Today, we traveled to Bloomfield, a neighborhood in Pittsburgh, to meet with our wedding officiant, Ann Marie. She co-owns this awesome spot, The Big Idea Bookstore & Cafe. I'd never been to Bloomfield before, so I'm really glad we decided to meet her at her bookstore instead of a more central location. Ann Marie was wonderful. She is laid back and easy going, which is just what we wanted from our wedding officiant. We are writing our own ceremony and vows, so we wanted someone we could feel comfortable around and be excited about working with.

Inside The Big Idea. They have sections of new and used books. 

Bloomfield is also home to Pittsburgh's Little Italy, which really is little, but has some cute looking wine spots and restaurants. 

Wandering down the street from The Big Idea, we came across a great vintage and resale shop, Clothes Minded. 

This is Josh, the owner of the shop, which will have been open a year on June 1st. He is so friendly, and his dedication to and love for his shop are really apparent. It was great meeting you, Josh! 

Inside Clothes Minded. 

After the bookstore and shops, we drove around a bit and stopped to get some pictures of a few neat old churches. One had tons of these gorgeous flowers growing outside. We're not sure what they are, but they were so fragrant! It was nice sitting near them in the late afternoon sun just enjoying their scent. 

There are an incredible number of interesting old churches around the Bloomfield/ Shadyside area. 

Some, like this one, are so enormous, its impossible to capture their full scale in a single photo frame. Check out the detail on that bell tower, though! Pretty incredible.