I made a collage using photos of scenes and images found around the office. The swatches of embroidery, illustrations, and inventive assortments of trinkets fuse into a colorful blur when I walk past each desk and I hope that the collage recreates that fleeting moment of wonder for you.

Hi there! Not too long ago I was sitting in the same position as many of you, clicking open BLDG 15 and hungrily peaking into the community that is Free People through a film of curiosity soaked in lilac hopes, blue intrigue, and yellow aspirations that blended together until I saw the letters Free People tie-dyed in my dreams. I performed my ritual click on the BLDG 15 link, only to see the opportunity of interning for my favorite company unravel before me; fast forward two months and here I am. Every day this week I arrived home at seven o’clock and collapsed, exhausted, on the sofa, to the confusion of Rambo, a furry black thing with soulful eyes…only to wake up the next morning eager to do it all again.

The first day that I wandered around the office, several vibrant FP girls told me that someone in the building is always with a camera, and everyone loves having their picture taken, even if they claim otherwise. It was this fun, open friendliness that convinced me to shed my hesitant dance in the isle between “pods” and feel at ease when propelling my feet into every workspace where smiling face upon smiling face greeted me and insisted that I click away. What I have enjoyed the most in my first few days in Building 15 is how at every corner, in any nook and every cranny, there is a treasure to be discovered.

I have spotted a streamer cascading from the ceiling, marveled at the aged walls and how much character oozes from their imperfection, and became inspired each time that my eyes landed on the mixed samples draped across walls or gathered in soft heaps of leather and shine on the floor. Perhaps my favorite adventure yet has been the journey on which I embark each time that I explore the workspaces of the individuals whose instinctive creativity drives the company.

When passing by desks, I feel as if I am peering through a window into each employee’s life – their haven – learning what inspires and relaxes them. I have witnessed loose pages of artwork; butterflies plucked from their paper origins and perched over organic plants; scraps of dazzling fabric used as a refuge for pins.

Everywhere I turn waits something magical.