Porch Profile: The women of 233 Irving
Seniors Carly Denny, Christine Cirillo, Mary Leigh Hayes, Jada Neal and Dominique Schiano share a special
interest house on Irving Avenue, as well as a love for reality television and spending time together. (Vincent Huang/Staff photographer)
By: Moira Bonadonna – Staff Writer
Flyer News: How did you guys meet?
Carly Denny: Jada and I have known each other since we were kids.
Mary Leigh Hayes: We joined Alpha Phi Omega, a service fraternity. I think that connects it all.
CD: We all kind of hitched together.
FN: What kinds of things do you do on your porch?
CD: Christine and I have porch dates all the time.
Christine Cirillo: We have great built-in seating on our porch, because we have a stone porch, which is unique.
CD: We chill with our duplex peeps on the porch.
MH: We have deep talks on the porch.
CD: I get huge mosquito bites on the porch.
FN: Does your house have any unique features?
MH: Our light switch has the original plate on it, and it says, “God bless this house.” It’s really pretty, though. It’s from the thirties. You can tell it’s the original architecture.
Jada Neal: (To Christine) Your nook.
CC: Oh, my gosh! When you walk in…you think it’s gonna be a single, then you walk in to what you think is going to be a walk-in closet, but it’s my bed. We call it Christine’s cubby.
CD: It’s like “Harry Potter.”
FN: Do you do anything together as a house?
CC: Most of our encounters involve eating.
Dominique Schiano: Or cooking.
MH: And getting ready.
CC: I’d say we have our own unique activities.
DS: I say we consult one another for all things fashion related.
CC: Actually, we consult Dominique.
DS: Well, I always ask you guys what shoes to wear.
JN: Well, I eat.
FN: Are there any house rules?
CC: If you bake something you must share.
JN: Christine has to do all the dishes.
FN: What does a typical Friday night look like here?
DS: We sit watching “Bride Day Friday” for a few hours. Then we meander upstairs and start our getting ready process.
DS: Then the neighbors come from next door, and say, “Why aren’t you guys ready yet?” And we’re like, “Hello? ‘Bride Day Friday.’”
FN: Describe 233 Irving in one word.
JN: Tasty.
Everyone else: No!
MH: Eclectic…eccentric.
DS: Sassy.
CD: We’re not sassy. You’re sassy.
MH: Involved.
CD: Family. Bam.
DS: Weird.
JN: We’re strange. We’re very, very strange.
CD: Eccentric is better. But that makes us sound artsy.
DS: We are not artsy. Artsy can be like, edgy, and we’re not edgy at all.
FN: What’s the biggest running joke?
DS: Where’s Jada? Oh, she’s sleeping.
MH: Always.
FN: What shows do you watch together?
DS: “Bride Day Friday.”
MH: “Say Yes to the Dress.”
CD: Christine and I have movie dates.
CC: I’d say we’re not huge TV watchers.
JN: I watch “Ridiculousness” every day. By myself.
MH: Kardashians.
JN: I like “Real Housewives of Orange County.”
DS: I like “Real Housewives” of any city.
CD: I’d just like to clarify that all these reality shows are two out of five people in this house.
CD: “Workaholics.” Yeah, that’s my stuff.
DS: No, your stuff is “Frasier.”
CD: I have big love for 90s sitcoms. “Boy Meets World” comes on, I’m like, “Oh yeah!”
FN: Any parting words for Flyer News?
JN: We’re actually kind of fun sometimes.
CC: We’re really sad Carly’s graduating in December.
MH: Yeah, we have three graduation dates.
CD: I like to color in coloring books.
MH: I have 60 different bottles of nail polish.
DS: There ya go. We all paint our nails together.
CC: Thank you for interviewing us.
JN: God bless America.