Conan in Canada!

I have become kind of sort of obsessed with Conan O'Brien. Not in a "I have a shrine to him in my closet" way, but in a "I wouldn't mind if we met at a coffee shop and he realized I am the best friend he has been waiting his whole life to find" way (sorry Andy Richter). And so, last Saturday David and I went to Toronto to see his Legally Prohibited From Being Funny on Television Tour.

Neither of us had ever been to Toronto before, so we did some sightseeing before the Conan show. We went to Steamwhistle Brewery, which was right across from the CN Tower. Though I always love touring breweries, I was very excited to go on this particular brewery tour because they let someone blow their signature steamwhistle after the tour is over. And by someone, of course I mean ME! I blew that steamwhistle like a professional.

David is enjoying one of his free samples Steamwhistle's Pilsner, the only beer they make. Since the brewery is run by Canadians, they freely and politely hand out free samples at the bar like their job is not to sell the beer, but to give it to you for free. It was not lost on me as we wandered through Toronto that Canadians are the nicest people I have ever encountered. In fact, they are about as nice as people tell me I tend to be - TOO nice. Perhaps I am secretly Canadian myself???? I certainly felt as if I was finally among my own kind.

For dinner, we tried Susur Lee's restaurant, appropriately titled Lee. Susur Lee is currently competing on Top Chef Masters (a Bravo TV show), and he is our favorite contestant because he is so intense. The food was AMAZING. One of the dishes we ordered was also a dish he cooked (and won with) on Top Chef Masters - chicken with basil and green curry sauce - and it was the best thing I have ever eaten.

And now, the main event...CONAN. Shown above is David and me right before the opening act started - check out my classic Dorkface smile! We had amazing seats. AMAZING. The first balcony in Massey Hall extends fairly close to the stage, and we were seated in the front row.

Conan's opening act was really great, but then Conan (and then Andy) came on and I promptly forgot about the opening act. (Okay, okay, not completely, his name is Reggie Watts.) The show did a really good job of incorporating the gags that made all of us (okay, maybe just me) fall in love with Conan on Late Night/The Tonight Show without feeling like it was old material.

Conan did a fair amount of jamming with the Legally Prohibited Band, and during the last number, he came up into our section to rock out and hug people. I did not get a hug, but I was only four people away from him. I think he looks really dreamy in this photo.

After the show, David and I waited in a ridiculously disorganized line (chaos, really) to buy me a Team Coco t-shirt. As we (finally) exited the auditorium, we noticed a crowd of people standing next to two giant tour buses. A few minutes later, the band members began to exit the building and mingle with the crowd. And then a few minutes after that...Conan arrived to sign autographs! The crowd got pretty intense. I never have sympathy for celebrities when they complain about dealing with mobs of fans and press because they get paid millions of dollars to do their job, but I have admit that I don't think millions of dollars would be enough to help me handle that crowd (and it wasn't even that big of a crowd). Everyone was yelling and pushing, trying to get even just an inch closer to Conan. Cameras were flashing off continuously, and everyone was shoving something in Conan's face so that he could sign it. It was hard for David to get any clear photos of Conan because we were in the middle of the pack, but you can kind of see his hair in the picture above (right as David was taking the photo, a guy standing in front of me held up his Simpsons DVD case for Conan to sign, so that pink box is completely blocking his face).

I waited patiently for my turn to get my ticket signed, and Conan did sign it! His pen was running out, so my autograph resembles a few loops rather than "Conan O'Brien," but that doesn't really matter so much to me. I made sure to thank Conan for signing my ticket, and David thinks he heard me and responded back, but it was honestly hard to tell 1) because it was so loud to begin with and 2) because I tried to make my way to the back of the crowd so that the people behind me could have their turn and be closer to the front.

*sigh* The whole thing was just magical. Conan is so dreamy. Oh, and my husband is too, for securing me tickets to see Conan :)

This weekend the fun times will continue as we head to Massachusetts! On Saturday we will be headed to the cottage (along with Brian and Jane) to help Ken and Carol put the dock in, and on Sunday we will attend Rob and Abby's wedding.