ASPIRE: The Dream and the Perfect Pant Meet
In the hustle and bustle of daily life, I love things that go the distance. In fact, it’s more than just a love. It’s a fundamental need. I need things to serve their intended purpose – and work both in and outside the box.
When I bought the Aspire pant last April at Athleta’s friend and family sale, I thought to myself: great name, cute pants. The pants were athletic in style, yet fabricated in a draped lightweight seemingly non-athletic fabric. They were comfortable and felt easy to wear with sneakers, even flip-flops after the occasional yoga class I need more than I care to admit. The name – well, as a type A educated woman, I aspire. In fact, I aspire a lot. I aspire to be more. I also aspire to be less. I sometimes aspire to be both in differing (and sometimes the same) facets of my life. Once a goal, now a pant, suddenly the two seemingly coexisted: my goals and the pants I wear to achieve them were one in the same.
If motherhood has taught me anything, it is to always be prepared and to expect the unexpected. You can plan until kingdom come – but all bets can be off just as quickly as they were on. All it takes is a single meltdown, a coffee spill on your blouse, missing that traffic light, and/or (because it can, and often is, a combination thereof) a forgotten lunch to make the well oiled machine you got up at 5 am to make happen, go to pot. Expect the unexpected. Because if you don’t, you might as well just throw in the towel right now.
You are probably wondering what any of this has to do with the Aspire pant. A few days after Aspire came home with me, I donned them at dawn to take my 1 year old labradoodle for his morning jaunt. That split second decision saved me because my morning walk with the puppy turned into a forty five minute game of cat and mouse around the neighborhood. Now, without time to shower and properly assemble myself for the day, I suddenly realized that today was the day to put Aspire to the test.
After 15 years as a member of the California Bar, today was the first time I had been called for jury duty. No reason a gal can’t be comfortable and cute while performing her civic duty. I switched out my gym top and sports bra for a striped muscle tank tee, knit bomber type sweater jacket and my Saucony sneakers. With some red lipstick, mascara, and my hair in a ponytail, I was off to promote justice and further democracy.
After jury duty, picking up the kids at opposite ends of town after their various extracurricular activities, a quick grocery store stop, I met the sitter at home just in enough time to get dinner started before I had to turn around and head to the city for a client event. As I walked into my closet and turned on the light, I immediately turned it off. Aspire had served me well all day – why not make them go the distance? Could I actually wear Athleta pants to an evening social function at a swanky San Francisco restaurant? Absolutely! And they did not disappoint. I rouched the ankles a bit higher, so they hit mid-calf. I half tucked in a black and grey floral graphic print J. Crew tee shirt, and threw a classic black structured blazer over it. Accessorized with a long necklace, a cobalt blue clutch, and my stiletto pointed heels, I was metro chic, edgy and fashion forward without looking like I was trying to hard (or that I had not showered since the night before and had otherwise been in the pants all day long). I looked the part, was on time, and literally went from walking my dog, to performing civic duties, to a swanky dinner in San Francisco in my Aspire pants. Once intangible, I now wore my aspirations and dreams, like my heart, on my sleeve – and pant leg. To aspire is as easy as slipping on a pair of pants. Who knew? Power to the She!
