Dana and Darrell

  • Who is Darrell?  

    Darrell: I’m a writer, 34, who lives in Brooklyn—and who loves racket sports, books, movies, and the woods. I’m a pretty positive-minded guy and interested in a lot of stuff—I like to think this comes across on my website, Jungles in Paris.

    Dana: Darrell is the knowledgeable, caring, grounded man that I love, whose habits are both stylish and grandfatherly. He has a killer tennis game, a penchant for puns, and likes to plug his website whenever he can. 🙂


    Who is Dana?  

    Dana: Hustler on the outside, homebody on the inside. Trying to do right by the people I love.

    Darrell: Dana is a sweet, genuine, smart, hilarious Canadian woman that I love, who also happens to be a knockout beauty.

    Dana and Darrell

  • Who are Dana and Darrell?

    Coupla’ jokesters. We shack up together real nice, especially since moving to Brooklyn. But we also have jobs (travel writing and modeling, namely) that require us to travel solo and be independent, so we’re good with weird schedules and being apart. We share interests, are never short on conversation, and in our everyday banter we often know what the other is thinking (especially when it comes to predicting each other’s comedy references). But we come from different enough backgrounds, and are eight years apart in age, so there is no risk whatsoever that we will ever become the same person.


    How long have you been together?

    Dating for four years, engaged since early May.


    Any idea what the secret is to everlasting love?  

    Darrell: Finding the right person, then just constantly noticing and loving her being herself.

    Dana: Never being too busy to show your partner you love them.

    Dana and Darrell

  • Tell us your story, how did you meet?

    No surprise: we met at a fashion week party in New York. Darrell arrived at the party just as Dana was leaving. Dana was with a friend who knew Darrell, and she introduced them. Darrell, because he had to write something about the party, stayed—but only for a few minutes before texting the mutual friend, asking to join them. He met them at Bereket (RIP) and joined them for beers and pool at Max Fish. D and D hardly spoke. She was distracted; he was patient.  A few days later, Darrell invited Dana and their mutual friend to a party. D and D got into a lengthy debate in the basement of the Dream Hotel. Naturally, she said yes when he asked her to dinner.


    Was it love at first sight?

    Darrell: I would say it was intense interest at first sight.

    Dana: Erm, I was pretty drunk, so… no.


    Out of the billions of people in the world why each other?  

    Dana: No one else has held my affection this long! But seriously: I’ve never been so continuously in awe of, attracted to, and excited to be around anyone else. I’m still surprised by it, almost four years in!

    Darrell: That face!

    Dana and Darrell

  • Your hopes and dreams?

    Darrell: Being able to slow down and spend lots of time outside. To have less noise, except during NHL playoffs. To live a cultured life and keep finding ways to keep the nonsense away.

    Dana: What he said, minus the playoffs. Also, to spend more time in the woods.


    Who is the better dancer?  

    Darrell: Dana.

    Dana: Definitely me. Though Darrell, a very loose-hipped man, doesn’t shy away!


    Do you believe it’s ok to go on separate vacations?  

    Dana: Of course! Distance, fonder, all that.

    Darrell: Yes. Although rarely for us is it a pure vacation. We go home to spend time with our  families, sometimes not together. Both of us go amazing places for work, where we can’t really bring the other. And every summer I go hiking with the same group of guy friends. But of course we also take some pretty great vacations together, too.

    Dana and Darrell

  • How do you keep the romance alive?

    Dana: Sex before sundown! Getting out of the city together. Time apart. Here is something I believe: There are actually infinite opportunities for romance, every day and years in, if you just let yourself fall into them. Stress and work and frantic lives (and we don’t even have children!) can feel more pressing or more important, and make us rush past those tiny romantic rabbit holes. But if you let yourself notice them, receive them—the extra few minutes in bed, watching each other get dressed—those romantic windows widen, become foundational, never fade.

    Darrell:  Luckily for me, Dana will have to get dressed/undressed on a daily basis for a long time. I think the main thing is for each to act as though it’s not up to the other person to keep the spark there.

     

    What is easy, what is hard?

    Dana: Easy: the everyday—mornings and evenings and weekends together, long drives. Hard: well, it’s still preliminary, but planning a wedding seems like it will be a nightmare.

    Darrell:  Our never-ending banter is easy. It is the grease in the machine of our relationship. Physical affection is easy. What’s harder sometimes is nailing down future plans, given our unpredictable careers–whether it’s five days or five years down the road.

     

    Darrell:  junglesinparis.com      Dana: aftertastes.co

    Dana and Darrell