Wednesday 29 June 2016

It's My Birthday

Dress // Similar Bag (mine's from Sorrento)

Today is my 20-something birthday, I am creeping ever closer to the 3-0 and that scares me. I feel like I should have my life together way more than I do right now. When I left school *cough* 10 *cough* years ago I pictured my life completely different to how it has turned out but you know what I actually wouldn't change a single thing about it and right now I love the place I am at in life! 


Monday 27 June 2016

Home Grown Peonies



Peonies Print via SS Print Shop

Two years ago I planted three baby peony plants in my garden, they are my favourite bloom and I decided I wanted some of my very own to brighten up the garden! I was told it might be quite a few years before my plants would flower. Last year I got super excited when one tiny little bud appeared on one of the plants, I knew it wouldn't hatch but I thought it was a good sign! That same plant was the first one to start growing when Spring rolled around this year. 
When I came back from Sorrento that plant hadn't grown much more but the one that had barely grown last year had shot up from nowhere and there were signs of buds!!!! 
I had been on Peony watch all month and was hoping that some blooms might have opened up for my friend's wedding, unfortunately the weather hadn't been too brilliant but more and more buds were appearing. Fast forward to the second week of June and there it was, my very first peony from my own garden! I wanted to leave them on the bush but we were having so much rain and the little plant couldn't hold the weight of the open blooms and they were starting to snap the stalks so I rescued the first two blooms and placed them next to my bed.
Over the next few days more and more blooms started to open up and I bought them all indoors safe from the English Summer haha! 
They smell divine and my room has been fragranced with their sweet smell for days now! In total my plant grew 20 buds this year and 19 of them opened up, even the little ones I didn't expect too, maybe the last baby will open too, I'll have to wait and see. 
I have my finger's crossed next summer my pink ones might bloom too (the bright pink one in this post is from my mum's work garden).
Happy Summer!

Friday 17 June 2016

Stacey's Smiles

Getting ready with the bride for her big day! Robes from M&S.

The cutest little summer playsuit and under $20 too.

My very first home grown ponies that I rescued from the rain! 

 Celebrated 18 months with this guy earlier this week! 

I can't stop smelling the peonies! 

And yet again we are half way through another month! It's almost the official start of summer YAY!! The highlights of this up and down week have been celebrating being with the most amazing guy for 18 months, the time has just flown and he always puts the biggest smile on my face. My home grown peonies have been the other thing putting smiles on my face this week, they smell so so good and I can't believe how big the flowers are since this is the first year the have bloomed! You'll be seeing more pictures of them on the blog soon! 

Thursday 16 June 2016

June Moments

One of my favourite Jo Malone colognes, English Pear & Freesia

My Bridesmaid Bouquet


Part of my AMAZING Bridesmaid Gift (the other part is afternoon tea at the Ritz!!!!!!!)

Fresh Blooms left over from my Afternoon Tea Party

The bride got me the exact same card I got her for her Wedding Day, we've been friends far too long hehe!!


June is my favourite month for a whole handful of reasons, the start of summer, peony season, my birthday and now the month my best friend got married.  This June is a jam packed one and although it is filled with the most awesome occasions sometimes it feels like I've not had a moment to breathe so far. Just when I thought I'd have a few spare evenings to get things together before another crazy (but fun) week life decided to change that, and teach me some more life lessons.
I am making sure to take in all the small joys of life like fresh blooms filling my room (right now I have my first home grown peonies in there) and having mementos around from my favourite parts of the month! 

Tuesday 14 June 2016

Bridal Afternoon Tea Party




Just over a week ago my best friend got married and it was my favourite day of the year so far! 
I'd organised for us all to get our nails done one afternoon a couple of days before the wedding and thought it would be a cute idea to throw an Afternoon Tea Party for everyone at the same time! 
I knew I wanted it to feature some sort of Pic 'n' Mix as it is a favourite past time of mine and the bride's.  Whilst I was hunting online for some treat bags I came across Talking Tables, and I found a little gold mine! Their site is filled with every single pretty party accessory you would need for any occasion! I was so excited to receive a package filled to the brim with pink and floral goodies to make my Afternoon Tea Party perfect! I let out a little squeal when I opened the Sweet Shop Stand, it was the finishing piece I needed to my Pic 'n' Mix idea. 
I spent the evening before baking up some of our favourite sweet treats like brownies and my classic blondies with sweet pea coloured M&M's (the wedding flower). The next morning I packed up all my supplies and headed over to Susie's house to start decorating! I even made sure the drinks were pink so these floral straws were a cute finishing touch to the milk bottles of pink lemonade! 
The hanging decorations looked so pretty we left them up for getting ready on the morning of the wedding (along with the Sweet Shop Stand, so we could have a sneaky sweet treat). 


Thank You to Talking Tables for collaborating with me on this post. 

Friday 3 June 2016

Stacey's Smiles

Sweet Pea Coloured M & M's for blondies!


Afternoon Tea Spread featuring some Talking Tables Decor.

Wedding Decisions. 


My Best Friend is getting married tomorrow!! I am excited beyond words and cannot wait to celebrate with her! Yesterday I threw an afternoon tea party whilst we all got our nails done for the big day! I'll be sharing more snaps on the blog soon and you can also follow along with all the fun on Instagram - Spark1988 and Snapchat - SparklyStacey. Happy Weekend!


Thursday 2 June 2016

Chambray Dress

Gap Dress // Dorothy Perkins Sandals (old) // Old Navy Bag //

This chambray dress from Gap was my first Spring purchase of the year and I managed to get it on sale. I love that you can pair it with flat sandals and a cross body bag for during the day and then change to heels and a clutch for the evening. The fabric is super soft and perfect for slightly cooler days during the summer. I have a feeling this dress is going to be on repeat a lot this year. 


SHOP THE POST: