When it comes to traditions, Andalusia, Ala., is a place like no other. In Andalusia, I get to experience a more traditional southern lifestyle as compared to Buford, Ga., which is more of an urban experience. Buford has school dances and bigtime sporting events, whereas Andalusia has more of a country club social atmosphere. Twice a year, the country club holds a dance for members with daughters in high school. Instead of being a Sadie Hawkins dance, we call it Sub Deb. The Winter Sub Deb theme this year was Breakfast at Tiffany’s, and I was too excited to contain it. Last year, I was unable to attend any of the two dances last year due to volleyball, so I was ecstatic when there were no overlapping dates this time around. I had the pleasure of asking a very nice boy new to Andalusia to the dance, Luke Thrower.
Luke is new to town, and one of my best friends, Julia Smith, set us up to go to the dance together. Luke is your typical country boy, and I knew immediately he’d be an awesome date. Dress shopping is one of my favorite things to do in preparation for the dance. About two months ago, I bought my (current) dream dress. It is a red Sherri Hill with embellished panels, and my parents were just as excited about it as I was. The date and the dress were perfect. All I could do was wait for the date to arrive.
Now, scheduling a trip down to Andalusia can prove difficult on it’s own, but when you add a volleyball recruiting showcase and a tight timeline to it, that’s when a person can have an anxiety attack. The dance was on December 6th. That morning, I was signed up to participate in the morning wave of the Southern Showcase, a major volleyball recruiting showcase. Immediately afterwards, my mom and I had to hit the road to make it in time for my hair appointment at 4:00 pm in Andalusia. The 5-hour drive from Buford to Andalusia (we do gain an hour as it’s in the Central Time Zone) may not seem that far, but in a time crunch, it can feel like 9 hours. My excitement for the dance helped along with the time, and I found myself playing the night out over and over in head as we got closer. I had my hair done in a curled side swoop over my shoulder. Hot rollers were a new experience to me, and my curls were unlike anything I could have ever done myself.
After I finished getting ready, I headed over to my brother William’s and his wife Helen Anne’s house for pictures and finishing touches. Luke picked me up at 6:30, and the photo shoot began. With the Christmas tree as the backdrop, Luke and I took enough pictures to momentarily satisfy my parents, but that didn’t last long. We then headed over to the pre-dance picture session with our friends and their parents, including mine. As a pageant coach, my dad Bill helping in staging the group pictures and even the individual ones.
Editor’s NOTE: Make sure to catch Bill in action in his TLC show, “Coach Charming.”
It was awesome getting to catch up with my friends since I hadn’t seen most of them in months. The dance itself wasn’t exactly how a typical high school dance is run. For one, there was a breakfast buffet (Get it? Breakfast at Tiffany’s theme with a breakfast buffet? LOL) and a whole period of time dedicated to eating a meal, almost like a rehearsal dinner type feel. Then, all the senior girl members were escorted out in front of the crowd by their dads and shared a father-daughter dance. Personally, this is one of my favorite parts of Sub Deb. All the girls always look so happy to be there with their dads, and their dads all look ready to cry at the sight of how beautiful his daughter is.
Then, the dance floor is opened up to the rest of the attendees. I had a great time dancing for hours with all of my friends and enjoying my first Sub Deb. After the dance closed at 11, a big group of my friends hit up the Huddle House for a 2nd breakfast-for-dinner meal. It was great getting to know Luke more and catching up with all of my preschool buddies. There’s a lot you miss when you live five hours away! Everyone ended up going their separate ways around midnight, and then the unavoidable wave of tired seemed to hit everyone. The night ended with Luke, Julia, and Chase (her date) coming back over to my dad’s house to watch a movie, and we could barely stay awake while trying to pick an old Disney original. I think it’s safe to say that my first Sub Deb was a success, and I’ll let you know about my second in about two months when we take on Western theme.
Stella Alverson is a contributor to PSBPopCulture.com with her #TeenLifeStyle articles. Alverson has been around the PSBPopCulture.com Team since her early days and is well versed in how we do things around here. She is currently an Honor Roll student at Buford High School and is on her way to playing college volleyball upon high school graduation.
Alli Lhamon represents the next wave of PSBPopCulture.com. A fashion and music junkie, Lhamon has been on her game since Day One in 2000. She’s a genius in the classroom and might finish with more degrees than the rest of the team combined. You can follow her on Twitter @allilhamonn.
Brandon Clay serves as the publisher of PSBPopCulture.com. A self-professed entertainment, music and sports junkie, Clay has been on his game since picking up his first Nintendo and Sony Walkman in the early 90’s. Adding in a SLAM (Basketball) Magazine subscription in the late-90’s had him setup up for lifelong success. Clay is also a founding member of the “Luxury Boys Club” designed to stay on top of whatever is next in the world of PopCulture. You can follow him on Twitter @psbpopculture.
