We are NOT worthy.....

After a long day full of talks at the Catholic Congress, our church group was invited to the mysterious Magic Castle in Hollywood. We were invited to this unique California "hotspot" to watch some of the best magicians perform in various rooms in the castle. The funny part is that we weren't told that in order to be allowed in, the guys had to be wearing jackets and ties with dress shoes and the women had to wear formal jackets or dresses. NO flip flops or tennis shoes allowed! They were very strict about the dress code. No exceptions.

You can only imagine how we looked when we arrived at the (Harry Potter) styled castle, not knowing these interesting little facts: I was wearing flip-flops(uh-oh) with only black crop pants and a white shirt, the guys had casual shirts with casual pants and tennis shoes, Sonia (my co-worker) was wearing black pants with a simple cotton tee shirt. We looked like the Beverly Hill Billies from "Noath Carolyna". The elegantly dressed hostesses at the front door received us as if the cat drug us in and disdainfully informed us that we would have to "borrow" some coats/ties and shoes from their back closet. And as for my flip flops: "I'm sorry, but we don't carry YOUR size in women's shoes...we only have a size 6. You'll have to ask the host if he will let you in." I thought that I was out of luck for the evening and that I would have to walk the streets of Hollywood, a poor peasant, until my friends were finished at the Castle. But after a few minutes, my "sweet" hostess offered to let me borrow some old, ugly men's brown loafers (Believe me, my black flip flops looked much better with the outfit) and a hideous black and white houndstooth jacket to cover my plain white shirt. I slipped on the old loafers without having any socks on (ewh...germs) , and humbly thanked the princess for "throwing me a bone" and allowing me and my friends entrance to the castle.

While inside, we were definitely entertained. Everyone inside was extremely well dressed, drinking, and having a good time. We were first directed to a small room with about 15 others to watch one magician and his fantastic card tricks. Later we moved to another room where a ghost named "Irma" played tunes on the piano. You could ask "Irma" any random question, and she would respond to that question in song. (Very mysterious) And lastly we were directed into yet another of the many rooms in the castle to watch a "Vegas" style magician entertain us with his antics...It was all very good, and all slightly creepy. Gave me the heebie geebies to be in there, but I'm glad I went. It was all verrrrry Hollywood.

Here is the one picture I took of us in the front foyer of the castle. We cleaned up 'real' nice, don't ya think?



From left to right: Sonia, Fr. Scott, Andrew, Georgie, Jim Unfortunately you can't see my loafers. So sorry.