Stefani's Story

Once there was this pretty Mexican girl from Texas (Baytown, near Houston) who went to the University of Colorado at Boulder, which, as you can imagine, is not the most diverse place on earth. But the brown people who were there (including me), bonded, explained to a lot of people that “we don’t speak Mexican,” snuck into the clubs well before we were 21, and generally had a blast. Stefani Vara was undeniably hot (like, video girl hot) and all the boys had a crush on her. Oh, and she was also a cheerleader for CU’s football team, the Buffs, back when the team mattered. She dated a charming and popular football player (what up, Robbie Rob!) as did I—though mine wasn’t as great on the field. (Sorry, LC).

Stef and I became super tight, shared an apartment together. We watched a lot of romantic comedies (my fave genre) and tried to cook once or twice. She may have crashed my first car, a black '96 Tercel I dubbed “Betty Boop,” but I forgave her, since I once accidentally killed a dog. To my credit, I wasn’t drunk, just a horrible driver. I taught her about hip-hop and she put me onto the more obscure Selena stuff. She promised me she’d be a singer like the late, great Tejana one day. I never doubted her. In fact, I wrote the first article about her for the Campus Press. So yeah, as she would say, “We go back, m’ija!” Stef has some dirt on me so I won’t embarrass her further (although I will say she sang in the shower constantly).

Here we are, years later, and I’m proud to say her first album, Storybook Diaries (Siri Music) dropped this week. I gotta give it up to Stef cause it has not been easy, but she’s never given up. Cheers to you, Stef!

Stefani Vara’s debut album, Storybook Diaries, is available on iTunes now.

Check out my fave song from the album below. It’s called “Lately” and it’s very Prince-like. The new single is “In My Heart.”