a sigh* of (un)relief

I've been suffering from a heavy case of procrastination-itis. Some things never change and some people never slow down long enough to breathe (there's a strong possibility that my body stopped running off of oxygen as of weeks ago). I'm pretty sure that I've been managing to squeeze 27 hours into days that were only meant for 24 hours. It's a talent only a few posses. 


Updates, people! I have updates.. . . .

• We got our venue! Summerour Studio in Atlantic Station (Summerour as in, Keith Summerour the architect... how fitting). I highly recommend that you google it. It's got a killer loft-y feel with hardwood floors, awesome industrious ceilings, factory style windows and of course some brick-age. The outside of Summerour is Tuscan-esque and obviously, to-die-for. It's located on Bishop Street a few blocks from Atlantic Station. It's kind of an unexpected hole-in-the-wall place and I'm admittedly not crazy about the street it's on but it's a small "price to pay" for a lofty-elegant-architecturally inspired-vintage space with killer city skyline views. 

• Perhaps more importantly than the venue... .our date has changed. After excessive back-and-forthing with multiple vendors, we learned that our May 21 date was booked everywhere-- literally, EVERYWHERE. Once we fell in love with Summerour we became sickeningly determined to reserve the space. For those of you who have gone through the headache of venue-shopping, you know that, well...it's a headache and takes time to find a space fitting for you and your other of much significance. After spending the weekend on the edge of our seats, we were informed via an e-mail Sunday night at 11 that Summerour was booked May 21... . devastation set in as we ventured to conjure a plan D. Our last stab at the venue of our dreams was a game of tug-o-war with another couple for the evening of Saturday June 4, 2011.... .we won!!!

• We've gotten all 300 of our save-the-date photo options back and are very excited. Only that means that now it's time to actually pick our "Save the Dates." And probably our invitations as well. Does it ever end?

• Our next big "to-do" is the caterer. Which is possibly the most expensive (and delicious) part of wedding planning. It's slightly depressing and eye-popingly ridiculous how much catering companies charge per plate. Not to mention that they tack on a 20%-21% gratuity for themselves.. . .I'm sure they're not all THAT good. However, this is a wonderful opportunity to pay homage to my heritage. For those of you who don't know anything about Greeks.. .well, at the pit of every Greek person's soul there lies a manipulative, haggling, button-pressing, thieving fiend (according to my father, at least). Needless to say, I'm haggling like it's my job and attempting to play on the sympathies of the not-so-sympathetic event coordinators and accountants. We'll see what we end up with.. .but it's looking like the absolute cheapest (and most unrealistic) option is $30/person which may or may not include taxes and gratuity. Seems as if everyone in the catering business is also of Mediterranean descent. Stay tuned for doof selections...

• While we're talking dollars and (lack of) sense, I would like to pause at recognize/appreciate/thank/publicly announce the debt of gratitude I feel for Daddy + Mommy Warbucks for funding what will be the most meaningful day in our lives both individually and as a couple. Becoming 2 McClures rather than a McClure and a Dounis is no small thing. We're so incredibly lucky to have the families we do.

•   I'm going on a much needed diet. 1,200 calories/day and lots of running and p90x-ing. Zach is in perfect physical shape and doesn't need to waste his time prepping his physique. I'm seething with jealousy at the McClure metabolism!

Wedding aside (only momentarily though.. .I know you're all just drooling over what the next phase could depict. Note: sarcasm), I spent last weekend with Mrs. Jessica Milkwick. A cousin of Zach's who I absolutely adore. If anyone was born to be a grade-A mommy/homemaker/wife, it was Jessica. Not to mention, she's gorgeous. And has perfect children. We stayed up until 3am chatting and throwing together a portion of Zach's slightly belated birthday present. Since school/moving/life has completely interrupted our every-day, Zach's actual birthday was less than exciting-- date night with our newlywed friends Joe + Katie at Tin Drum in Atlantic Station and indulgences to follow. However, the night before the big 2-6, we were treated to a divine dinner at Chops (it seems like I spent my childhood in and out of such restaurants, whilst wearing sailor outfits or cloaked in flower-y dresses and Kentucky-Derby style hats). So to make up for September 15 being a dud, we went out to Rathbun's for dinner on Saturday night. I highly recommend it, killer atmosphere and heavenly "YaYa's Eggplant Fries" and I gave him a home-made scrap book of our adventures. I guess scrap books only come in the home-made fashion, they're not exactly like cakes, from the box or from scratch-- they're from the heart and hands, which are now sore from the over-exhaustion of muscles required for scissor-usage. My real birthday gift to my wonderful, loving, always-good-to-me fiancee will arrive on October 1.

I'm going to make another post pronto which will include a further "sneak peek" of our for fun photos, via Sarah-Cate Buckner.

-Zach + Maxine

We're so vain.

So, my wonderful friend Sarah-Cate sent us a sneak preview of our photo session from the other day.. . .These are 5 of M-A-N-Y. Some of my more favorite shots are to come later but since we got a few... .we thought we'd share... keep-you-on-the-edge-of-your-seat.. .and all of that nonsense. For those of you who receive "e-mail updates" you might have to actually visit the blog to view the photos. 

My fiancee is looking at me like I am ridiculous... . 

After spending the day frolicking around in 4inch heels, you might take your shoes off too.

Every-Day Life.

Thank you, James Zachery McClure.

.. . . .More to come later.

We love you,

-Zach + Maxine

Hello September

When did this independent, dizzy, blue-eyed girl's life become centered around bridal magazines!?

So our plans for the beach got thrown out the window... . .It seems as if I'll be laboring on Labor Day, as all foreclosures go to sale on Tuesday thus I need to have the necessary documents confirmed by over-paid, impossible-to-get-in touch-with attorneys, whilst Bonky attempts to recover from a paralyzing case of the sniffles.

However, last night Zach pushed his sniffles aside so that we could partake in celebrating the marriage of his long-time best friend Clark & his gorgeous German/South African bride Monique. After a chaotic week of traveling to and from Orlando.. . they finally made it to the alter .. . er, to the woods in Sandy Springs. My favorite part of the wedding: THE COTTON CANDY MACHINE. All else was secondary--- the laughter, the tears, Zach's banana yellow grooms-men tie, the toast, the vows, the delicious foreign food.. . .the relevance of such beautiful happenings were demolished by the presence of a cotton candy machine. It's quite possible that I'm still riding a sugar high. I will say that since we've gotten engaged (and admittedly, before), baring witness to our friends & loved ones tie the proverbial knot and exchange "I Do's" only contributes to the excessive enthusiasm in regard to our own nuptials. 

My gorgeous fiancee and I after stuffing our faces with exotic foods and OD'ing on sugar.
(note the banana yellow tie mentioned above.)

Speaking of... . my ears are smoking from planning-over-load. Remember in the cartoons when you were a kid? Whenever someone got mad their face turned tomato red and 2 oddly symmetrical streams of smoke poured from their ears? Well, red's not so flattering on me and steamy smoke makes my hair frizz. We're having an impossible time finding a venue we love available for our date (which is now in May due to life and convenience). The Piedmont Park Garden Room & Garden Tent which has been my personal and absolute favorite (The Foundry at Puritan Mills runs a close second) is booked through May with the exception of a Friday night but is available on our original wedding date. Predicament. I'm sending poor Zach to play the part of the inquisitive, curiously overjoyed bride AND the apathetic and slightly annoyed groom on Tuesday to meet with the vendors at Piedmont Park while I'm at work for kicks and giggles. Truth be told, Zach has been amazingly supportive, optimistic and involved through this process of venue searching. I began to fall victim to disappointment and discouragement when our "top picks" were all booked and started plotting for the pity party of the century meanwhile. That brown-eyed boy of mine pulled that plug real quick! We've been looking at other options together and have found a few potentials-- we're still waiting to hear back from the Botanical Gardens, The Roswell Mill Club, Summerour, and Primrose Cottage. Summerour is my favorite of the bunch. (http://novareevents.blogspot.com/2010/03/summerour-studio.html)

In lieu of finding the perfect venue-- which I'm told is one of the most* important decisions we'll make-- we started on a guest list. Really only including our families and closest of friends. It's unfortunate that we both have 75,000 cousins and a mess of close friends. We shaved our list down to the necessaries and our magic number still makes our eyes pop. Looks like I'll be having a (reasonable) BIG FAT GREEK WEDDING . ***Windex will be featured as a centerpiece on every table.***

The To-Do List.. . 

• Book a Venue
• Design & Send "Save The Dates"-- we're on-the-edge-of-our-seats excited to get our engagement photos back.. . .only a few more days!
• Find a Dress
• Pick out Invitations/Programs/Paper Stuff
• Sell a Kidney
• Book a Photographer-- you KNOW I already have one in mind.
• Decide on Food.
• Cookie Cake or Wedding Cake?
• Decide on Decor/Colors
• Sell an Ovary
• Add Roughly 50 Other Things to Said "To-Do List"

Nickels.. . Dimes and Dates... . Times

Dear God, 

It's me Maxine... .. and I don't know where to start!?

6 miles of violent running, 1 cupcake, 1 Chick-Fil-A sandwich inhaled with waffle fries and a small oceans worth of polynesian sauce, and a mild anxiety attack later... .I think I'm ready to get this show on the road. I was under this naive impression that all I had to do was say "yes" and EVERYTHING else would automatically come to fruition. NOTHING in life works that way so of course it was completely logical of me to assume that planning a wedding would be so effortless. 

Yesterday my incredibly attractive fiancee and I met up with our very talented, artsy-fartsy, chaco wearing, red-headed friend, Sarah-Cate Buckner for round 1 (of 57) of engagement photos. What we thought would be a brief and informal rendezvous turned out to be an obscure and extensive 5 hour photo shoot. Candler Mansion in Decatur was our first destination. . . ....we were incredibly disappointed to find that the rustic, abandoned chateau had  already been converted into a church (y'know... .as opposed to a crack house) but we made due with what we had. From there we ventured to the North Avenue bridge to capture some city scape and midtown madness, after which we indulged in The Varsity (natures laxative) and then back to Historic Norcross to play on the train tracks and attempt to off-set brick structures with polka-dots and polos. I have to take a second to advertise my very close and genuine friend-- She has an incredible artistic eye and the ability to capture more than just a cheesy-unoriginally posed photograph (although we did take some, it's obligatory). Aside from the fact that she's oozing with talent and vision, she's very fairly priced and incredibly fun to work with. We are counting seconds until we get the finished results which unfortunately won't be for another week or so (did I mention that she's quick and efficient?!) but from the sneak peek preview we got before parting ways--- these are going to be some monumentally incredible pictures. Boogers, ring-pops, pockets, and trespassing. Really, you wouldn't expect anything less.. . .would you?  In other wedding-related news.. ..we might have found our venue! We're thinking... ..

 Feast your hungry eyes on Greystone @ Piedmont Park. Clearly we wouldn't utilize the entire building... .but you get the jist. The ceremony could be held either doc-side facing Lake Clara Meer or somewhere inside. We love Atlanta and there's something about the ambiance of Piedmont Park that is captivating. You can't beat the skyline existing in harmony with the green grass. Of course we are looking at other options as well but so far this is one that Zach and I both agree is pretty awesome. Our plan is to visit this week/end to check out the facility-- cross your fingers that it's available on the date we've not-so-strategically selected. Stay tuned for more details on the venue.. . .we would love input/suggestions... . .

In between Zach juggling being a Georgia Tech hot-shot/a Porsche expert and me juggling being a legitimate "adult" (whatever that means.. .) we're escaping to the beach this weekend after we see our good friends get married. Our next post will be full of photographic fun... . start counting seconds.

-Zach + Maxine

Our Story is Better than a Fairy Tale.. . .It's Real

+ 

This is the story of boy (Zach) meets girl (Maxine). Or, girl meets boy. Or, boy strategically plans for girl to become interested in him thus manipulating her into making the first move. Either way, this IS a love story.


We wanted to create a blog so that we can effectively communicate with our friends and family (yes, that would be you) as we start our life together. So, this first entry is introductory. It's the beginning; where is this going!?, butterflies in your stomach, anxious eye contact, sweaty hand holding and of course a clumsy first kiss--- the middle; butterflies in your stomach, anxious eye contact, sweaty hand holding, and well, we got over the clumsy kissing-- and now here we are at a new beginning; butterflies in your stomach, anxious eye contact, sweaty hand holding, and a sparkly rock and life-long commitment. It's interesting. The only thing that's really changed between Zach and I over the past year-ish is that we continually become closer, cheesier, and love each other more as seconds past. Our hands still sweat, we still get so excited about each other that we forget to breathe, we bat our eyelashes at each other like it's the first date, on every date. Okay, so maybe it's just me who does the batting but can you blame me?! In short, and I do mean short, James Zachery McClure is my best friend, both my motivation and inspiration as well as the love of my life. And this is how it started.. . .


The Beginning.. . . ...
Let's all hop in our time machines and travel back to June-- err, May-- err, sometime in 2009. Or was it 2008? Kristi (Zach's model-gorgeous sister) and I met at a birthday get together and consequently became Facebook friends. Some odd months later, whilst flipping (stalking) through her pictures I came across a photo of her next to this painfully handsome brown-eyed boy with a soul-warming smile. It didn't take long to figure out that it was her brother (Zach! Are the pieces falling together yet?)-- and I couldn't resist commenting on his good looks. Of course, Zachery sees said comment and files my name away in his brain along with the other 57,000 girls who were pursuing him. Fast forward to November of 2009. Zach is in a studio class at Georgia Tech with one of my very best friends (Carly Hansen). After what was probably a substantial amount of facebook stalking on HIS end, Zach had made the connection that Carly and I knew each other. Casually, because Zach NEVER does anything in an "uncool" manner, he drops my name and gages her reaction. Carly informs me that "this guy named Zach in my studio class knows you. He said you're friends with his sister? Maxine he's so cute. Oh! AND HIS CAR! And, his name is Zach. C'mon! I think it's Zach Mc.. . " It took me all of 15 seconds to hop on the computer and send him a message. Something to the effect of, "apparently you know me... " A simple "hello" turned into novel length messages DAILY, to the point where facebook could no longer handle the capacity of our conversations. After a few weeks of internet-talk-therapy I gave him my number in a "how do ya like 'dem apples" kind of way. Our first date led to a series of 2am photo sessions in 40 degree weather, hanging out until 6am doing NOTHING but talking, laughing and reveling in the unexpected, and the possibilities of what could come next. In an emotional discussion freakishly early in our relationship, we admitted how strongly we felt for one another and since then it's been a snowball of adventures and bliss.


The Middle.. . .(more specifically, the build up + the proposal)
Now fast forward 8 months-ish. The Peachtree Corners Ward (the church where Zach's parents attend) release a false statement that Zach and I are engaged. After a weekend of failing to avoid the relentless questioning--"WHEN ARE you getting engaged?!"-- Zach and I were both a little exasperated. We'd decided long ago that we saw a happily ever after in one another but we were trying to pretend like we were in no rush. Not to mention, Zach was pretending to have no money on account of his new home in midtown.. . he even went to the lengths of purchasing an XBOX and then returning it the following day because "I'm so broke!" I wasn't expecting a proposal for a loooooooong time. In an effort to cheer my lil' bug up after such a weekend, I picked up a ring pop on the way over to his house and semi-jokingly proposed to him. Sugar and diamonds/PotatoE PatatO. He laughed at me and I declared, "you don't take me seriously!?!?" 
My birthday was rapidly approaching and we'd had a few discussions about what to do. I had begged him not to spend much on my gift. So when the big day (August 20) arrived, I popped over after work and he showered me with a Nike Plus (to support my obsessive running), a home made card and CD and a few tubes of my favorite chap stick. He had made reservations at a nice place in Midtown for dinner but after some coordination with 4 of our close friends we decided on a casual dinner, comedy show and trip to East Andrews. Sounds good, Right? It would have been. After (im)patiently waiting for 1.5hrs outside of Tin Lizzies in the pouring rain, we decided to try our luck at Taco Mac which threatened us with only a 30 minute wait (plus another eternity for our food). Roughly 4 hours later, everyone was cranky, sleepy, and annoyed so we decided to part ways. Zach and I arrived back at his house and Pout Fest 2010 ensued. Zach mischievously looks at me and tells me that he has another birthday present for me and that, "you're gonna be mad at me!" I immediately become interested. Until I see him pull out a ring pop. I think to myself "of ALL the times you pick to mock/make fun of me...THIS is it!? SERIOUSLY!? SERIOUSLY!? NOW!?" Zach attempts to open the packaging when I notice that he's violently shaking and seems to be having a ridiculous amount of trouble opening said ring pop-- My sarcasm kicks in and I start GRILLING him, mainly because when I "proposed" to him I had the same issues with that dang wrapper! He stops for a second and says "Are you going to take me seriously?" I'm sure I rolled my eyes at him and wondered what in the world he was talking about. I glance down and realize THAT AIN'T NO CANDY. James Zachery McClure was there in front of me on one knee holding a beautiful diamond ring. I'm pretty sure I slapped my hand over my face and buried my face in a near by pillow. When I recovered from the wave of disbelief he asked, "Maxine, will you marry me?" 


So. Here we are. Exactly where we want to be.


We are SO appreciative of the endless love + support that we continuously receive from all of you-- our family + friends have been so fun to share in the excitement. I'm sure we'll be planning a get together sometime in the near future, once we catch our breaths and Zach has unpacked his new home. 


I promise NEVER to write a blog this long again. But stay tuned for updates on our wedding planning.... .as of now JUNE 24, 2011 is the date we're looking to book for. We'd love to personally share every detail of our journey down the aisle with everyone on an individual basis but there simply aren't enough hours in the day.. . so, follow us here. I'm sure we'll update frequently with photos and progressions.

This is my PERFECT princess cut engagement ring & one of two wedding bands. Zach picked it out with NO help from me. It's a beautiful set. Make sure you put your sunglasses on before you ask to see it... ..




-Zach + Maxine