text: Oh how exciting, this is my first blog post for my dear sweet friend Arren Williams. I realize this is the Arren Williams' Design Lab, but my post has bubkes to do with design, excepting the good looks and sleek lines of the Breville's ikon Hemisphere Blender and Die-Cast Juice Fountain Elite.
  I spend a good deal of time chez Casa Arren-Williams-David-Pimentel. Naturally, food and drink play a key role in our relationship. They are both great cooks and David is a master baker. In fact, one day they plan to open a bakery in Portugal. Coincidentally, I plan to have a small juice station in a bakery in Portugal owned by two handsome men, funny that. Do I hear the voice of Arren Williams screaming "stay on topic!"? Oh yes, the lab. So my contribution to our get-togethers is alkaline experimental juices made of organic cucumber, kale, parsley, ginger, lemon and celery (sometimes I treat them by adding a beet to the mix). I used to lug my juicer to their house and yell "surprise! I'm making you healthy tonight!" But now that they have their own juicer, I will only have to bring the veggies. If you're wondering what alkalizing is -- as my mother would say "use the Google" --there's lots to research. But in short, it's about eating a whole lotta raw vegetables.
  If you're interested in alkalizing yourself, I highly recommend the book on my nightstand, Alkalize or Die by Dr. Theodore A. Baroody.
  Last week, Arren and David participated in my alkalizing broccoli and leek soup experiment. Let's use scientific methodology.
  Problem: Arren and David aren't alkaline enough. I want to make a delicious soup that they will want me to make everyday.
  Observation: Arren's grimace at the sight of the two giant heads of broccoli suggests he may only want the soup weekly.
  Materials and Apparatus: Every bowl, spoon and pot in Arren's rockin' kitchen and Breville's ikon Hemisphere Blender.
  Data and Work: I observed that Arren was quite bossy with me in the kitchen, but he did teach me that you must cut leeks down the middle and wash them. I also observed David laughing his head off at the giant pile of dishes, the green puree in my hair, all over my sweater and on the tile (hey, that's what backsplash is for). The soup tasted slightly bland until David fixed it with cumin and some other secret spice (likely butter and sour cream). I ate three bowls. Arren and David ate one.
  So yesterday I was out scouting kitchen gear for a feature I'm working on (tho' don't ask me the name of the mag, they're currently going through a name change) and stopped in at one of my favorite-est stores, Mjölk, where John told me all about their upcoming - and very first - exhibition, called Masanori Oji Life On The Floor. The whole shebang opens on the eve of Oct 21st, with a chance to meet the Japanese designer, whose sense of craft is, well, gorgeous (have a look here at some of his work). One of the coolest things about the exhibit, before it even starts, are the four posters John and Juli had designed by Sali Tabacchi. Take a look below, wouldn't they look fantastic all framed and grouped together on the wall? Oh and for more of John and Juli from Mjölk, take a look here for an HGTV.ca house tour of their cool space above the shop (it's well worth a look).
  Julia Black: Coca-Cola Classic cans might always be, well, classic but the iconic red and white striped pop could be going naked. The design team of Ryan Harc have created a green alternative to the can, albeit a chic silver kind of green. The guys behind Ryan Harc, Ryan Loon and Harc Lee, have designed Colorless, a monochromatic all-aluminum Coke can with a pressed, convex logo, all without any toxic paints and finishes. In forfeiting Coke's bold colours their proposed design will reduce air and water pollution, and takes out the secondary stage of removing the can's ubiquitous paint job once it's sent to be recycled, saving a whole bunch of energy in the process. Although the Colorless concept has yet to be picked up by the folks at Coca Cola, you can visit Harc Lee’s BehanceNetwork portfolio page here and click to give your seal of approval, and - who knows - we might just see the colorless cans on shelves sometime soon (in time for Earth Day?).
  To read more posts from Julia click here, click here to check out her cool blog, and then you should really click here to check out Julia's Green Geek video post for HGTV.ca!