I have had the privilege of being home alone for a long part of the summer. I have been the queen of my castle, holding down the fort, (insert other metaphor here), you get it. This was my first long-term experience taking care of a household by myself. There were lonely moments, fearful ones too, but some very fun perks! So here is what I learned to love about living alone for a month.

Clothes don’t matter

There were times where I tried on every outfit in my closet to learn what pieces looked amazing together, and there were times when my wardrobe was simply atrocious. No one was there to care whether I was hot or a hot mess. Hair thrown messily in bun or in a fancy experimental updo, I could “try” or “not try” as much as I wanted.

Talking

I may have been alone, but I definitely had plenty of conversations. I talked about my day at work, I explored philosophical questions out loud, or simply spouted stream of consciousness; basically any thought that I had, I said.

Sing really loud

Mindless chatter wasn’t the only thing to come out of my mouth. If I had trouble speaking, I’d sing karaoke at 3 a.m. And by “sing karaoke,” I mean “practice my belting voice at the top of my lungs.”

Sleep Schedule

I could nap at 3 p.m. or 3 a.m. Sleep in ‘til noon or wake up at 6 p.m. Decisions were mine to make, and no one else’s schedule affected them.

Eat whatever you want

Cook gourmet cuisine, order Chinese takeout, try a juice cleanse, or eat two pints of ice cream by yourself, it doesn’t make a difference. Everything is up to you.

Come and go

I wanted to spontaneously meet a friend somewhere in 10 minutes? I could just fly out the door and be on my merry way. Wait, TJ Maxx is having a sale on Kate Spade purses? I was off to check it out!

Unwind

No one can judge you for watching "90210," "Nannies of Beverly Hills" and "Gossip Girl" all in one day. You can explore your guilty pleasures without anyone to actually make you feel guilty!

Me time

You don’t have to look out for anyone else, or feel bad for spending so much alone time. Every minute is an opportunity to pamper yourself, and explore your own interests. I performed many experiments on myself during the summer weeks. I have a habit of nibbling on snacks whenever I watch Netflix, so I decided to try keeping my hands busy a different way—knitting! So there I was learning new stitches while catching up on my favorite show. And no one could laugh at me for being an old lady.

Being home alone is a mixed bag. Every foreign sound is an intruder, 911 is on speed dial, taking care of four cats by yourself is, frankly, disgusting, but the perks are awesome, so no complaints here.