The Desmond & Dempsey behind D&D

Dear readers,

I beg your forgiveness in advance for the sub-par edition of the leisure letter. Sam Hillman, your usual author and her witty and delicious prose are knee-deep in editing the upcoming edition of The Sunday Paper. I, having just finished Emma Thompson's diaries felt inspired for the job. The diary was written on the set of Sense and Sensibility. There are 64 glorious entires. Sometimes short, sometimes long. Some on Kate & Hugh, some on technical details of the production (like “the line”) but mostly they are about what Emma guzzled that day (her words not mine). The vocabulary is tingling. Never have I ever delighted in words like flatulence, tart and snog but alas I now desire to be English enough to pull them off. I confess; I have since become a little Emma Thompson obsessed and have since listed to her Desert Island Discs multiple times, studied this, this and this article and watched Sense & Sensibility (obviously) Late Night, Howards End, The Love Punch and the Children’s Act.

Anyway, in non E-T news, we are in the mountains. It’s our five year wedding anniversary and Joel (ballsy man) has taken me hiking. Owning a pyjama brand would be a good giveaway to my fondness for the indoors and dedication to being horizontal. BUT what we do for love. I purchased a sports bra and made a mental note of the excellent customer service at Sweaty Beaty and a pair of Adidas training shoes. I huffed and puffed up the mountain like a lazy tart (thank you Emma), agreeing only to the three-hour expedition knowing there is a French red and Croûte compete waiting for me. On route down, I think mainly of how Emma would describe these activities and make a mental note to buy a cast iron pan to upgrade our toastie game on return home. I spent the rest of the afternoon in the Hammock praising Alina and Christian for developing these thick purple socks. Believing this would be a summer holiday thanks to somebodies somewhat misleading direction to pack swimmers, I am regretting have only packed my marigold nightie desperately longing for a quilted robe. Joel sits in the other room planning tomorrows hike and undoubtedly whether Emma Thompson stars in any action movies for tonight.

Until next week

Molly

~

Hi!

I’m sitting in the other room, whilst Molly is securely wrapped up in the middle of a fluffy robe and hammock sandwich. I am by no means a hardcore hiker, but what I would class as a walk followed by a long relaxing lunch, Molly feels should be the subject of a solemn Netflix documentary. The Hillary Step? Try the staircase to the apartment.

Most of you won’t know that I’m a sucker for a new bit of equipment. Since I couldn’t justify buying myself much more (except these dashing mountain bike goggles and shorts), I saw the opportunity instead to get excited about helping Molly pick out the gear she would need for this trip. Some of my recommendations, such as the new leatherman, I was confident that she would see straight through for the self-gift they really were. At the end of the day, this trip was likely to be less 127 Hours and more 100 Foot Journey between restaurants. However, some key bits were missing - such as a decent outer layer and a practical mid-layer. I can’t pretend this wasn’t partly self-serving. If Molly had none of the things we needed and was miserable, wet and cold, I knew I would also be miserable (albeit dry and warm).

Joking aside, but being outside doing things is the exact sort of thing I love to do to relax. It’s always been a bit of a weird one for D&D, and quite honestly, took a while to reconcile with running a pyjama company dedicated to the celebration of life at home. Hands down, I feel my happiest and most relaxed when I get home after a long day outside. Keys/Bike/Snowboard down, shower, pyjamas on. For me though, that’s what D&D is all about. Of course, we’re here for the stay-at-home-bodys, but we’re also here for the just-got-home-bodys.

So get out, enjoy it. Your D&D’s will be there when you get home.

Joel x

SUNDAY UNIFORM SUGGESTIONS

LEISURE LETTER Nº27