Heather and Luke met in October 2001 at Kevin's housewarming party. Luke had stopped by Cristiani's after work, and she unexpectedly dragged him to the party--scruffy beard, denim shorts, baseball cap and all. Luke and Heather hit it off right away, despite the crosstown rivalry (Heather is getting her Ph.D. at UCLA, while Luke has an M.F.A. from USC, and still works there). By the end of the party, Luke had gotten the phone numbers of Heather and her good friend Anne. Luke claims he only asked for Anne's number to be sure he could get back in touch with Heather, but Heather sometimes wonders. . .

Two weeks later, after several phone calls in which Heather kept putting Luke off (he was about to give up!), Luke and Heather finally had their first date. They had lunch at Cafe 50's and were having such a good time that they decided to prolong the date by going down to the Santa Monica Pier. Heather knew it would be love when Luke asked the two most important questions within the first half-hour: "Which is better, Star Wars classic or Star Wars special edition?" and "What are your three favorite Disneyland rides?" Of course taking her somewhere where they serve chocolate chocolate chip milkshakes also helped.

After a few more dates and several long phone conversations, the couple knew they were in love. They discovered that they share the same interests and priorities--writing, family, movies, fishing, just to mention a few--and provide the perfect complement for each other.