A few years back, my now brother and sister-in-law gifted me with a Google Home Mini for Christmas – I set it up in my room at the time and linked it to my Spotify so I could play music to get me out of bed in the morning. (“Hey Google, play my Happy Heart playlist on Spotify.”) I have read a fair amount of controversy around the Google Home’s, Alexa’s, etc. invading privacy or recording conversations but personally, I view the Google Home the same as my iPhone. Anything with a microphone could and may be recording conversations whether I know it or not. But to each their own.
Our Google Home Mini is now set up in our kitchen to play music while we cook, answer our burning questions (“Hey Google, what is the current temperature?”) and to keep us entertained (“Hey Google, tell me a joke.”).
Continuing down the Smart Home trail, one of Daniel’s old roommates owned a few lightbulbs that he could control through an app on his phone; color, brightness, turning on and off, the whole shebang. I, personally, felt it tacky to change the shower light to blue while you were washing off but that’s just me. The boys seemed to love it. So when we moved into our own home and Daniel practically begged for these lightbulbs, I was a hard sell. (Here we are five months later with six of the bulbs scattered throughout our cozy white apartment and I’m writing a post about them; oh how I’ve grown).
More recently, Daniel set up the Mini to control these Philips Hue Lights and it is literally the most handy thing (tacky or not). Daniel’s favorite feature is the fact that he can change the colors of the bulbs through his phone. He’s all about creating a mood while he’s watching TV. Harry Potter is purple, Lord of the Rings is typically blue, I choose anything romantic to be red, etc. My favorite feature is the, “Hey Google, turn all lights soft white.” The most cozy, homey line I ever did speak. This is perfect for walking in the door after sunset and during long weeks that Daniel is away on work trips when I’m scared to walk into a dark apartment alone. Seven quick words and instantly the apartment is lit and welcoming.
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