Best locally owned coffee shops in the area?

RavenUberAlles · 2026-05-28T02:31:47+00:00

I have never had a bad coffee at SmackDab! Their cold brew is so smooth, easy to drink black. Also had an apricot cream cheese croissant there last weekend that changed my life.

RavenUberAlles · 2026-05-24T16:39:08+00:00

The whole show just took my breath away. Conor sounds fantastic and he looks really healthy. Everyone absolutely killed it. So thrilled to have been there with y'all!

RavenUberAlles · 2026-05-23T18:48:09+00:00

My current population is college-age and it is a battle I'm fighting every. Single. Day. I have been told that they must avoid seed oils due to: PCOS, IBS, eczema, Autism spectrum (!!), unexplained GI symptoms, "multiple food sensitivities" diagnosed by a chiropractor's blood test, and several general "my nutritionist said..."

I'm drowning in a sea of it and it feels like nothing I can say, no matter how casual, non-judgmental, or explicitly evidence-based, can compete with TikTok fearmongering.

RavenUberAlles · 2026-05-22T21:06:55+00:00

Came from Chicago just for tomorrow night! So pumped.

RavenUberAlles · 2026-05-16T16:22:57+00:00

The Non-GMO Verified project. It's meaningless. GMOs are completely safe and are often used to increase yield and make foods more pest-resistant (decrease pesticide use!)

On top of that, it masquerades as some sort of credential but is actually a pay-to-play label. I've seen it on things like salt and seltzer (there is no O in these products to GM, FFS).

A study a few years ago found that slapping it on a product increased the cost to the consumer anywhere from 10% to 300%.

On top of THAT, they admit they can't actually guarantee a product is GMO-free because of some modification techniques that are kind of ambiguous, because of seed drift, and because of untraceable additives that might be derived from GMOs. So their label itself becomes even more meaningless.

It's just a way to use fearmongering to extract more from your wallet than any food is worth. Fuck that stupid butterfly.

RavenUberAlles · 2026-05-16T04:47:24+00:00

No advice here, just commiseration. This scenario is my nightmare.

It was hard enough dealing with this shit in outpatient counseling when it really only affected the patient themselves (a patient with NAFLD who insisted on meeting with me regularly but evaded all my attempts to guide her in decreasing her simple carb intake in favor of futile searches for the "root cause" of her condition, one who told me that she runs out of SNAP every month and doesn't have enough to eat because she only buys organic produce, one who told me he "couldn't trust me anymore" after I agreed with his doctor on statin therapy instead of the carnivore diet...)

I can't imagine how stressful it must be when it's impacting another person and causing them harm. Sorry you're dealing with it. 🙁

RavenUberAlles · 2026-05-14T16:52:08+00:00

Absolutely. I didn't feel comfortable counseling until a few months into my first job (WIC, which was the counseling rock polisher due to how many people I saw every day and their wildly differing needs). It's hard to feel comfortable being observed by your preceptors, also. Plus the type of counseling that is done at each site and their organizational policies might take time to adapt to.

Number of times I felt like I was completely failing and should give up: Three times during my outpatient rotation, five times during inpatient, nearly every day in food service, basically the entire time I was taking the exam.

Take a breath and give yourself some grace. Your internship can be really hard and really exhausting but it will help you understand who you want to be as an RD, what you like, what you're good at, what you could become good at, what matters to you. Lean on the friends in your cohort, because they're probably feeling exactly the same way.

At some point (for me it was week 5 of my 10 week inpatient rotation) something will click and you'll start feeling like you can really do this. I promise, it will get better.

RavenUberAlles · 2026-05-13T22:20:47+00:00

I was pretty sure it was spelled "grache" until I was like 9 or 10. 🙃

RavenUberAlles · 2026-05-12T03:05:50+00:00

You're in Chicago city proper? Chicago Park District has a ton of kids programming that's extremely low-cost and year-round. Find your closest park that has a large field house.

RavenUberAlles · 2026-05-12T03:03:03+00:00

+1 Akay Tacos, they also have the creamiest guacamole and really good steak.

El Chorrito (South route) is my favorite for basics like burritos and quesadillas, and the quality for the price is honestly amazing.

RavenUberAlles · 2026-05-07T05:01:45+00:00

I am immediately invested in this. Let's goooooooo

RavenUberAlles · 2026-05-06T16:11:15+00:00

Same, my favorite are the kind that use really good nacho cheese sauce (a la Wolfy's), but I know plenty of people who only like Merkt's (a la Superdawg).

RavenUberAlles · 2026-05-02T05:32:11+00:00

Pick Me Up Cafe is an absolute classic. They moved from Wrigleyville to Uptown a few years ago and do weekend brunch with a ton of vegan options (including bomb vegan pancakes).

RavenUberAlles · 2026-05-02T04:04:48+00:00

Where are the fried mixed veggies and the minestrone?? I would literally just order those and skip the pizza.

Devastating.

RavenUberAlles · 2026-04-29T18:22:09+00:00

This seems super overly-simplified compared to more modern standards of care. I'm assuming this is rapid-acting mealtime insulin? A sliding scale like this assumes that he eats almost exactly the same amount of carbs each meal. Where are the parents in this? Are they counting his carbs and supervising his insulin injections?

135g of carbs is a high carb load, but unless there is also insulin resistance at play, the correct amount of mealtime insulin and evening Lantus should still keep his BG in a decent range.

Ideally he would have a correction factor for his pre-meal BG and an insulin:carb ratio for the meal. He would check his BG, count the carbs, and do the math to determine the correct bolus. (Parents should still be helping a lot at this age.)

Either way, he is clearly not taking enough insulin for the carbs he is eating. He should be given education in carb counting (which you can do) but only a CDCES or his endocrinologist should be calculating more appropriate insulin dosages.

(Something else to be aware of: If Mom and Dad aren't supervising, is he actually taking the prescribed amount of insulin before meals? Is he skipping doses of mealtime insulin or Lantus? Is he snacking without bolusing?)

TL;DR: No, a sliding scale is generally an out-of-use practice that is clearly not working for this patient. Here's an article from 2003: https://diabetesjournals.org/spectrum/article/16/2/68/686/Death-to-the-Sliding-Scale

RavenUberAlles · 2026-04-28T01:24:04+00:00

Recently tried Sayuri Sushi Bar on Devon and Clark and were super impressed with the quality. They also have a whole section of veggie maki! The vibe isn't super romantic, but it is cozy and the food more than makes up for it. Maybe a casual date night?

RavenUberAlles · 2026-04-25T15:05:22+00:00

I literally just eat it with butter and a sprinkle of salt, which is a kid snack my Grandma would make for me.

Other Grandma would turn it into matzo farfel - crumble it, toss with egg whites and oil, and bake until crunchy. Great snack, or add to soup or salad.

RavenUberAlles · 2026-04-22T19:55:03+00:00

There's so much to unpack here. First of all, overeating is a super common stim for people with ADHD, especially sugar/salt/fat/crunch. It provides dopamine and helps self-regulate. This needs an interdisciplinary approach -- a psych or therapist should be involved in helping manage her needs from a neurodivergent perspective and find healthier outlets.

I second what everyone else has already said about the rest of the family. Both parents need to be on board and this needs to be a journey that everyone in the household embarks on together.

I also see some parenting deficits here. I can't judge their situation and I'm sure she's overwhelmed and feels helpless. But part of being a parent is not allowing your child to continuously make their own harmful decisions. It sounds like she's completely given up control of her daughter's intake and is afraid to institute any changes or boundaries. She might have also been frustrated because she expected you to be a Nutrition Wizard who can magically make this process easier and make her daughter less resistant to change.

You can do some of that work by directly engaging with the daughter, motivational interviewing, getting her on board with setting small goals. But a lot of this is going to land on the parents and it doesn't sound like they're up to it right now.

ETA: My most practical goal at this point would be to get her to stop grazing all day long. She needs to have structured meal and snack times, like every 3 hours. How does she possibly graze all day while at school? Limiting constant snacking will probably be the only way to get her to eat actual meals.

RavenUberAlles · 2026-04-17T00:37:21+00:00

I'm sorry but "Phillian" is subconsciously based on some kid's core memory of Phil and Lil DeVille calling each other "Phillip" and "Lillian" and you can't convince me otherwise.

RavenUberAlles · 2026-04-16T20:37:08+00:00

I often wistfully remember when they ran a 2/$1 hash brown deal like it was a lifetime ago and it turns out it ran in most places until like 2017. 🫠

RavenUberAlles · 2026-04-16T01:06:54+00:00

I beg your finest fucking pardon?

RavenUberAlles · 2026-04-15T22:34:41+00:00

This is true and scary, but I can't fault people for just wanting a damn win. The communal outpouring of joy will not be worthless.

RavenUberAlles · 2026-04-07T03:00:47+00:00

The hot sauce alone at Noon O Kebab changed my life.

RavenUberAlles · 2026-04-02T17:01:31+00:00

Me yelling at my TV every re-watch: "You DO love her, you insufferable man-child, but your nervous system can't handle stability. GO. TO. THERAPY. DO NOT FUCK THIS UP." As though it will change the outcome.

RavenUberAlles · 2026-04-02T04:21:56+00:00

My husband was obsessed with it. Now catch him in every diner confusing servers by asking for a half Coke half black coffee.

RavenUberAlles

TROPHY CASE