White Chick of the Week: Eliza Gager

Earlier this year, I graduated from an advertising portfolio school in Atlanta called The Creative Circus. It's a two-year school for folks that want to find a career in the advertising industry and offers programs in Copywriting, Graphic Design, Art Direction, Interactive Web Development and Photography. (The school functions on eight 10-week quarters, so every 10 weeks there is a class of newbies and a quarter of graduates making their way into the professional world).

Essentially, it's grad school for weirdos.

It was always interesting to see the looks on old friend's faces while catching up with them and answering the proverbial "so what are you up these days" question with the words "grad school" and "Circus" in the same sentence. I can assure you, it's a legitmate, accredited institution and the basic goal is to develop a portfolio of fake ad campaigns and then the school helps you shop your portfolio or "book" around to find gainful employment.

It's a pretty fast-paced and work-intensive, albeit fun as hell, program and only Creative Circus grads truly know the amounts of stressful absurdity two years of advertising school entails. But it was a really cool experience, and pretty amazing to be surrounded by so many different, talented and weird people for a couple of years.

And it was through The Creative Circus that I was blessed enough to meet this week's White Chick of the Week. We first worked together on one of her package design projects (see picture) and quickly established a fun, snarky rapport.

When it came time for me to graduate in March of this year, she was a HUGE help in helping me get my stuff together. (Along with your "book," Creative Circus grads are required to have an "identity package" of business cards/'thank you' notes/etc and a website to display your work). So, along with putting the finishing touches on two year's worth of work for your "book," getting the "identity" stuff together AND worrying about finding a job when it's all over, the last quarter of the Creative Circus is quite frantic and stressful as hell.

And it was during this time that the WCOTW and I came up with nicknames for one another. Due to her ability to churn out quality work and her impeccable skills in the Adobe Creative Suite I dubbed her "Production Monkey." And due to my constant need for tweaks and unreasonable demands she dubbed me "Princess."

She is graduating THIS WEEK from The Creative Circus and it is a huge honor to introduce WWCC's newest White Chick of the Week. Along with being a soon-to-be graduate from the Creative Circus's Graphic Design program, she's also WWCC's first WCOTW from the Northeast. So please offer a warm welcome and a HUGE CONRATULATIONS to Eliza Gager. (You can get a sample of her wit on her blog and check out her work on her website, which is still a work in progress, so be patient. AND she's been a WWCC supporter since day one and designed the blog's awesome logo!

BIO

Name: Eliza Gager, but my friends call me Bonecrusher for some reason. (author's note: aka "Production Monkey" by only one person).

Age: 26 3/4 and I ain't ashamed of it

College/Major: Fordham University / Photography (the second least useful degree ever)

Current City: The ATL

Occupation: Professional student. And babysitter.

Hometown: New England. It’s basically all just one state.

One Quick Interesting Fact About Eliza: My family came to this great country via The Mayflower, making me a 14th generation (American) white chick.

THE THINGS ELIZA CHERISHES MOST:

Chick-fil-A Combo Meal: Chicken salad sandwich and waffle fries with a Diet Dr. Pepper and a side of Heinz 57 ketchup. No substitutions will be accepted.
Non-threatening Singer-Songwriter: I’m going to go old school on this one and say James Taylor (a salty New Englander if there ever was one). His mellow tunes are the soundtrack of my life.
Brand of Ridiculously Expensive Blue Jeans: Even though I wear jeans every day of the week, I refuse to spend actual money on them. Right now, I'm rocking American Eagle brand... $39. Unfortunately, even if I had a rockin’ job, I probably wouldn’t spend big bucks on denim. Shoes are a different story.
Boutique Cupcake Flavor: From the bakery: red velvet. However, I do make a mean Irish Car Bomb cupcake. There are three types of booze in it. Because, to a white chick, there is no better thing than cake AND booze in one delightful little package.
White Chick Flick: Breakfast at Tiffany’s. Audrey Hepburn is the ultimate white chick and the costumes are to die for. Also, it’s one of the finest entries into the “hooker with a heart of gold” movie genre. (Sidenote: the male lead, George Peppard, was also the star of my favorite childhood show, The A-Team).
Favorite White Chick Adult Beverage: My adult beverage go-to is usually a Sam Adams. However, if pressed, I do enjoy a good gin & tonic.
Favorite White Chick Lit: Unfortunately, I stopped reading “chick lit” when I was 17. I’m currently halfheartedly reading Moby Dick. Does that make me sound smarter than I really am?
Item of Accoutrement/Accessory:I’m never far from my iphone (with pink case, natch).

WCOTW Q&A

When did you first realize you were a white chick? I first realized I was the whitest chick around somewhere between enrolling in all-girls boarding school and wearing Lilly Pulitzer to the senior prom. Once I had accomplished these two tasks, there was no denying my whiteness.

It's been a long week at work, tell us about your ideal white chick weekend. Since I'm a student, the term "weekend" doesn't really apply to my schedule right now. However, in my imaginary world, an awesome weekend would include these highlights: sleeping in (until at least 8am. Rebellious, I know.), a fun outdoorsy activity (hiking, biking, skiing when the weather allows, etc..), an awesome meal (probably involving a burger and a beer) and then a movie accompanied by homemade popcorn.

What are some the things you cherish most as a white chick? There are almost too many to mention. I guess my top 5 favorite things about being a white chick are:

Large handbags - Where else can I store a first aid kit, mini flashlight, my laptop, iphone, ipod, combo lock to my gym locker, the latest netflix, sharpies, gum, 2 thumb drives, photo strips from the bar, my wallet, business card case, sunglass case, notebook and car keys?

Monograms - My house is a “Where’s Waldo” for the letter E. My friends are staging an intervention next week.

Flip flops - All of mine come from the white chick mecca known as JCrew. They either have an adorable embroidered critter or grosgrain ribbon on them.

Brunch - Bonus points awarded if it’s a country club brunch/bridal shower.

Golf - I was a 4-year varsity letter winner in high school. It doesn’t get much whiter than that.


Your turn to turn the tides: briefly discuss something that white guys are particularly fond that you find comical? Guys that insist on wearing a sweater around their shoulders or their waist. It’s just wrong. I’d be more than willing to sacrifice some space in my large handbag in order to prevent this atrocity.

Tell us a something about you that is very un-white chick. Oh man. Can I mention more than one? My four most un-white chick qualities are: 1) I recently spent some time at the gun range. And I liked it. A lot. 2) I’ve attended both football and baseball summer camps. I was the only girl at football camp and one of two at baseball camp. (Thanks Dad.) 3) I have a love of all things squeamish and slightly disgusting. Recently, I had one of my wisdom teeth pulled. Immediately, afterwards, I asked the nurse if I could see it. There may be a picture of it on the internet. (The show “The Walking Dead” currently satisfies my love of the gory. I love me some zombies) 4) While I do enjoy a good singer-songwriter, my heart truly lies closer to the classic rock/alternative end of the musical spectrum. I can most often be found pounding out some sweet drum solos on my steering wheel while driving around town.

Are you a Twilight fan despite being a full grown adult? Why? Dear God. No. I am in no position to judge people’s taste in film (I’ve seen Ghostbusters about 100 times); however, there is something about sparkly vampires that I just don’t get. Maybe if they added some zombies, then I’d start watching. Maybe.


Nominate yourself or a fabulous white chick friend to be WCOTW by emailing me at mark.pantsari@gmail.com.

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