Her story begins here:

July 31st was the most incredible day of my entire summer, no- it was the most incredible day of my life!!!!

            Before I go any further, I should back way up!  Cari, Amy, Kris and I went to the Hanson concert at The Palace of Auburn Hills on Tuesday night- July 28th.   It was an incredible concert.  We sat fifth row of the risors on Isaac's side of the stage.  I had brought three waterbottles (from the summer camp that I worked at this past summer) filled with things for each of the guys.  I went up to a security guard next to the stage right before the show and handed them to him.  I spotted a huge table full of stuffed animals and other gifts but he kept walking so I said "hey, aren't you going to put my gifts on the table?"  he smiled and said "No, they'll actually want these, so I'm bringing them back."  I could've died! 

Also before the concert I got to talk to Brad Becker (From Admiral Twin) again (I had talked to him and had gotten his autograph at the first Detroit show) and he introduced me to Jarrod Golihare- so I got him to autograph my Unlucky CD too! 

Anyway, as Cari and I watched as the stage got dark (from our fifth row seats) I gasped as I saw Isaac go onto stage and get ready. The first notes of "Gimmie Some Lovin'" began to play and the curtain was lifted.  I began to cry- this was the closest I'd ever been to Hanson.  I began to scream and jump up and down, frantically asking Cari "do you realize who that is?" and pointing to Isaac.  We both were in awe- we were thinking that would be the closest we would ever get to Hanson- we never imagined that in a few days we'd be a lot closer...

        After an amazing concert we found Amy and Kris (who were like 9 rows behind us and over) and went to our two cars.  We drove for awhile and tried to spot the tour bus by parking near the highway in a parking lot.  We decided to drive to school so we could leave my car there and take Amy's car to our friend Lisa's house in Chicago.

        About 20 minutes after we were on I-94 my cell phone rang.  I answered it and Amy frantically told me to switch the radio station. Apparently, some fans were chasing Hanson and we figured at first that we were ahead of them, but after we dropped off my car we figured we were 10-40 min behind them!  We probably would've caught up to them if we didn't miss our exit and get lost....

            We finally found our way to Lisa's house in Tinley Park.  Lisa was awake and told us that her brother Jeff had heard on a local radio station that Hanson would be doing a press conference at Planet Hollywood in the morning.  We decided to sleep for 1-2 hours and catch the first train downtown!

            So, 2-4 hours later we were on a train and we finally reached Planet Hollywood.  No one was there and we asked a security guard about the press conference.  He directed us to a manager.  He told us that the press conference wasn't until Friday morning, and that fans would be camping out the night before, so we better get there early.  We huddled together and talked our way into making the possibility of staying a reality.  We rode back to Lisa's house and called our boss', then we ordered lawn tickets for the show in Tinley Park on Friday night (We ended up with pavillion).  We fell asleep for a few hours before going into town for supplies to sleep outside of Planet Hollywood.

        That night we slept in a hotel that we thought might've been Hanson's- it wasn't.

        At 11am Thursday July 30th, we arrived at Planet Hollywood in Chicago and took out place as first in line.  The manager smiled and told us that he was "impressed".  Another manager gave me his business card and told me to show it to anyone who tried to cut in line. 

Throughout the day people kept on checking on us- they were all very nice.  As the day wore on into the night, more people began joining our line and news cameras kept showing up. 

That night two of the stars of "Dead Man On Campus" came to Planet Hollywood to sign autographs and pics. The girl's boyfriend was there too and he was no other than the guy who played Brian Crackow on MY SO CALLED LIFE!  We got autographs and pics of him too and he checked to see how we were doing before he left!  As Planet Hollywood began to close for the night out friendly managers began to leave as well.  Before the one we met 1st left he smiled and told us again how we impressed him- and he said he'd definitely "Hook us up" little did we know what that would mean.

            After a long night and morning we were informed that we were the only fans from the line being put on the VIP list which meant that we got to sit the closest to Hanson and in the area where the press conference would be held.  We were thrilled! 

We were finally seated and ordered water and something to eat.  They showed us live on the news and I began to cry as pics of the boys flashed on the screen.  Our manager came over and asked us if everything was OK- we thanked him and I asked him to do one last favor for us- I asked him to take the presents we brought (One for Jessica- it was her birthday, gifts for the little siblings and and early birthday gift for Isaac) back into their private eating room.  He smiled and left with them. 

I watched as he snuck them in.  

All throughout the time we were waiting for Hanson all of our Planet Hollywood friends kept checking in on us with big smiles.  We smiled back and kept thanking them for everything.  After what seemed like forever Hanson wisked in and I flashed a pic and gasped as I realized how close I was- to Hanson.  Cari got up and went to the bathroom as one of the managers tried to calm the fans down.  Amy, Kris and I sat in silence.  Then all of a sudden a woman we knew from Planet Hollywood came up to us with another woman we hadn't seen before.  She smiled and asked if we were the fans from Michigan and if it was our signs out front.  I nodded, thinking that it was some kind of reporter.  The Planet Hollywood woman introduced her as a Mercury rep with Hanson.  She asked us where the 4th girl was and we told her that Cari was in the bathroom, so she says "I suggest you go get her" and I asked "Are we going to meet Hanson?" "Go get your friend"  I RAN to the bathroom and yelled "CARI!  GET OUT HERE NOW!" 

We went back to the table and the woman asked the woman from Planet Hollywood if she would watch our table.  She agreed, and the woman turned to us and said "Let's go". 

We were lead to the curtained doorway of Hanson's private eating room.  She went in and we waited.  I was shaking, and I clutched my MON CD and camera which I somehow remembered to grab.  As the curtain opened I remember thinking "OH MY GOD! I see Taylor!" And then she said "Ok, come on in!" and suddenly I was the first one to enter the room and I was standing next to Taylor shaking his hand.  I was polite and said hi, but I was distracted as my gaze was shifted to Isaac, who was suddenly in front of me.  I grasped his hand and looked into his beautiful eyes as I said "I am your biggest fan and I love you", he smiled as he said "thank-you" and then suddenly Zac was in front of me shaking my hand.  I remember thinking "Dang Zac you sure are tall!" since I'm 5'9" and Zac is almost as tall as I am!  Amy and Taylor were talking about our trip to Tulsa and we found out that the Rex's that we had ate at was the same one they had- the entire 3 times they had been there themselves.  Zac said to us "I can understand coming here from Michigan, but all the way to Tulsa?  Why?"  I just laughed kinda- still in awe...

I asked them if they had received the waterbottles at the Detroit show and Taylor said "The last Detroit show?"  I nodded and Zac asked "The one's with the gators?" I nodded and said "That's from where I work" and Zac said "Where you used to work before you came here" we laughed.  Then Isaac and I started to talk about how little there is to do in Michigan and in Oklahoma.  As we were talking, Isaac looked at the MON CD in my hand, "Do you want us to sign that for you?" He asked and I nodded, handing him my CD and a red sharpee.  Isaac smiled and signed it first writing "To Mel  -  Best Wishes" and then Taylor and Zac signed it by their picture on the cover.  Cari handed Zac a napkin to sign and he did, and handed it to Isaac as someone said it was time to begin the press conference.  Isaac gave the napkin back to Zac and said that we'd snap a few pics instead.  Cari gave her camera to Walker, and I gave mine to the woman from Mercury.  I then saw Mackenzie for the 1st time that day, and I said "Hi Mackenzie!" and he acted shy and hid behind Walker.  Before the pics were taken I said "I wanna stand next to Isaac" and Taylor answered "Yeah, you can stand next to Isaac."  So I did and Isaac put his arm around me!  :)  After the pics were taken, we began to say good-bye.  As Cari and I retrieved our cameras, Amy and Kris shook their hands and left.  I shook Taylor and Zac's hands but when I got to Isaac, I asked him if I could hug him and he hugged me! :)  He asked me how old I was, and I said "21- I'm in college"and he said "that's cool" Taylor heard this and laughed as he mumbled "Ike likes older women" and Isaac said "Shut up Tay." As Taylor asked Cari her age, Isaac and I talked about my major and about college and about what I want to do eventually.  Cari and I finally said good-bye one last time and took our seats for the press conference.  The actual press conference was cool.  We took pics for 5 min and then it began.  The guys made eye contact with us and Isaac smiled at me once.  It was cool.             We left the press conference as our minds were spinning.  We took the train back to Tinley Park and went to the concert that night.             We drove home that night/morning.  I almost fell asleep at the wheel!     Everything happened so fast, I couldn't remember it all at once.  More comes back to me every once and awhile, and at the same time I am forgetting a lot.

Here are a few "Quick Facts" I've realized about the day we met Hanson:

1. We met Hanson an hour before the guy from Fan-atic did.  We spent more time alone with him and it was more personal.

2. We were the only fans that got to meet, spend time with and get our pic taken with Hanson at Planet Hollywood that day.

3. Isaac Hanson knows my name!

4. I bought/touched a pair of boxers that Isaac Hanson could be wearing right now! (Part of the birthday gift I gave him there!)

5. We spent 20-30 min with Hanson

6. Dreams do come true

7. Everything happens for a reason

-END-

That's awesome, Mel, thanks a lot! :)