The Kitchen Table Family Restaurant!

 Seldom do my family and I get to see each other just for fun. Errands, Holidays, Birthdays; those are the times I see my family. Scheduled and time restrained. But, today was not such a day. It was a lovely, bright and sunny Sunday afternoon that I spent with my mother and my two nieces: Lilli and Ariana.   

Around 1pm today my mother, with my nieces tagging along, came to pick me up. We decided we were hungry and went to the best new little Mom and Pop place- The Kitchen Table Family Restaurant, on the corner of Amherst Street and Elmwood Ave, in Buffalo, NY. Let me just say, this place is fantastic. Every time I have the money to eat out, I come here. Everything is homemade and delectable. They started out just serving hamburgers, hotdogs and fries (and let me say something about these fries: They are, by far, the best homemade French fries I’ve ever had in my life!), but it has much progressed into a plethora different menu items. All sorts of sandwiches; tuna, turkey melt and club, fried fish sandwiches, though I’ve yet to try them all, I have no doubt they are as delicious as every other item I have ordered. Their fish fry, served on Friday’s and Saturday’s, is the best thing (other than their homemade potato salad and fries) on the menu. The Kitchen Table now serves breakfast all day long! How many other places do you know, other than chain restaurants, which do breakfast from 7am till 9pm?! I don’t believe I am doing this place justice with writing this. I think everyone should come try it out. It’s a little hidden treasure. Did I mention the ice cream and slushies they serve all year long? No more will you be let down when your favorite ice cream parlor closes for the winter!

 I think, even though the food is the best I’ve had in a while in the Buffalo area, the owner and his employees take the cake.  If you even need a smile to brighten your day, just come down to Elmwood and Amherst and walk in The Kitchen Table! Quick to a joke, a friendly demeanor and just all over good people who work here are sure to brighten your days.

Maybe you’re thinking, what’s the catch? Well, there is none. The prices are the cheapest you will find in Buffalo and surrounding areas. The final word is that you need to check this place out! I am actually sitting in The Kitchen Table as I write this, drinking coffee and an AMP (I’m a caffeine junky, I know) and using their fast and FREE WiFi!

 As this place is new, and not many people know of it yet, the turn-over is still rather slow for how wonderful it is. I hope, my readers, that you take a little trip to The Kitchen Table Family Restaurant! Trust me, it’s worth the drive. Lucky for me, it’s right across the street from my apartment. 

Confrontation

The human mind is often so complex we are unaware of how we react the way we do: in one such instance, the anger that comes from being confronted by a fault of one’s own. This has often occurred in my life, directly affecting me. I will calmly tell a person that they have hurt my feelings by an action of their own, and be rebuffed with an immense amount of anger and resentment.

Why is it that when you confront someone on their wrong –doings that they must point out all of your own faults and mistakes.  It doesn’t seem quite far to me that when I am being calm with someone (or, in cases, someone is being calm with me- for I am not devoid of fault in this) they rebuttal with accusations and harsh words, often yelling that can be accompanied by profanity. I am not a psychologist, psychiatrist, or one of any profession of the sort- but I have studied much psychology, in college and on my own. I am uncertain if this behavior is sociological or psychological. It seems to me to be a bit of both.

Most people have experienced this behavior on one end or the other of their life- Which leads me to believe it is a social pattern. However, when you think on the psyche, this behavior is a model of repression, projection and guilt.

Sociologically, this may be a repeat pattern, from person to person- from friends, families and neighbors. If the group of people you are surrounded by act in a certain way, you are most definitely apt to respond in kind. The only way the pattern can be broken is if one person or more persons choose to negate from the set path. That goes for any social pattern.

The person being confronted is often left floundering for an excuse for their poor behavior, wanting to blame everything – everyone- but themselves.  That leads to the person projecting their feelings of guilt onto the person confronting them. As humans, we are highly emotional and tend to overreact on the smallest matters. Such is the nature of our existence.  It takes a trained mind to remain rational when you have done something you know to be wrong but don’t want to admit to it. We tend to fight it with every fiber of our being, like a survival instinct. 

What I want to go is how we solve the problem of being overly emotional. I know it is natural to have emotions, but how to keep them under control if when pointing out (kindly) the fault in people only makes them more irate? 

-Ashley Lang

Vacation Within A Vacation!!

So, here I am in Prescott Valley, Arizona! I came to visit an old friend and his family. The drive is about two hours away from where my father and grandmother live, but it is deferentially worth the drive!

I came down to Prescott from Flagstaff on Friday afternoon. I was greeted with the warmest welcome I've received in maybe forever! Well, other than my fathers dogs! Haha. Open arms, hearts and kind voices enveloped me as soon as I crossed the threshold. It was a bonus to see that my friend (Nick's) uncle, aunt and two little (well, not so little anymore) nieces had just come back from vacation. Last time I had seen Nick, or any of family was around 2007! So, his nieces looked so strange to me!! I can't believe how grown up they are now. It seems a little insane. Before their drive back home, they had to stop and pick up the multitude of critters that Nick and his family had been watching. You name it, they had it! Lizards. rats, doggies and birds- Needless to say they must have a very full home.

Nick's family is my second family (I wish they were my first, haha.) They have always treated me with nothing but love and respect! 

I will tell the rest of my tale once I am back in Flagstaff tomorrow. I had to stay an extra night here due to a monsoon. A curse and a blessing at the same time. It was my father's birthday today and I was sad to miss it. But, he worked all day so it's not like I would have been able to see him much.

Goodnight, Good Morning, and Good Afternoon World! 

Peace and Love,

Ashley

Arizona Success!

  The plane rides were the best I've had. Got to sit with younger, happier, people for a change! Found lots of nice people to chat with everywhere I went! Finally arrived in Flagstaff, Arizona around 2am. (That would be  5am NY time.) So I was up and traveling for about 20 hours. My dad picked me up from the airport in Phoenix and I barely remember the 2 1\2-  3 hour drive to Flag! 


   All day yesterday I was running errands with my grandmother, so it's nice to sit around and relax today. Maybe going to the mall a bit later to do some clothes shopping! 


   It seems I brought rain with me here. It's thunderstorming right now, but it's lovely. I love monsoon season with all of my heart. Some days I really miss living in Arizona, but I always end up getting home sick for New York. It's much better to just come and visit! 


   Next weekend my father and I are going to Vegas for two nights! We are going to see Phantom of the Opera and do the look around, tourist thing! I haven't been to Vegas since I was about 11-12. My grandmother and father took me there for a night or two and we stayed at Circus Circus, that was a blast. But now I can go and waste a few dollars gambling. I've never gambled in my life and I am totally prepared to lose the $20 I go in with!


I will post pictures when there are pictures to post!


Peace and Love,




~Ashley

On Vacation!

The long awaited trip to Arizona for my summer break is now in session!!

Sad Panda.

Yesterday I was a jungle gym for my nieces. We had a cook out at my sister's place and my nieces expect me to be super-woman because I *used* to me... I just can horse around with them like I used to and they don't understand that. It makes me feel awful. 

I did my best to keep up with them, but I am really paying for it today. It feels like my knee is out of place and I was kicked repeatedly between my shoulder blades on my spine. I have a 7 1/2 hour trip tomorrow to AZ... I think I'm going to ask for a wheelchair at the airport... But my pride is holding me back... I think I have to tho, because I am just not up to walking all over. 

Today is just not a good day:

Woke up late 
Didn't have time to shower 
Missed two doctors appts 
The second bus was suuuupppperrr late, which made me miss the appts
I woke up in so much pain I could barely move around- Still can't really. 

GAH. Still need to go to the store, pack, clean, PACK- I'm OCD about packing because I always seem to forget something. Check 7million times and over again to make sure I have everything I need.... Back up my files onto my external hard drive, in case anything happens to my computer in transit.... 

Sorry for venting- But I really don't care! :P

The Road2Recovery