Long before Project Runway and the success of her clothing line, fashion designer Kara Janx, 31, had already struck up a friendship with real-estate broker Sharone Sohayegh, her N.Y.C. neighbor. The pals dined at a low-key Soho lunch spot; the meal lasted eight hours and kick-started their romance. So it was only fitting when—just before Runway's tense 2006 Fashion Week finale—Sohayegh, 28, "got down on one knee in the same rice-and-beans joint," says Janx, laughing.