Hanson Day 2016 Re-Cap!

Hanson Day 2016 was INCREDIBLE!!!

 

 

 

I really didn't think it could beat last years Hanson Day but I think it did :) How is it that Hanson only gets BETTER!? This is hands down the best band. Period. Hanson is unique and special and inspiring and insanely talented and so wonderful to us fans. I love, love, LOVE being a FANSON!

 

In preparation for Hanson Day 2016 I made "I Heart Hanson cookies" again (this year with a homemade buttercream frosting in 4 different colors!) with my I Heart Hanson cookie cutters and I must say they turned out SO MUCH better than last years! And they tasted MMMM-AZING!!

 

 

I had a little extra dough....so I had to make some special dedicatory cookies for each guy!

 

 

 

 

That's a lot of cookie Hanson love!!

 

Isaac, Taylor, Zac :)

 

My favorite cookies

 

 

Decorated the cookies in lots of different ways, so fun!

 

 

 

 

Nom, nom, nom!!

 

 

 

 

 

The State of the Band was fun but seemed shorter than last years. Most of it seemed to be re-cap videos which I didn't think was totally necessary. And they didn't take/there wasn't enough time to answer many fan questions. But the MOEY awards were fun and exciting to watch (even though only two people I voted for won: Best Group Music Video and Join the Band) along with the raffle ticket drawing. I loved how cool Isaac thought their cardboard cut-out was, lol. They are so funny! But the BEST part was the announcement of a new CHRISTMAS ALBUM: WINTRY MIX!!!!! AHHHHHHH!!!!! I wish it was coming out THIS year but I am THRILLED!! I can't wait to see what songs they will have!! And the way Taylor kept talking about how epic Hanson Day will be next year for the 25/7 (25 years as a band, 7th album) celebration made me decide there and then that I AM GOING! Nothing is going to stop me!!! I HAVE to be there! I WILL be there! I can't WAIT!! 25 years as a band!! Incredible! MON will be 20 years old!!! HANSON IS RELASING A 7TH FULL LENGTH STUDIO ALBUM!!!!

 

The concert was FAN-FREAKING-TASTIC!!! I really didn't think it would measure up to last years, but it EXCEEDED my expectations! I loved that they played so many new songs! I can't wait for the 2016 Members EP: LOUD. I loved the song "Stop Me In My Tracks", "Siren Call" and "No Sleep for the Weary." I'm also excited for PLAY but I'm sad I have to wait clear until OCTOBER to own it! I'm obsessed with the song "Feeling Alive!" Taylor sang this song with so much passion and did such a good job vocally. And I loved watching Isaac on that drum set! He did a brilliant job! And that drum sequence between Isaac and Zac (during "Feeling Alive") gave me chills! It was incredible! I so wish I could have been there and helped record the songs with them (they are such naturals on stage!) but you can bet I was singing along and fist-pumping at home :) I had a BLAST!

 

THANK YOU SO MUCH HANSON FOR ANOTHER MEMORABLE AND FUN HANSON DAY EXPERIENCE!!!

 

Even though I couldn't be there in person I feel so blessed and grateful to have been able to watch the streams (I may or may not have watched them more than once....that concert tho!)

 

FANSON 4 LIFE!!

I LOVE YOU HANSON!!!

HAPPY HANSON DAY!!!

HAPPY, HAPPY HANSON DAY!!!

I can't believe Hanson has been around for 19 YEARS!! And they just keep getting better!!

I am so grateful I found Hanson. My life would be missing so much joy, laughter, music, inspiration and fun!! Hanson is truly a treasure and a blessing in my life!

 

Get ready for a plethora of pictures!* I just love these talented brothers!!!

 

You could say they've been doing this singing thing for a while.....

 

Sooooo darling!

 

Album #1 - Middle of Nowhere (1997)

 

Album #2 - This Time Around (2000)

 

Album #3 - Underneath (2004)

 

Album #4 - The Walk (2007)

 

Album #5 - Shout It Out (2010)

 

Album #6 - Anthem (2013)

 

Making of 2014 Members EP - Music Made for Humans

 

 

Making of 2015 Members EP - Inside the Box 

 

 

Making of 2016 Members EP - Loud!

 

"I feel like this is something they'd say in Dragon Ball Z - KAZOO!!" - Zac Hanson

 

 

One of my favorite moments from the 2016 "Making of" streams!

 

 

PASSION!!

 

Pan Pipes!!

 

 

Love his smile :D

 

 

 

 

*All photos are from Hanson.net

Sugar Cookie Recipe I Used for Hanson Day 2015

Here is the recipe I used to make my I Heart Hanson sugar cookies for Hanson Day. It is NOT the recipe that was included with my I Heart Hanson cookie cutters....this one has less butter :) And I didn't have much on hand, that's why I couldn't use the Hanson recipe. Maybe another time....but this one is SO GOOD and I've made it multiple times before and it has turned out PERFECTLY every single time! Highly recommend this recipe. I've also included the recipe for the frosting that goes with it (this was originally a mini fruit pizza sugar cookie recipe) but these cookies definitely don't need it. They taste awesome plain!  

 

You Will Need (for the cookie):

 

1 cup butter or margarine, softened

1 1/4 cups granulated sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

4 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup milk

 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a large bowl, cream together butter, sugar, eggs and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Mix in flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and milk. Chill dough for one hour. Once chilled, roll out dough on a floured surface until it's a little more than 1/4 inch think. Using cookie cutters (preferably your I Heart Hanson cookie cutters ;) cut out your cookies. Place on ungreased cookie sheets and bake 13 minutes. Let the sugar cookies cool completely.

 

For the Frosting:

 

1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened

1 cup powdered sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 (8 ounce) container nondairy whipped topping

 

In a small bowl, beat cream cheese, powdered sugar, and 1 teaspoon vanilla until smooth. Fold in whipped topping. Spread cream cheese layer over cooled sugar cookies.

 

ENJOY! 

 

HAPPY HANSON WEEK 2015 RE-CAP!!

My previous post is a little bit of a downer and I owe Hanson more than that. It just goes to show what a die hard Fanson I have become because my little heart literally broke in two when the live streams ended up choppy and basically "un-watchable" Saturday evening. It shattered into a million tiny pieces to read on the Hanson app that others were having such "smooth sailing" with the streams when I felt angry and upset all night trying to follow what was going on and trying to enjoy the stream. It literally felt like the "end of the world." I was thrilled to learn that the streams would re-stream all day Sunday but they were still glitching like crazy when I tried watching them again.

 

I decided to try my luck today and made my way to the "Member's Only" live stream page at Hanson.net. Maybe just maybe they were still streaming. Miracle of miracles they WERE and I am THRILLED to report that I have watched both streams over with hardly ANY glitches!! I am ecstatic!! I LOVED them! I am SO happy and grateful that I got to really experience what I had not been able to on Saturday. The concert was so worth the choppiness from the day before. It also reaffirmed to me that I absolutely HAVE to get myself to at least one Hanson concert at some point in my life. Bucket list. Life goals. They are a freaking BLAST live and just amazing!!!

 

I literally recorded half of the concert on my iPod (to the point where I ran out of space!). I will have these videos to cherish for years to come! I wish I filmed some of the "State of the Band" because they were hilarious (as usual)!

 

Some memorable quotes from Hanson's "State of the Band" talk:

 

(referring to a fans question about tours of 3CG): "It will have to go to the jedi council." - Zac (he would, hahahaha)

 

(talking about the difficulty of choosing a favorite song after another fan's question): "This is like asking someone what their favorite pie is....you just can't choose one.....it's cherry." - Taylor (bahahaha, so Taylor!)

 

(part of Zac's analogy of songs and writing songs): "The people are drinking the water from the bucket and I am feeding them with my fluids!" - Zac

 

The concert, start to finish, was too amazing for words. I can't do it justice trying to describe it, you literally had to "be there." And I'm so grateful I was given that second chance :)

 

Top Favorite Songs from the Hanson Day Concert (not in any particular order):

 

Give Me Your Best Shot (*new)

What Are We Fighting For (*new)

Been There Before

On and On

Lonely Again (probably my favorite of the night....I don't know why, they just sounded so amazing during this one, all three were on point).

Call Me (Ike solo)

Need You Now (Zac solo)

Lost Without You (Tay solo)

Grace Unknown (*new)

Sound of Light

Rock n' Roll Razorblade

White Collar Crime

Hey (Encore performance)

 

I am just feeling overwhelmed with gratitude right now. It is literally a tender mercy and a small miracle (as far as I'm concerned) that this happened. It feels like it happened just for me. That the stream just kept looping. I know that's silly, but I had wanted this so bad and just felt so sad not able to have enjoyed it the way I had wanted to Saturday. Thank you thank you thank you!!!! Next year, I'm going to be there in person!!

HAPPY HANSON WEEK 2015!

I just finished watching Hanson's "State of the Band" talk. As much as I loved it, I'm also feeling extremely disappointed. It was so incredibly choppy and I feel like I missed out on the whole thing. I could barely focus on what they were saying because they kept getting cut off and then it seemed the whole thing would just move forward to a completely new topic. I'm feeling really, really sad about it :( I was so looking forward to these streams tonight since I had a bit of a rough night last night.

 

BUT: looking on the bright side, I did make my I Heart Hanson sugar cookies (I did NOT use the recipe included nor did I wear my I heart Hanson shirt or Hanson apron and oven mitts while baking) and they turned out DELISH! I will have to post the recipe I used, it turns out perfectly every time and is so, so good. I wore my I heart Hanson shirt to watch the stream though :)

 

 

 

 

LOVED the way the Hanson symbol cookie cutter worked....

 

It didn't turn out quite as well once they were baked but they're not terrible....

 

Pay no mind to the fact that they are sitting on a Halloween platter on a bed....I was trying to hide them from my family who would gobble them up before the stream even started if I left them out in the kitchen, hahaha

 

 Some exciting/fun things that I DID catch during the stream includes:

 

• A covers album....what!? I didn't hear too much information on this (stupid glitching) but they said something about covering songs from Oklahoma!? YES! PLEASE!!!
• A collaboration song they did with Owl City!!!
• They discussed some of their favorite songs and Taylor mentioned Strong Enough to Break (my favorite) and the Underneath album in general (my favorite)
• Isaac chose A Song to Sing (another favorite of mine)
• Zac literally could not choose :)
• Zac was being hilarious as usual (though I missed most of what he was saying and doing :( So sad)
• They mentioned a US TOUR!!! Dates coming in JUNE!
• They announced the MOEY winners (Only one person I voted for won, haha. It was the girl who re-created the MMMBop video (single solo video) she totally deserved it!) I wasn't able to catch most of who won due to the stupid technical glitching problem, UGH! *UPDATE* 5/18/15: The girl I voted for won the paparazzi photo category, so yay!

All in all, I guess I could say I had fun (mostly disappointed though.....I'm trying not to be so bummed out but I had such big plans and I was so excited....and I feel like I missed so much and it made me feel so jealous and sad not getting to be at Hanson Day in person....not to mention they started the stream 30 minutes late.....sorry about this pity party I'm throwing myself). If the glitching is as bad as it was during the "State of the Band", I think I'm going to have to clock out for the concert. It's too frustrating and I don't want to feel upset for the rest of the night. It's not worth it. I really, really, really hope it's not glitchy though!! I really want to watch it!! I have been so looking forward to all of this!!!

*UPDATE*5/16/15 @ 6:58 PM: As I am now relaxing with a bowl of warm beef stew, after finishing baking my cookies, anxiously awaiting the concert, I just read that the streams are going to be RE-STREAMED ALL DAY TOMORROW!!! :))) I am SOOOOO excited and HAPPY!!!!

*UPDATE*5/16/15 @ 7:44 PM: Beyond disappointed right now :( The concert stream is even worse than the "State of the Band" I can't hear any of the songs because of the constant glitching and it's driving me completely crazy!! I'm so sad :(

*UPDATE*5/16/15 @ 9:06 PM: Why it was worth watching the whole choppy, glitchy concert stream: Lost Without You (Taylor), On and On, Need You Now (Zac), Call Me (Isaac), Been There Before (with "When you can't get through it, you can listen to it" added during the na na na's), White Collar Crime, Sound of Light (a new one for me), Roller Coaster Love (another new one for me) and the Encore performance of Hey. If it wasn't for the horrible glitching, this would have been one epic "bedroom concert" (that might sound...strange, but I think you know what I mean, haha). They were on fire tonight, from Tay's flying fingers on the keyboard, crazy, head-banging Zac and guitar extraordinaire Isaac, it was on point! 

Hanson Family Love - HAPPY HANSON WEEK 2015!

I just wanted to make a quick post about how much I love and admire the fact that these boys are family guys. This is honestly one reason why I love them so much. I LOVE that they were able to meet such nice girls (who were fans!) and that they believe in marriage and having children. It's becoming more and more popular to for go marriage and to not have children (especially when you're a high and mighty 'celebrity'), but these guys were raised well! They come from a big family with happily married parents where they were obviously taught the importance of family and the joy families bring to one's life. I will ALWAYS have SO MUCH respect for them. I feel like a proud mother when I talk about this :) It makes me so happy!

 

Isaac and Nikki Hanson Family

 

Isaac and Nikki recently added a baby girl to their growing family!

 

Taylor and Natalie Hanson Family

 

 

This is older but I just LOVE this picture!

 

Zac and Kate Hanson Family

 

Only pic I could find of Zac and his precious family!

 

 Here are some old videos about Hanson and their families!

 

Go on Tour with Hanson and their Kids!

 

 

At Home with Hanson

 

 

Meet Zac Hanson's son Shepherd! (Old video but very cute)

 

 

 Here are two WONDERFUL interviews with the boys and their sweet, sweet wives. Be forewarned, the first interview has some sketchy scenes involving psycho female fans but the interview is so worth watching! Especially when Isaac starts to get emotional, pulls at the heartstrings!! I love the way Taylor talks about his kids and how these couples know it's important to spend time together. They make me so proud to be their fan!! Let's hear it for the family men!

 

CLICK THIS PICTURE FOR PART 1

 

 

CLICK THIS PICTURE FOR PART 2

 

JUST FOR FUN :)

Here's a really old interview of the boys talking about their family :) Aren't they just adorable!? They grew up to be SUCH AWESOME GUYS!!!

 

 

HAPPY HANSON WEEK!!!