This past week I celebrated my nineteenth birthday. Celebrating my first birthday away from home was a very scary and weird concept to me at first. My birthday celebration became an amazing week-long celebration thanks to my roommate, family, and friends. Here’s a recap of what my friends called, “National TaMyra day” or may I say week.
The celebration started on Tuesday night at approximately 11:59 p.m. when my friends came into my room and told me I had to be blindfolded. As they led me down the hall, almost making me run into every wall, I was met with my floor singing happy birthday with cakes that my roommate made for me at exactly midnight. I was now nineteen years old celebrating with some of my favorite people. Later on that day, my dad drove in from Louisville, Kentucky to take my friends and I out for dinner. He also surprised me with a gift from my friend at home. She handmade a book bouquet for me since she wouldn’t be here to celebrate with me for the first time since middle school. We ended up going to the Black Tap down on Broadway (I highly recommend it) and it was delicious. After dinner, my roommate (she’s an opera singer if you don’t know) serenaded me with Happy Birthday in the middle of the street.
The next day, which I thought was the last day, my mom came into town to take my friends and I out to dinner as well. This time we went to The Southern Steak and Oyster which was also pretty good. The day before she had sent me flowers, by the end of my birthday my room was starting to feel like a flower shop, with a note. I was very fortunate to have my family be able to visit me on my birthday.
My friends and roommate kept hinting at a surprise but I figured since it was approaching two days after my birthday they just wanted to make me paranoid. On Friday, I went to an escape room with a couple of my friends and my birthday twin who also happens to live on my floor. We were pretty confident we could escape until we looked and saw the 9/10 difficulty. Spoiler alert… we did not escape. Overall it was fun and we finished the night off by getting ice cream at The Legendary Milkshake Bar. You’d be shocked to know that I don’t even really eat ice cream after finding out how much I had it this week.
Finally Saturday approached, this is now day four of my birthday celebration. I finally went out to eat with most of my friends for one last final birthday activity. Can you tell I like going out to eat? This time we went to Moxy Rooftop, it was mainly for the vibes rather than the food. 10/10 for the aesthetic and the food was pretty decent as well. Of course dinner turned into a photoshoot for all of us as the balcony had a beautiful view of Downtown Nashville. When we were finally about to uber back, I realized I was in fact not just paranoid and there was one more final surprise. My groups’ uber got there before my roommates. She instantly rushed over and asked to take my seat because she “needed to go” instantly. So we switched uber groups and I waited with my other friends who remained acting clueless as why she took my spot. Finally my new uber arrived and we were on our way back to my dorm. As soon as we got back my friends scrambled as soon as I turned my back. I decided to walk into my room and was met with the lights off and balloons all over the floor. I turned the lights on and all my friends popped out saying surprise with a cake and music playing.
Overall, celebrating my first birthday away from home was a success. I got to spend it with some of my favorite people who made sure I felt loved on my birthday. Growing up and being away from home can be scary but it’s a part of life. Embrace the new era you’re in. Whether you have a birthday or birth week, make sure to celebrate as you only turn this age once. National TaMyra day is now officially over until 2025 see you next year.
