment on days where it’s too hot to venture too far outside.
Good AC is definitely key when staying in, and my friends at Direct Energy are offering a low electricity rate for serviceable zip codes in Illinois this summer to help you save money. If you sign up for the Power on Command energy plan, you’ll also get an Amazon Echo Dot, too! In addition to having Alexa play DJ like I do, you can even ask her to help you pay your account balance too 😉 You can get all the details right here, and if you sign up online be sure to use the code ALEXA at checkout for a $50 Amazon gift card!
Anyways, I’ve also been staying cool at home and attempting to hone my cooking skills – and whipping up some new cocktails too! I love going to neighborhood farmer’s markets in Lincoln Park and Logan Square and buying as much seasonal, local produce as I can. I’ve been trying new recipes using my Echo Dot to look up dishes like cold soups and salads to keep myself cool on days where I don’t want to turn on my stove when it’s too crazy hot outside.
And after a few months hiatus, I finally spent an afternoon at home whipping up some long-overdue cocktail recipes for the blog (coming soon!), which has been another way to stay cool during these hot summer days. Besides looking up recipes on my Echo Dot, it’s been extra handy when I run out of ingredients to add them to my shopping list on my phone too.
Any tips you have for staying cool at home? Any new hobbies you’ve been taking up during the hotter days of the summer? I’d love to know! It’s supposed to be pretty beautiful outside this week, so hopefully I can enjoy all that Chicago summers have to offer inside and out! xx
This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Direct Energy. The opinions and text are all mine.
