I'M 21, BITCHES!!

Hey everyone,

Welcome to my birthday week woohoo!! This week was filled with lots of exciting things, from Dad arriving, to celebrating my 21st birthday, and going to another home football game! It was definitely not a productive week, but who cares cause I’m 21, bitches!!

(Prepare to look at a LOT of photos – there was heaps to document this week xx)

Monday 4 November

Woke up feeling really clogged up again this morning, so took another nap when I got back to the dorm from Dylan’s place. He and I met up again to get lunch at Rebel Market, ran a few errands, and then parted ways so he could go to class and work.

I spent the rest of the afternoon and evening finishing off a research essay that was due tonight for my journalism class, which I actually really enjoyed writing! I titled it “Factors Contributing to the Lack of Female Athletic Directors in Power Five Institutions and Collegiate Sport Management as a Whole”. I discussed some of the reasons that have contributed to why there are only 4 female athletics directors amongst the 65 most powerful athletics schools in the US, and in general the reasons for a lack of female athletic directors and upper management in institutions across the country.

I skipped my class to get this done, and aside from facetiming Mum and Dad (who was packing for his trip here!!) and finishing off last week’s blog post, nothing exciting happened.

Tuesday 5 November

Went to the grill for lunch today, and then headed to my drug crimes class shortly after. This time we discussed in detail the recent murder of 11 Americans by a Mexican drug cartel in northern Mexico, as well as how our professor believes that the drug cartels should be considered terrorists because they fit the profile (I agree).

In my family law class, we got our results back for our exam from last week. I got a 92 woohoo!! Considering there’s only 3 exams for this class, each worth 1/3 of my grade, I’ve now passed this class.

Dylan and I went to a place called Cookout for dinner tonight, and it was delicious and cheap.

I was messaging dad all through the night as he was already on his way to the US and he had Wi-Fi on his long haul flight, so I kept up with how he was travelling.

Wednesday 6 November

Dad arrives today!!!

Dylan dropped me back at the dorm this morning on his way to class, and then I napped some more.

I spent the rest of the morning and afternoon cleaning my room and packing my stuff to stay at dad’s hotel with him tonight.

Dylan picked me up after a meeting and we went to a car wash, then grabbed some food at Sonic, and then headed back to his for a bit before heading to the airport.

When we got to the airport, we only had to wait in the baggage claim for about 15 minutes before dad came down the escalator. I ran up to him and gave him a big hug and almost started crying. I introduced him to Dylan, and we headed towards the car (we’d already grabbed his bag off the carousel as it was one of the first ones out).

We eventually made it out of Memphis and headed towards Oxford, making it to town around 7:30pm. We checked Dad into his hotel, and then headed to the Square for dinner at Ajax Diner. I got the catfish as per usual, and Dad and Dylan both got some weird meatloaf steak thing. We then wandered around the Square a bit before Dylan took Dad and I back to the hotel.

Dad and I spent the night catching up and organising the week ahead. I also started receiving happy birthday messages from friends and family back home since it was now my birthday in Australia.

Thursday 7 November

IT’S MY 21ST BIRTHDAY!!!

Dad and I gradually got up and ready, and then headed across the road to IHOP for breakfast. We both had eggs, bacon, a hash brown, and two pancakes. It was delicious! After eating, we headed back to the hotel to grab our stuff, headed to the bus stop, and took the bus into campus.

When I arrived at my room back at the dorm, I opened my door to be surprised by a bunch of my friends screaming ‘Happy Birthday’ and the room completely decorated with signs, streamers and balloons. I was totally surprised and had no idea! It turns out that they’d spent all last night decorating the room (so it was very convenient that I stayed at the hotel with dad, which Georgia had enquired about multiple times during the week) and had been texting me all morning so they’d know when to be waiting in the room (I genuinely thought that they just wanted to know when they’d be able to see me on my birthday). We chatted for a while and I introduced them to dad, filling in the time until Ciara came back from her in-class test so I could open my presents (she wanted to be there to see it). Together they’d all bought me an Ole Miss football jersey, an Ole Miss mug, an Ole Miss beanie, an Ole Miss clear purse (for gamedays), Ole Miss car stickers, Oreos, my favourite pretzels, Nutella, a birthday girl badge and sash, and Vera had made me a memory book featuring photos of me and the gang from our time over here as well as a bunch of the memes I’ve made about our group. I was so so surprised and very grateful!

(The girls hid a camera to film the moment I walked into the room and was surprised by them)

I still went to my class at 2:30pm, and as I walked in, my professor called me up to the front so he could say Happy Birthday. Georgia was cheering and clapping, and I thought she and my professor were about to make the whole class sing Happy Birthday to me (thank god they didn’t).

Dad met us after class, having enjoyed his stroll around the north-east side of campus. We went back to the dorm so I could drop my stuff off and call Mum, and CJ also gave me a present from all my friends back home that they’d sent me, which was a ‘Down Under’ box filled with Aussie treats.

Dad and I then headed off on a tour of campus I wanted to give him, even though it was raining. We walked past some frat houses, down towards the rec centre, football training ground, basketball stadium (where we went inside and saw the men’s team training!), the football stadium, through the Grove, past more sorority houses and the dorms on the other side of campus, and then back to my room.

We then got ready to head to dinner, and caught an Uber to Volta Taverna, the town’s Greek restaurant. We had to wait a little while to be seated (it was super busy), but in the meantime we ordered some margaritas since it was half price night. Just like my 18thbirthday, I wasn’t even asked for ID when ordering the drinks. We ended up ordering some Hotty Toddy balls (fried garlic mashed potatoes, bacon and mozzarella balls), a mozzarella pita melt, a pork souvlaki, a chicken souvlaki, and polished it all off with some baklava for dessert. The food was good but not great – I guess I’m used to really really good Greek food that we’re spoiled with in Melbourne.

Dylan picked us up after dinner and dropped Dad off at his hotel before we went back to his place. For my birthday, he’d decorated his room in rose petals and candles, and my birthday cake was my favourite cookie dough ice cream with 2 and 1 candles on top – so so sweet!!

Friday 8 November

After a sleep in, Dylan and I grabbed Dad from his hotel and we all went to Huddle House for breakfast where I had a delicious bacon and cheese omelette. We then took Dad to Walmart to show him around and buy a few groceries before Dylan dropped us back at the hotel and headed off to work.

Dad and I caught an uber back to campus to drop off our stuff, and then caught a bus into the Square to have another walk around. We visited Dylan’s work which is an Ole Miss merch store since Dylan’s boss had told us that he could get us a few things with his staff discount. Dad ended up getting a navy Ole Miss polo to wear to tomorrow’s game, a cap for himself and one for Tom, and I got an Ole Miss corduroy-type sweater. There was an issue with the team discount (a.k.a. the cashier was being a bitch) and we didn’t get everything discounted, but that’s okay. We caught an uber back to campus and got ready for my birthday dinner!

A bunch of us who live in my dorm + Dad caught an uber into the Square around 7pm and headed to Proud Larry’s. Thankfully some of the girls had gone in earlier and given them a heads up that a big group was coming in (since nowhere around here takes reservations, especially not on a gameday weekend), and so they’d reserved some seating for us. I threw down a few drinks, ate some mozzarella sticks and pasta, and enjoyed hanging out with everyone. Dad had a great time gossiping with my friends and even sharing a bottle of prosecco with a few of them (I didn’t get any of it).

(Myself, Georgia (Australia), Ciara (Ireland), Vera (Germany), Dad, CJ (Aus/NZ), and Bea (Germany))

After dinner we headed to Fill-Up with Billups because we knew they were doing 50c shots and $2 Wells (vodka + *insert mixer*). We ended up staying here for the rest of the night, enjoying the free drinks and the DJ who loved that we were internationals and that I was the birthday girl and therefore played almost every music request we made. I had people buying me drinks all night, including a random girl who bought me a shot to do with her, and dad shouted the table tequila shots (3 of which I did, and 1 of them Dad did with me).

(Dylan, me and Griff)

(Linda (Germany), Declan (Scotland), Eamon (Australia), Dad, CJ (Aus/NZ), Bea (Germany), Georgia (Australia), Me, Dylan (Mississippi), Vera (Germany), and Ciara (Ireland))

(Me, Griff (Mississippi), Bea (Germany), CJ (Aus/NZ), Oscar (Sweden), Dad, and Linda (Germany))

(Dylan and I)

(Georgia filmed the shot that I took with the random chick who bought it for me since it was my bday)

(Declan got me to request '500 miles' and it went OFF)

(Dad and I doing a tequila shot together lol)

(Dad, myself and Dylan)

(Myself, Bea (Germany), Al (England), Georgia (Australia), Declan (Scotland), CJ (Aus/NZ), Ciara (Ireland), Oscar (Sweden), and Griff (Mississippi))

(CJ (Aus/NZ), myself, Linda (Germany), and Bea (Germany))

(CJ and I)

(Georgia and I)

We were eventually kicked out around 1:30am, and with no offer to have the party continue at someone else’s place, we all headed our separate ways. An uber dropped Dad at his hotel and then took Dylan and I back to his.

Saturday 9 November

GAME DAYYYY!

I spent the morning getting ready at Dylan’s place before his roommate very kindly drove us to pick up Dad and then onto campus. I popped by the dorm to drop off my stuff and grab a few things, and then we headed out. We were originally bound for Rebel Market to get some food, thinking that the Walk of Champions wasn’t until much later, but I realised on the way that it was only in 7 minutes time, so I made Dad and Dylan run with me to the Grove so that Dad could see it. Unfortunately it was already happening, but we caught the last 20 or so players getting off the bus. We then headed straight back to Rebel Market to get some lunch.

After eating, I quickly popped back to the dorm to get some things I’d forgotten, and found that there was a fire truck and 4 cop cars outside my residence hall, with an ambulance showing up soon after. There were rumours that a girl on the 4thfloor was struggling to breathe, and I just missed seeing her get wheeled out into the ambulance. After I met back up with the boys, we headed back to the Grove so I could give Dad more of a walk through it. It wasn’t super busy unfortunately, but it was still surreal showing him around! We headed to the stadium around 2:30pm.

We went and sat in the student section with our friends, and then the game started at 3pm. The stadium was relatively empty, which would have been a combination of the weather (it was freezing) and the fact that our competitor, New Mexico State, was not an SEC team or a regular rival. The crowd got smaller and smaller as the game went on; even all my friends disappeared. Overall it was a good game and Ole Miss came out with a 41-3 win – their highest score and biggest winning margin this year.

After the game, Dad, Dylan and I headed back to my dorm, and Dylan headed home shortly after since we had no plans to go out. Dad and I ordered some IHOP via Uber Eats and ate it in my dorm room whilst catching up on the latest episode of the Amazing Race Australia, and afterwards he headed off. I spent the rest of my night watching some Netflix and packing my suitcase (since Dad will be taking a bunch of my stuff home for me since he has a 2 suitcase allowance and so I don’t have to pay any excess baggage fees or pay for it to be sent home).

Sunday 10 November

Today we went to Memphis! Dylan picked me up from my dorm and then Dad from his hotel around 11am, and we headed into the city. We first visited Elvis Presley’s Graceland, which was an amazing experience! We visited the actual Graceland house, which was a stunning property, and got to learn a lot about Elvis and his family. We also were able to see the graves of Elvis, his mother, father, grandmother and a plaque for his stillborn twin brother. After this tour, which went for about 2 hours, we saw his airplanes and got to walk through them. After a quick visit to the gift shops, we headed off.

(The front-of-house living room)

(The dining room, which Lisa Marie (his daughter) and her family use when they visit town)

(The basement's TV room)

(The basement's pool room)

(The ranch in the backyard, where horses are still kept)

(The back of the house)

(Elvis and Priscilla's wedding attire, and a bottle of champagne from their wedding which they signed)

(Closest to furthest: a plaque for Elvis' stillborn twin brother Jesse (whose actual grave is back in Tupelo, Mississippi where they were born), Gladys (mother), Vernon (father), Elvis, and Minnie Mae (paternal grandmother), with a spare slot next to her presumably for Lisa Marie (daughter))

(The front of Graceland)

(Elvis' private jet, which he named the Lisa Marie, after his daughter)

(The back wing of the Lisa Marie - Elvis' logo 'TCB' with a lightning bolt (TCB stands for Taking Care of Business and the lighting bolt signifies that things are done at the speed of lightning))

(The front of the off-base welcome centre, gift shop and other exhibitions (which we did not pay extra to see))

We went and walked around Beale Street and found a place to have a late lunch, and then browsed some gift stores. I knew I HAD to get the boys onto some of the electric scooters and take them on the same journey that Georgia and I had gone on last weekend, so we did just that. As we were scooting through the park along the Mississippi River, the sun was setting and it turned the sky into some gorgeous colours. I also took them onto the bridge and we took a very brief trip into Arkansas before heading back along the park and into town. We ended up riding for around an hour and the boys absolutely loved it!

We headed back to Oxford around 7:30pm, and I stayed the night at Dad’s hotel again since it was his last night here.

I had a fantastic 21st birthday week, and I’ve been so lucky to be surrounded by some amazing people – I’m one very lucky gal. There’s many more people I wish I could have celebrated with, but I definitely felt the love from them all from back home!

- Emily xx