the shanty.

top: andi, corrina, lara, aubry, lisa

bottom: robin, katrina, cindy

"the shanty" is a house i lived in while in college. it was "a white house with a green roof across from the stadium". if we wanted to get real descriptive, we'd go on to explain that bit about the fish bowl windows that gave everyone peek into our lives. you know, dance parties in the dark, sights of boys anxious to impress one of us with their guitar swooning sessions, etc. it was a house fit for ten girls... and we were a force to be reckoned with. if you can believe it, we were often times told we were "an intimidating group of girls" {wwwwhat? me? intimidating? that deserves its own blog post.} but we had the time of our lives and wouldn't change a thing about it.

everything we did, we did it shanty-style.

shanty dates

shanty parties

shanty prayer

shanty christmas

we were the shanty girls

and there were shanty boys

when i dream {which is a real rarity} i dream i am in the shanty. i'm with my "shanty girls" and we are living life circa 2003. that house became the centrifugal force by which our lives {and possibly yours, for a time} revolved.

beyond anything i learned in the classroom, like, you know - learning to talk to strangers, or writing a press release, or a 17 page pr plan for sunkist tuna-in-a-pouch - i learned the most life lessons from the shanty. {"don't" and "stop", not "don't stop". gossimer and butcher paper can transform anything. when all else fails, pretend like you're asleep. diet coke, air popped popcorn and millhollow fro yo is all you need to get by, just to name a few.}

every once in a while we reunite... and it's always fun. and there's always a decent dose of drama. but it always sheds itself when we enter the dance floor.

that's just the reality of it all.