Tuna Lettuce Wraps

I've cut out gluten, dairy, and sugar and haven't felt better since. But that's not the point of this post. In fact, I'll dedicate an entire post to this new way of eating at a later date.

 In the meantime, I pulled together some fresh produce and a scoop of tuna (yes, mayonnaise, but let's not get discouraged) and stuck it all in some heads of romaine and made the fastest, most satisfying meal. 

Lettuce wraps are a great alternative to salads because it tricks your brain into thinking your eating something like a sandwich rather than the aforementioned salad. It's also picture worthy;)

(update) The photo above is a different version of tuna lettuce wraps. This time, instead of using deli tuna, I decided to try and make a tuna salad sans mayonnaise. The replacement? Avocado! The creamy texture off sets the flakey fish and pairs really well too. 

To make mayonnaise free tuna salad you'll need:

• 2 cans of starkist white tuna 
• 1/2 an avocado
• 1/2 a lemon (juiced)
• 2 stalks celery
• Salt and peper (to taste)

Combine the ingredients thoroughly in a medium bowl and your lunch is ready.

Happy eating!

Sneaking Around Conspiracy (pt. 2)

More shots of our rad digs. 

These were taken the day everything came together. All the accessories found a home on bookshelves and coffee tables, the art was hung and managed to look cohesive, and the DIY wall (first picture) that Carrie threw together with lots of hard work actually looks amazing. 

Those tiles are recycled ceiling tiles that Carrie selvaged. We completely doubted her, but it throws the entire loft together really well. Without the feature wall, our space would lack character and the plethora of compliments that are received the moment people walk in.

Freshii

Freshii is a healthy, pocket sized spot located worldwide that offers everything from salads, wraps, bowls, and juices. It's a health nut's domaine. That is, unless you've discovered Protein Bar (exclusive to Chicago, DC, and Colorado as of now) which I could basically eat at every day. 

I've been to Freshii Armitage before and ordered the wrong thing at the time. After carefully analyzing the menu this time, I was happy with my choice of the Market Salad and Green refresher juice (not pictured).  

Will definitely pop in there more often.

Mars Gallery

The other week I circled around the West Loop for what felt like an hour search of Mars Gallery. To my oblivion, it was seated right next to a sandwich shop I've fancied called Jupiter Sandwiches. Clever.

I climbed the flight of stairs and was approached by a wall of differently sized paint brushes organized in a pleasing fashion along the wall.

Here I was expecting this super open, airy gallery, but Mars was rather cramped and disorderly. It looked as though they were setting up for a party or cleaning up from one, nonetheless, there wasn't much space for the art but rather multiple offices. 

I will say, some pieces were very cool. I enjoyed the classic, American icons, if you will, that had been transformed in a "pop art" kind of way, yet, the frames remained conservative and traditional allowing for a nice contrast effect.

Also, sorry for my slight hiatus. I've been a tad busy lately (which is no excuse) but it's just been hard to motivate myself to write. Expect regular posts from now on.

Sneaking Around Conspiracy

Conspiracy TV is a post production company that just launched a few months ago. I happen to be a part of the team as a marketing intern! Above are just a few of the things that we've filled the loft space with recently.

Every detail in the space has been thought of from the coasters to the art to the huge feature wall in the bar area (not pictured). 

The place is amazing so look out for more details in the future.

New Jersey Surprise (pt. 4 - the end)

On the last day of our trip we slept in, made a yummy breakfast, and my mom and I went for a quick walk and saw some of the most beautiful homes EH VER. 

Without showering, we (my family plus my dad's brothers family) packed into the cars and drove to Asbury Park. Asbury isn't in the best part of town but the boardwalk is filled with great people watching and yummy restaurants. After lunch, some crepes, and coconuts, we were exhausted and ready to fly home.

All in all, the trip was fantastic. The Travis family made a lot happen in a short period of time. 

Like I always say, that's the Travis way.

New Jersey Surprise (pt. 3)

The third day was easy.

First, we lazied around the house until around 12pm wearing pajamas Peter (my cousin) got for us in Thailand when he was there earlier this summer. Then, my uncle Chris made the funniest entrance (as he always does). My cousin Lauren and I were on the couch and all the sudden he walked in through the back door and casually said,"How'd everyone sleep?" as though we had seen him a minute ago.

Chris is hilarious. 

This weekend was probably the most I've spoken to him, uh, ever. After we had a delicious lunch with the entire family and said our goodbyes, a few of us decided to go to twin lights. My mom, dad, Chris, my brother, and my two cousins, Michael and Charlie, went to see the light house, snagged some post cards, and tried failed to find a geocache. P.S. look forward to a post about geocaching later this week. 

After playing tourist, Jakob had to get into the water. He's been dying to surf but the waves were too choppy one day and too mellow the next, so he ended up skim boarding. The funniest Chris line was when we were walking along the shore and he said,"Hey let's search for cool stuff like a tampon dispenser." LOL! Chris will say stuff like this in the most nonchalant, non-expressive manner which makes anything that comes out of his mouth that much more funny. Anyway, about 15 minutes later, we found a tampon dispenser. Ha!

What was great about the entirety of the weekend was nothing felt planned. We had no real itinerary which made each "event" feel casual and effortless. There was no stress and each day felt spontaneous. Vacations should be like that: easy.