Meet Cutes BTS: Destined to be

You asked, we delivered.

Love Letter readers made it clear last that they want more behind-the-scenes access to some of our most popular Meet Cutes NYC couples.

This week, we sat back down with Joe and Liza, who shared their story with us in June. They revealed that we had first caught them at “a very vulnerable moment” when they were preparing to tell their staff at the popular Crest Hardware in Williamsburg that the store would be closing this summer.

That vulnerability shone through in their story, which has been viewed more than 10 million times.

Read on for the full story of how Joe successfully stole Liza from her “a-hole” ex boyfriend and started a relationship that has been going strong for 15 years and counting.

Thank you for talking to us again! We’d love to hear the full story of how you two met.

Liza: I was dating someone who was friends with Joe. This is the ex boyfriend who I mentioned in our video was a real a-hole. I threw a birthday party for him and Joe came to the party. 

Joe: I met her at this party and I’m like Wow, she’s very beautiful. But also, she had made him this really killer cake. It was two barbie dolls mud wrestling, and they were in ripped up clothing standing on top of this chocolate cake that she had turned into a wrestling ring. I was thinking Holy shit, this cake is so cool and thoughtful!

Liza: Some time after that, my boyfriend mentioned that we were going to go meet his friend from the party at Crest Hardware, which Joe owns. I didn’t even really remember who he was talking about. That was the first time I ever had a full-blown conversation with Joe. 

Joe: I remember! It was in aisle two near the light bulbs. She had a blue and white striped oversized Oxford shirt on. 

Liza: He clearly was lovestruck much quicker than I was. 

Joe: So the next year, I go to his birthday party again and Liza was there. I can remember the conversation clearly, I think we were talking about the east end of Long Island. I had a place out there and I was talking about how I love going out there in the fall. And Liza goes “Well, why don’t we all go?” 

So we went for a weekend out east. It was Liza, her boyfriend at the time, myself and two other friends. 

When did you realize there was mutual interest? 

Liza: My boyfriend at the time was really not a cool guy. He cheated on me all the time and we were constantly breaking up and making up. That weekend I kind of had an aha moment of There are nice guys out there, I should probably be with one. It wasn’t so much of Oh, I have this giant crush on Joe, but I liked being around someone who was kind and considerate and fun and shared more interests with me. It was refreshing and eye opening.

I think Joe maybe caught more feelings that weekend than I did!

Joe: Listen, in no way was I disrespectful or did I attempt to engage at all! We were just having a fun weekend. Like Liza said, we had mutual interests. After pumpkin picking and wine tasting, the three other guys took a nap on the couch and Liza and I were cooking and prepping a meal together. There was chemistry in the kitchen with us both cooking and having really great conversation. 

Liza: After that weekend, we started developing a good friendship and were hanging out a lot more. We both lived in Williamsburg. Our friend group had a lot of overlap. Over the course of a month and a half we ended up kind of starting to talk every day. This was pre-texting, so it was mostly on Gchat or throughout the workday. 

After hanging out however many more times, it was Halloween when we were both like Wait… I like you. 

What happened? 

Liza: I was dressed as a Hooters girl, and Joe was dressed up for Day of the Dead.

Joe: My friend had painted our faces, and I had this sombrero and poncho and the great makeup. 

Liza: The party was at a big art space in Williamsburg that used to throw these giant multistory loft parties. We were there with a big friend group.

That night is when we professed our love for each other. We ended up making out. And it’s really funny because we thought we were being sneaky, but then my friend who had been taking pictures of us asked me “Liza, why do you have white face paint all over your face?” We were busted!

How did you handle things with the ex? 

Liza: I definitely cut that off as soon as Joe and I crossed the line. Again, we were always in and out of a relationship, so I definitely don’t feel like I owed him very much, especially at that point. I think I just went over there and was like “This isn’t working, I’m done, we’re broken up” right after the party. 

I didn’t tell him it was because I was seeing Joe, though. 

Joe: I took that on. I thought the onus was on me to speak to him. He shopped at my store, so he was in the neighborhood pretty often. I made a promise to myself that the next time I saw him, I was just gonna talk to him. 

So he came into the shop one day and said something along the lines of “What’s up with everyone hanging out and being good friends with my ex girlfriend now?” 

I said “Let’s take a walk” I told him how Liza and I had been hanging out and that I had feelings for her and intended on pursuing it. And basically I said “I don’t care what you think, but I’m just letting you know because I don’t want it to come from someone else.” I think he was a little bit taken aback by my boldness. 

Liza: I wouldn’t say it went over great, but in the end it was clearly the correct decision. And to be clear, they were never great friends! They were maybe more than acquaintances but they weren’t best friends. 

Joe: It wasn’t like that at all. 

What has the reaction been like to sharing your story with Meet Cutes NYC? 

Liza: We have definitely gotten a tremendous amount of feedback from both friends and strangers. Actually the night that this came out we were out at dinner with friends and a stranger came up to us and was like “Oh my god, are you that couple?!”

We weren’t expecting the response that it got, but it’s been sweet. 

Joe: I think it’s really nice to have a chance for them to take the time to share the joy that they found in the video with us. New Yorkers can be a skeptical bunch. They asked us How did you get in touch with Meet Cutes to schedule it? And I’m like “We didn’t schedule that!” We literally went for coffee across the street and instead of going right back we decided to take a walk around the block. And that’s when we were caught.

Liza: Like I mentioned, Joe owns Crest Hardware, and when you stopped us we were getting ready to tell our staff that the business would be closing, so it was an emotional day for us.

The timing was sort of serendipitous that this story came out two weeks before our public announcement went out. It was kind of nice to have this really beautiful, positive thing about us that wasn’t related to Crest happening while something sad and tough in our life was going on. It was a nice, uplifting thing among all the sad chaos. 

Anything else you want to share? 

Liza: Even if it seems like you’re doing the wrong thing, go for it. Because you never know when love will strike!

Wanna watch Liza and Joe’s original Meet Cute video? Click here.

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Interviewed and transcribed by Nicolas Vega. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

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