Hi! I'm Stephanie Quilao, and I'm that blogger chattering about that "magical" life back in the skinny jeans.

In my closet, are three pairs of skinny jeans. One is a pair of Earl Jeans that I paid $120 for, and I love them because they make my butt look round. This is a feat because I have a square Asian bootie. I just can't bear to part with these jeans because I still dream that one day I will wear them again, and when I do, life will be enchanting once again. My hair and skin will be perfect. I will have the perfect career, and the perfect relationship. There will be world peace, and the end of starvation. And most of all, I will be able to walk into any clothing store, and everything I try on will look fabulous on me. Ahhh, yes! That is the wild fantasy that makes me drool.

One day, as I was cleaning out my closet still not being able to part with those Earl Jeans, it dawned on me that I am not the only one who has this dream. I am not the only one who can't bear to part with the skinny jeans. I started asking around, and low and behold my feeling was correct. There is so much pressure to be thin and pretty in our society. We are conned into believing that our value and self esteem rests in what size pants we wear, what our "look" is, and are we the fairest one of them all. Most of all we hold onto the dream of "one day."

Will the pressure ever end? Can we end it? Do we want to end it? What can we do to feel at peace just the way we are? How can we as women better ourselves in ways that do not involve our physical appearance? I ask these questions all the time, so I pontificate here at this blog.

So, why the hell do I think I'm qualified to write about this stuff? Well, I'm not certified by any kind of academic or legal authority, but I am certified by the school of hard knocks, and I am college matriculated albeit in Product Design, but that's still related to making things pretty. When in doubt about anything, check with your doc or shrink. He/she will probably tell you, to tell me, to go to hell, or to hug me because you've found a helpful friend.

I live in the beauty and material obsessed state of California. Okay, it's not so bad here in the San Francisco Bay Area except when it comes to housing. Got $700K for a 3-bedroom townhome with a yard that has the square footage of a bathroom? My career until recently has been in the "pretty people" profession of marketing/sales/PR, so believe you me, I have seen and experienced some crazy shit throughout the years. One of my favorite stories involves the time a missing-toothed Hillbilly asked me, "Is you wonna 'dem 'dar Ornamentals?"

I started “officially” blogging in November 2005. Prior to that, I would anonymously dabble. I’d set up a blog, write for a week or two and then shut it down. A week later, I’d start the process again. I did this for months. Frankly, the idea of putting myself “out there” was both vomitous and thrilling at the same time. Finally, I kicked my own ass, and did it for real. Most importantly, I put my name on it. I highly recommend blogging to everyone. It is a channel for freedom of expression and creativity.

I have always loved things that are new and forward, and naturally gravitated toward technology. I’ve spent my entire corpse-rate career, over 12 years, in tech. On paper, I've done good for myself, and even lucked out with a startup that while I was there grew $1.2 billion in 3-years and was Fortune’s Fastest growing company of 2001. It was the best learning experience that an MBA would never have given me, and taught me soooo much about power, and how money doesn't make people become anything, it actually reveals the true character.

I have battle training in the left-brain world of business, but my passions lie in creativity. I have a coolio right-brain. Figures, I'm an INFP. I dabble and play in food, photography, interior design, web/graphic design, holistic health practices, filmmaking, podcasting, card making, and writing. That's why I love blogging. I can do all this stuff in blogs.

And lastly, the things that no one asks about but tell you alot about the person, their favorites:

Etch-a-sketch, tall-nonfat-2 pump vanilla-carmel machiato, duct tape, design, MAC (the computer), MAC (the cosmetics), When Harry Met Sally, ANY movie by Abrahams & Zucker, Godfather I-III, Kumquats, Strawberry Nirvana Jamba, Vitamin Water, Whole Foods, Pottery Barn catalogs, Deepak Chopra, Tom Peters, Karen Salmansohn, Rich Dad, The Da Vinci Code, Battlestar Galactica, the 4400, Medium, and any crime solving show involving PD, Crime Lab, FBI or CIA set in a major yet stylish city with a leading character who has a tormenting secret in their past.....oh, and sample sizes, they're sooo damn cute.

Thank you for your time!