Bristol, Boats, Banksy and Being Creative: A Week at Mollie Makes Magazine

Speeding across the Severn Bridge with an old friend, heading for a new adventure - my week of work experience has begun. Busted's Year 3000 is playing, the sun is shining and I am ready for all that Mollie Makes magazine has in store.

 

I'd been to Bristol before. I've attended an university open day, visited the airport and was once stationed in Cribbs Causeway when my father charged back home to secure the passports we'd left behind. But this time seemed like the first time I had really experienced Bristol in all its charm and glory. In the past, I had known it as a place to jet away from, not a city to rush to. Now, having spent a few days at its heart, I can firmly say that Bristol has a lot to offer to rival the boutiques of Paris, Amsterdam's canals and the buzz of Barcelona.

 

All checked in to my hotel room, I settle down in my home for the coming days. I hang up my clothes, read a bit of Cosmo, make myself an interestingly flavoured cup of tea and come to terms with the fact that this is a new "first" for me: I am staying alone in a hotel room. I am so used to laughing uncontrollably with my sister, preparing for a transatlantic flight to the Big Apple or to Disney's Magic Kingdom, the silence is a little disconcerting. Yet, there's something strangely satisfying in knowing that this is something new, grown-up, a first step onto both  the ladder to adulthood and a career in journalism. Nevertheless, the silence doesn't last long.

 

Will, the singing chauffer  appears in the lobby and we head off on what was meant to be an evening tour of Bristol, but turned into a crusade to find the city's best cocktails. With drenched coats, raindrop speckled glasses and frizzy hair, we end up in Turtle Bay. It is lovely to catch up with a school friend, listen to some groovy music and enjoy a few funky beverages before the hard work begins.

 

Next morning, I'm in a mad rush to make myself look presentable and find the office. I head off to grab a Starbucks coffee hoping it will help on both accounts, and find myself arriving at the office embarrassing early. Immediate Media is so close to my hotel, I'm pretty sure staff were treated to a concert of country music accompanied by a few verses of the Frozen soundtrack as I  milled over my office outfits at 8am.

 

Cath Dean, Mollie Makes' editor comes down to greet me and we shoot up to the 11th floor to the workspace with a pretty fantastic view of the city. I'm put in charge of the Pinterest account and spend the day scanning the internet for the best of the web's customised notebooks, rainy day accessories, DIY tattoos and inspiration for a royal garden party. By the time 5 o'clock comes around, I'm sure I'm next in line for the Pinterest throne.

 

 I research new trends in the interior design and craft universe, find designer/makers to be featured in upcoming issues, curate content on a few pages and generally enjoy watching magazine makers in their natural habitat. It is fascinating to be welcomed inside the magazine bubble.

Jeans and Vans are the norm, meeting areas are full of bean bags and morale boosting award ceremonies are taking place left, right and centre. In the middle of this wonderfully creative world, I have this all-consuming realisation that this is a place for people who like to draw outside the lines, who get to play around in a jungle of  escapism every day, and I am more than ready to be welcomed into the pack.

 

 

Lunch breaks and evenings are spent milling around side streets and canals. St Nicholas Market wins the prize for the most delicious frittata I have ever tasted, with the riverside succeeding in both embodying fast-paced Britishness with a laid back continental feel. It is easy to forget I'm nestled on British shores, yet am comforted when I hear familiar accents, Anglicised wit and feel the unmistakable, refreshing channel air.

I watch the rowers rush by, buy an ice-cream by the river's edge, walk along the overgrown tramlines and embark on a quest to find a Banksy. Sandwiched in the docks, I find the famous Girl with a Pierced Eardrum, and make the ultimate artistic faux pas of being unable to locate the earing (I'll give you a clue. It's the alarm box) I think I'll stick to the writing malarkey for now!

 

All in all, it was a week of learning, exploring, growing up and having a taste of a tangible dream. It started with Year 3000, but here's to hoping that 2016 is the year that I get a little closer to joining the creative tribes, where my scribbles are seen as stepping stones to success and jeans and Vans are ways of earning my magazine stripes!