My lil Bristol flat (+ thoughts on life after uni)

Evenin’. Happy Thursday! Last weekend (when I wrote this post) was a cosy one (primarily because I got a little tooo merry at the office Christmas party on Friyay and ended up needing an entire Saturday in bed lol). And because it was just so cosy, I thought I’d ease us into the new blog this week with a wee Bristol flat tour! My own lil home! Yay! Welcome! Take your shoes off on the way in, pls and thank you. Now, let’s get crackin’!

So why the heck have I moved to Bristol?! Back when I was blogging my ol’ blog back at the start of 2019, I was in my third year of university, studying BA English & Creative Writing at the University of Birmingham. To say it was stressful is an understatement (lol) and it was around the time that I stopped blogging back in March when dissertation hell swamped my entire existence (not even being OTT here) that I decided I wanted to take it easier for a little while after uni.

I felt like I’d spent so long working damn hard towards something I really wasn’t getting much fulfilment or enjoyment out of, and I was feeling anxious, stressed and like I’d lost my passion for a lot of things that made me super happy before the university days. So whilst uni was bombarding us with emails about ‘career-boosting’ graduate schemes, I had a mahoosive realisation that a year ‘off’ before attempting to launch my career would be 1000000% the way forward.

To escape from uni stress, I hopped on National Express buses every couple of weeks to go and visit my boyfriend in Bristol, where he was at university. Every single time I visited the city I felt an instant calm wash over me – mostly due to the fact that I was NO WHERE NEAR my dissertation, but also because the city has a beautiful charm. I felt so happy here every single time I visited, and it suddenly dawned on me that this is exactly where I could spend my year ‘off’. Luckily, Sam felt the same and after a hellish summer of trying to grab jobs we wanted plus the flat of our dreams which also somehow fitted into our budget (which usually doesn’t get you much in hellishly expensive Bristol) we got here and we are now living in beautiful Brizzle!

So welcome to our wee flat. It’s one bed (so guests have to airbed it and we’re disgraceful hosts for that) but it’s as much as spenny Bristol will get ya. We live in delightful Clifton, a 20 minute walk from the centre of Bristol and a place that houses the pooosh retired folk of Somerset. Seriously, when I was in the local park the other week, I heard an RP-pronounced, Gucci-clad middle-aged women shouting, “Jaeger! Come here dah-ling!” to her Labrador. No word of a lie.

I think the images speak for themselves (and we don’t have much to showcase so it’s a very self-explanatory living room, hallway sitch with cute shelving, kitchen and bedroom – bathroom is included but who wants pix of a bathroom? Lol) and we really feel like, 2 and a bit months in, it feels like our little home now. We’ve tried to quirk it up with some trinkets we adore very much (say hello to Turnip, our doggo lamp) and Sam houses around 4 guitars and a keyboard somehow within these tiny walls.

It always takes me a good week or so to get settled somewhere new – half the time I go on holiday and only just feel settled in the new area before I have to leave – typical. But with this flat, I really really did feel like it was home on our very first evening, when all we had were the furniture. Where the future’s holding for Bristol, us and 2020? Who knows – we have the flat until September, which is a joy – and then we might stick around, or move somewhere new. I’m usually an organiser and a planner, but right now I have no clue which direction the New Year will take me in, and instead of being terrified by the prospect, I’m kinda a fan of it. Hope you liked this wee post – thought I’d ease us in to the new website without going toooo heavy on the topic today. Have a lovely week – and I’ll be back with another post next Sunday!