March 09, 2008

Sunday Musings with an Appology

Unfortunately, I've not been out taking pictures. Last night my cousin and I went to a dinner organized by the International Women's Association at the Hilton. Last year's dinner was a great success with the ladies letting their hair down after some time by the open bar and some great food.

This year was no different although for some reason there were fewer people. It made for a more comfortable party, but still interesting. There was dancing and karaoke - the guest for the evening was a former American scientist (with NASA) who landed in Hungary over a decade ago and is now producing a night club act as a transvestite. I dare say he has better legs than some females and as my cousin put it, he is more feminine than a lot of women she knows.

Karaoke was cool - there were no Billy Joel songs I wanted to tackle, didn't have the Ronstadt number I would have liked (Long, Long Time) and someone was already signed up for Cher's 'Do You Believe in Life After Love' - that left me the old favorite standby of Mama Cass, 'Dream a Little Dream of Me'. It was fun.

As to why you are not seeing pictures of Budapest and why I would like to play on your sympathies - see for yourself. The situation is way out of hand as I've one more week to pack up and get as much out of the apartment before work begins on the 17th:



19 comments:

Bergson said...

I see that all is not arranged yet but that advances

George Townboy said...

Oh, I want to see you perform "Dream A Little Dream Of Me"!!!

Why renovate, your apartment looks fantastic??

Janice Thomson said...

Renovations? And where do you stay in the meantime? Do we get to see the "new" look after? Hopefully the inconvenience will be well worth it :)

Isadora said...

Hi there and thank you for stopping by on a Sunday afternoon.

Janice - I'll be commuting from the country, staying with my cousin and her family. My cats will have the best time in her garden.

There is no problem with the looks of the place - it is the functionality. It is the 9th year I've owned the apartment and did only cosmetic improvements aside from the kitchen and bath upon moving in.

The electrical wiring is way out of date and had caught fire once already. While they are opening walls I'm also having radiators installed for proper heating. The living room has a tile heating unit that is totally inept at heating the 390 sq. feet space with 12 foot ceilings. You see the corner window where lots of heat escapes, the room itself is over the entry (totally unprotected) and the other wall faces the stairwell. These will be insulated now including the floor. (The parquet floors will be taken up, re-lined and reinstalled after the insulation) There is no heat at all in the dining room, bath and kitchen although it is not as bad as the living room as those spaces do have another apartment below for some protection.

At the same time the internet cable, phone lines and TV cable will also be installed into the walls rather than tripping over webs of wires.

Room colors and crown moldings are still a mystery as to what I would like - decisions, decisions. Decorating magazines are becoming a hazard :)

Very much looking forward to the end results and would be delighted to share photos.

Back to boxing - have a great day y'all! And thanks again.

Janice Thomson said...

How exciting Isadora! Glad to see you are keeping the floor as it is a gorgeous color. It will be wonderful having all the updates including a better heating system.
Also wanted to mention how much I love the Chinese panels - such a beautiful design.

Unknown said...

The evening sounded like a lot of fun Isadora. Good luck with the packing!

Clueless in Boston said...

Your parquet floors look great. A little sanding and they will be pristine again. How you could go 9 years in a cold apartment brrrrr! Good luck with the rest of the packing, moving, and commuting. The karaoke sounds like it was fun. Girls just want to have fun.

Jim Klenke said...

I think I have been to a bar like that in New Orleans once. Good luck on getting everything out.

marley said...

Sounds like you had a good night out! Did you wake up with a hangover?!

Good luck with the move!

zakscloset said...

ooooh that looks overwhelming...but also looks like you have a very lovely place there!

Wanda said...

OH MY GOODNESS ~~ can I ever relate to that!! But you place even looks good in the middle of moving things!!

I think your apartment looks great just the way it is!!

AVCr8teur said...

Nice apartment. Looks like you still have some work to do and hope you'll get it done in time. So if you'll be living outside the city, I assume we'll be seeing more photo of the countryside?

alicesg said...

Well, you have my sympathy. Not easy packing and unpacking and re packing re unpacking...lol.

Hope to see your new home, I bet it will be very beautifully decorated. :)

Lara said...

good luck with that, I totally hated when we renovated ours :))!

Isadora said...

George Townboy - you know it is very significant that you've said you'd like to SEE rather than HEAR the performance :)

Janice - not much I've brought with me but the Chinese panel is from Virginia. It was too pretty to leave behind. :)

Marley - no hangovers. I want to FEEL and enjoy myself. Can still count on one hand the number of times I've been drunk in my life :)

You are all most kind and understanding. There will be no money to redecorate this time but the improvements should be worth the trouble and the money. I could have easily spent all of the money from the sale of my daughter's apartment - but I must also think of the rainy days ahead.

Sweet dreams.

Anonymous said...

That seems like the revolution is coming to your place! :)
Loved the roses on the photo...

sonia a. mascaro said...

Good luck with the packing and the move!

Ming the Merciless said...

I love karaoke and like you, I sing mostly oldies from the 70s and 80s. :-)

You're renovating the apartment? How fun is that....NOT!

Keep us posted on your country life and the apartment renovation.

Oswegan said...

Wow, you have your work cut out for you. I love karaoke.