Maddi and Ben met the millennial way- swiping right on a dating app. Ben was in the middle of intern year at UCLA, sleep-deprived, and a bit lost in LA after a stint in NYC. Maddi, an original New Yorker, was powering past the darkest days of graduate school at Cedars-Sinai and had found her home away from home in southern California. When they met up in a crowded WeHo bar on 1/23/2019, Ben vividly remembers Maddi grabbing his hand and saying “let’s boogie out of here.” In what felt like seconds (Maddi is a marathon runner, so it’s hard to keep up), they were on a rooftop bar overlooking LA. They talked about Maddi’s cross-country drive before moving to LA, Ben argued he was a true New Yorker, and he tried to impress her with his marginally existent basic science knowledge. To this day, it is unclear- and a point of contention- as to who initiated the first kiss. A few of Maddi and Ben's favorite memories from their time together: pre-pandemic dinners at LA restaurants followed by quarantine creations by Chef Ben (with Maddi as the in-house Brussel sprout expert), exploring cenotes in Tulum, escaping LA for weekends in Mammoth Lakes and Palm Springs, throwing the smallest Ph.D defense, then graduation, then Nature paper acceptance parties with mandatory 1:1 champagne bottle to human + dog ratio (hangovers ensued each time). And here are a few questionable ones: Maddi getting pick-pocketed after a night out dancing, chasing after (and on one occasion temporarily losing) their dog Zoe in Mammoth, Maddi tumbling down the mountain on a bike trail in Utah, Ben learning to drive stick-shift in 10 minutes then jetting off into the French countryside- there were lots of prayers at each roundabout. The execution of the proposal plan got off to a rocky start. Ben’s covid test to enter Hawaii had not resulted when they boarded their flight and the initial plan of popping the question on a morning hike overlooking the ocean was being replaced with the dread of a potential quarantine. Luckily, it resulted while in the air (thanks JetBlue wifi). After Ben got down on one knee at a scenic viewpoint along a cliff edge, Maddi said yes and without thinking dangerously jumped into his arms…nearly resulting in the shortest engagement in history. Regardless, it was an incredible moment (captured by @kelly_nloughlin). We are ecstatic to celebrate with you at our wedding ceremony and reception on April 30th, see you soon!