It all began in an apartment lobby…

Julia and Max think they probably met as freshman at Northwestern.

At the very least, they knew about each other. They were both residents of Shepard Residential College, and between mutual friends and a common dwelling had to have crossed paths a few times.

But, admittedly, it wasn’t until the summer before their senior year that they truly took notice of one another. With a few false starts and some nudging from mutual friends, they finally gave it a shot.

The next few months were a blur of major life events. They graduated, moved into their first apartment in Edgewater and adopted their first dog, Baloo.

Over the years they traveled a lot, moved around Chicago a lot, ate a lot of Indian food and adopted a puppy named Gus. Baloo was not as pleased with this development as they had hoped, but has grown to tolerate his little brother.

In 2018 they bought their first home together in Chicago’s Southport Corridor. Julia has enjoyed pushing the boundaries of her creativity and DIY skills to make it their own despite Max’s insistence that she is “not Joanna Gaines.” Living in the same place for over a year has also been a huge plus.

On their 6th anniversary, Max took Julia back to the apartment lobby where they’d shared their first kiss on a snowy night their senior year. Despite it being late April, they once again found themselves ducking into the familiar lobby to get out of the snow.

It was there that Max asked Julia to marry him…