The Winner is...

In case you missed the announcement on Facebook and Instagram, Marianna Jimenez (@marianna333) is the winner of the Ultimate Perk Prize Pack! I just know she is going to love, love, love her new scrubs! 

Not to worry if you didn't win! Perk is extending the love by offering a 10% DISCOUNT for all P&P readers until next Friday! Just use discount code "perk up" here: www.perknaturals.etsy.com

Thank you to everyone who entered into the contest. I was so excited for the first give-away to be something that I truly love and wanted to spread the word about to all you lovely people! You seriously need to go and get your Perk on. Also- a huge thank you to Perk for making such amazing products that make our skin look and feel glorious! Can't wait to see what is to come for them!

Read up on Perk here 

As of Late

It seems like February just flew by, and I'm not really complaining since we inching our way closer to Spring. It's safe to say my mindset has fully transistioned to the new season… I just want to bust out flats, lighter clothes aka every pastel piece of clothing I own, and Easter candy!!  Why can't the weather just cooperate? Here are a few snapshots of things getting me ready for the seasonal shift.

Essie's Ballet Slipper and Bikini So Teeny is on full polish rotation. 

An indulgent weekend of one too many glasses of wine meant green juice and homemade cookie dough Larabars for Oscar night.

Putting together bright floral arrangements to escape the Winter blahs.
Perusing through Kate Spade's Places To Go People To See for a dose of inspiration. Is there anything making you feel like Spring has sprung?
For similar updates you can follow along @gabpacifico  

Skin Saver | PERK Giveaway

When I found out my longtime pal, Emily, was curating her own line of 100% natural, vegan friendly body scrubs I was too excited for words. Her mission is to make you fall in love with your skin and -although I didn't think it would be possible this winter- I totally have. I have been using her products for the past month and can without doubt confirm that I notice a huge difference in the way my skin feels and looks. The winters are always brutal on my skin… it gets so dry, red and blotchy and it just feels yucky. Using Perk Naturals has made my skin literally glow beyond belief, and has hydrated it to the point where I don't even need to moisturize! I broke down Em's products one by one so you can get a full idea of just what they do:

Coffee First: The first scrub I tried because well... coffee addict here! I have been using Coffee First as a face mask, facial cleanser and body scrub in the shower. It's perfect in the morning to real give my body the wake-up call it needs. After one use I noticed a difference- my face was literally glowing and so hydrated! And, after multiple uses I have noticed how well it banishes any sort of blemishes! Coffee First is great for eczema, cellulite and also to treat acne. The blend of coffee, sweet orange oil and sweet almond oil make this scrub smell fantastic, and a little really does go a long way!

Lavender & Lemon: Doesn't the name just sound soothing? This has become my go-to bath scrub. After a long day, or work out, jumping into the bath tub and rubbing a handful of Lavender & Lemon all over is pure bliss. Lavender & Lemon relaxes the skin, hydrates completely, and leaves you feeling silky smooth all over. Bonus- the smell reminds me of our stay on The Côte d'Azur where the smell of lavender was hypnotizing.

Citrus Mistress: After using the other two scrubs, I didn't think it could get better! From the second this scrub touched my skin it felt like a tropical explosion of hydration. The citrus scent combines with coconut oil for the most incredible aroma, and I am being completely honest when I exclaim how incredible the hydrating properties are. I use Citrus Mistress in the shower and as an occasional face mask before bed. The coconut oil in Citrus Mistress allows it to double as a makeup remover and all natural shave scrub, too. Amazing.

Pucker Up: My lips have always been a problem area for me during the winter; the furnace, the car heater, the extreme cold and wind...they all do a number on me.  Once a day I massage a tiny bit of the sugary scrub onto my lips, wait a minute and rinse off. The result? Smooth, silky lips.  The citrus aroma makes it so tempting to lick off -and I may or may not have on occasion- but it's totally natural!

There are so many questionable ingredients put into skin care products and what's the point of eating healthy and living clean if you are still damaging the only skin you are fortunate to have? I urge you to try out Perk Naturals. You will fall in love with the purity of these products and your skin.

**A huge thank you to Emily and Perk Naturals for allowing me to review these lovely products. These opinions are one hundred percent my own.

Visit Perk's Facebook page here.
Purchase Perk on Etsy here.

GIVEAWAY!

pastels & pastries has teamed up with Perk to raffle off one amazing Perk Naturals Prize Pack (1 Coffee First, 1 Lavender & Lemon, 1 Pucker Up)! Just follow the steps below for countless chances to win! Be sure to like us on Facebook for more chances to win. Good luck!

open to Canadian and US residents

contest ends 02/27/2015 12:00 am

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Donuts and Mimosas

It's no secret that I love adding a theme to any occasion. This past Monday was Family Day in Ontario, which also happened to be the coldest day ever, so naturally it seemed like the perfect excuse to stay indoors, bake donuts, and crack open some Prosecco for a Donuts & Mimosas themed brunch with my family. I swapped out all the pink and red V Day decor and opted for a total Spring inspired colour pallet. Here's how to pull together a little Spring inspired brunch:

Decorate

The food and drink may be the star of brunch, but decor is equally as important to me. Since winter blues are no match for the bright and colourful I loaded bright Oh Joy for Target goblets with fruit, and let the colours really contrast. I also have collected quite the selection of paper straws and napkins, so I picked out my favourite colours- mint and pink.  I swapped the OJ out of the jug and funnelled it into a glass bottle to complement the glass celebration glasses. This made the table instantly look more classy. Lastly, since flowers are the epitome of Spring to me, and always lift my spirits, I put together a few bouquets in some bright pinks and purples to encourage bright and happy thoughts.

Eat

If you follow any west coast bloggers on insta you must have seen California Donuts pop up a few hundred times. If not, to sum it up- they are a retro style bakery/donut shop serving the wildest creations. Since I unfortunately don't foresee myself heading to Cali anytime soon, I took the liberty to re-create the experience at home.  Some of my toppings included: classic sprinkles, Lucky Charms, marshmallow, s'mores, chocolate covered sunflower seeds and cookies and cream… the more toppings the better! I used the donut cake recipe found here, and a classic vanilla glaze recipe. Not going to lie… I was pretty thankful for all the toppings, because I found the donut to be too dry. Even though my family enjoyed them, I'll be searching for another baked donut recipe (have one? send it my way!). 

I also made a batch of skinny vanilla donuts and drizzled them in cookie butter and sprinkled them with white chocolate flakes (they are the flat, odd looking things in the pictures). Confession- I actually liked these more than the cake donuts! The vanilla flavour is strong, and I don't need to tell you how obsessed I am with cookie butter… (for this recipe I substitued whole wheat flour with gluten free flour which resulted in the donuts not rising as much) They were very dense, but full of flavour. 

Brunch and fruit go hand in hand for me. I like to have something refreshing and cool to go along with any indulgences. Strawberries, mini clementines, and blueberries are all great additions (bonus- they are great in the mimosas, too!)

Drink

We stuck with the traditional brunch drink, the mimosa.

3/4 cup Champagne, chilled (or sparkling wine, or Prosecco)

1/4 cup orange juice 

Top with berries, and a colourful straw. 

Pretend Spring is here for an afternoon and have yourself a little Spring inspired brunch this weekend! If the sun is shinning who can tell what the temperature is from the indoors?

Blush and Red

I had a different Valentine's Day outfit planned for this past weekend and reaaaaally wanted to wear these leopard pumps, but I could not even fathom the idea of exposing any part of my feet no matter how small for any length of time. I mean, this weekend was seriously cold… apparently -30 degree temperatures are a thing these days?? Please no. This skirt was another last minute selection. I purchased it during the Holidays because it's the perfect shade of Holiday red, but I really thought I had wore it out in December... I couldn't even look at it in my closet that's how much I wore it. Pairing it with a blush pink top and purpley-pink lip gave me a whole new-found appreciation for the skirt! I was definitely feeling the love in these colours and I'm so glad that this piece will now be on rotation into Spring. Do you have any pieces that are ready to make a comeback?

I hope you had a great long weekend! Let's all wish for warmer temps to come this way!

{Forever 21 top and skirt, Juicy Couture coat (old), MAC "All Fired Up" lipstick, Kate Spade bag, Michael Kors booties}

Valentine's Day Sweet Table

Whether you will be celebrating love day with your beau, besties or family, Valentine's Day should be filled with your favourite things. For me that would be sweets treats, sparkly drinks and an ample amount of pink. Whatever you have planned for the occasion I hope it's spent with those you love and doing that which brings your joy. Here's a little sneak peak into my Valentine's Day spread. Can't wait to crack open that bubbly and indulge in one too many chocolates! Why not get together with your girlfriends, or surprise your boo with a love filled sweet table this weekend? This weekend is Family Day long weekend so I am looking forward to having and extra day to spend quality time with those close to my heart. 

How will you be spending the weekend?

My strawberry shortcake can be found here.

{DIY kiss wrapping paper}

champagne coupes- vintage

celebration glasses- Indigo

Oh La La print- SS Print Shop

L'Amour print- SS Pring Shop

straws and napkins- Target

bubbles- Target

Strawberry Shortcake Naked Cake

I was getting real worried that I wasn't going to be able to continue the tradition of baking B something special for Valentine's Day, but our replacement oven came just in time to make something super sweet for the occasion. Naked cakes are so elegant without even trying! I love the rustic feel and they are actually really easy to put together!  Here are my steps to put together this monster sized cake.

What You'll Need
two 9'' round cakes
1 batch of cool whip icing
1 pound of strawberries
strawberry jam (optional)
fishing wire
cake stand

Steps
1. Bake cake of choice. Feel free to use a white boxed cake mix if you are short on time. I baked mine in two 9" round cake pans the day before I put the cake together. If you are putting the cake together on the same day as baking, let cakes cool entirely.

2. Make icing. I used my mom's cool whip icing. It's light and airy, not too sweet, and is a favourite in my household! Put in fridge for 20 minutes to thicken.

3.Wash and slice strawberries. Make sure you dry the berries really well so they don't bleed all over the icing.

4. Using fishing wire slice the two cooled cakes horizontally, so you now have 4 thin cakes. Also cut off any excess cake off the two top pieces to get a flatter look.

Assemble
1. Place first cake on cake stand. Layer with 1 cup icing- be sure to load the icing around the edges, more so than the middle, as you want the icing to spill over the sides. Top icing with strawberry slices.
2. Place second cake on top. Top with 1 cup of icing (on this layer I added 2 tablespoons of strawberry jam for some added moisture- this is optional). Top icing with strawberry slices.
3. Repeat step 2 with third cake.
4. Layer final cake and top with remaining icing. Add a few whole strawberries as a rustic cake topper.

Behind P&P- 10 things you didn't know about me

happy second birthday pastels&pastries

After two years of entering this so called blogging world, I can't believe how much pastels&pastries has evolved! It is really something I adore putting together and am constantly charmed by. I love creating a space that can inspire you to add some fun, flair, and gold gilded accessories to your everyday, and I hope it does just that! Really- thank you all coming back post after post! And I really love hearing from you so if you have any suggestions/ideas/feedback please feel free to comment or email me anytime!

In light of P&P’s second birthday I thought I would get all personal and share ten facts you probably didn’t know about me.

{dress from Zara (old), belt from Forever 21 (old) // all other pictures are personal or found via pinterest}

Blue Valentine

The typical Valentine's Day colours may be pink and red, but that doesn't mean that getting all fancied up for love day in any other colour can't be just as romantic. Blue is dreamy, peaceful and signifies trust and intelligence, and I'm all for celebrating those qualities, too! Even though I'll most likely be parading around in my beloved blush pink on love day I couldn't resist getting all dressed up for an outing this past weekend in a serious VDay outfit contender.  So flowy, so fun and so girly! Even though we were facing some super wind (which made for some blurry shots), sometimes you have to just do a little twirl and embrace the wind in your hair (or up your midi).

What do you think? Will you be switching up the colour pallet this February 14th, or are you sticking to the classic colours?

{J Crew Chambray top, American Apparel skirt (similar),  Kate Spade clutch, Sam Edelman Pumps} 

February Fun

Despite the extreme cold, the first week of February was not bad by any standards. It began with a snow day at home on Monday, it gave way to a fun industry awards gala on Wednesday and concluded with a bit of baking as our replacement stove was delivered on Friday (we've been without an oven since New Year's Day- if you were wondering what was up with the lack of baked goods). I'm excited to indulge in a relaxing Sunday and kick off what is sure to be an exciting week. There is loads of fun coming up- stay tuned! But in the mean time here are some snaps of my February fun so far. 

{first bit of baking was these amazing chewy Flourless Almond Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies}

{so excited to test out these all natural, vegan body scrubs-thanks Perk Naturals!}

{I actually had these oats for breakfast all week}

{getting ready for P&P's second birthday next week}

{the cutest erasers from Target}

For similar updates you can follow along  @gabpacifico 

Adorning

Valentine's Day seriously has the best possible colour scheme! It's no secret that combining blush and gold is my favourite, so you really don't have to twist my arm to adorn everything from decor to sweets to fashion in those colours.  You also don't need to break the bank to add some lovely details to your decor or outfits (nor do you need to buy tacky plastic decorations from the dollar store). Colour coordinating candy, fresh flowers, and other accessories you have lying around the house such as books and candles, all come together to give off a romantic, whimsical feel that's perfect for love day. 

Do you decorate for Valentine's Day? 

Pairs: An Inspiring Tour of the City's Creative Heart-Indigo, Straws- Target, Phone case- Kate Spade (similar),  Lipstick- Revlon Love That Pink, Shoes- Aldo (old)