Counselor Rebecca”Becky J” Jacobson arrives on her first day of camp, summer 2001.

If I had to make a list of my top ten favorite things in the whole wide world “Seeing Camp Friends in the Off Season” would definitely make the cut. Which is why my Monday Blues are quickly wiped away when I remember that I will be spending the weekend hosting the one and only Lauren Berry!

While she is currently making her way across the glorious USA, Miss Berry will be arriving in my hometown on Thursday night, and staying for a long weekend of fun and friends! After work on Friday we’ll head into the city and meet up with some of my friends for dinner, and then head home to hang out with the two cutest dogs in the universe, Leo and Bella. The rest of the weekend will be free for us to do whatever we feel like, so all of our Philly area campers and counselors should get in touch if you want to see Lauren while she’s in town!

In other fun camp related news, Becky J saw this flyer hanging on a bulletin board for other students in the Camp Management department (Yes, Becky J’s major is Camp Management!):

Hey camp world, I hope everyone is enjoying the cool fall weather! As much as I absolutely LOVE summer (need I explain?) I think Fall is my favorite. As someone who went to school in chilly Vermont, fall reminds me of some of my favorite things: apple cider, pumpkin coffee, fluffy scarves, and my 3rd favorite holiday, HALLOWEEN!

Yes, I’m aware that it’s a bit early to start thinking about Halloween but, when you love it as much as I do, the perfect costume and party can take weeks of good planning. I wholeheartedly believe that the best costumes are the ones we make ourselves, and it’s always good to add a little bit of camp flavor to every big event. In 2007, Becky J and Danielle Faden did just that when they dressed up as color war:

Go Blue! Go Gold!

Band Call!

My other favorite fall event is the annual Thanksgiving Eve party that my family has been hosting for the last two years. It’s been a long standing tradition at my high school that every season, after the North Penn Concert Choir sings at our town’s Thanksgiving eve service, all the members of the choir, and the alumni, get together for a festive reunion. Famous North Penn kids include 2010 Counselors Dani Corradetti, Alexis Vardakas, and Jen Romberg.

Jen and I at last year's party.

I’ll need to start preparing my design scheme now for the vast array of confections we serve that evening. This will be our last year hosting the party, so Dani and I have already begun preparations to go all out and make it the best one yet. Those of you who know me well know that I have a serious love for all things decorating, and cake/cookie decorating is included in that love. You’ve all seen the themed cakes we decorate for Brian’s birthday every summer, but I’ll leave you with one of my most beloved creations, the cake we presented to Jessica Cook on her 16th birthday, during summer 2008:

Happy Sweet 16 at Camp, Jess!

Well, this entry has been a mishmosh of crazy… here I am talking about Halloween and Thanksgiving while it’s only October 7th, but the truth is- it’s all going to be here and gone before we know it! And that’s alright with me, because as these holidays fly by, camp gets closer, and closer, and closer…

It’s that time of the year again! The dreaded return of homework and crazy school schedules is upon us, and for me it means moving from my desk in Canadensis to a desk in Plymouth Meeting. As soon as I finished setting up my computer on my first day back in the winter office I immediately found myself missing the hustle and bustle of the summer office, specifically Sara, Tara, and Emily, who made every single day so much fun! Post camp was so eerily quiet without the sounds of campers, but it’s only 247 more days until the buses pull in and bring everyone back to our favorite summer destination.

So, as I did last year, here are some of my favorite summer memories:

A Ninja Battle by the Office Courts

Nora REALLY Loves Camp!

Enjoying Fruit on the Fly with my Forever Campers

Prom Committee: I Loved Canadensis University!

Hot Dogs with Waxman on the 4th of July

Finally putting on that FIVE YEAR JACKET!

The Senior Camp Girls and our 10 Minute Dog, LEAP-C.

Charley hits a lib in our iCan Stunting session!

Just hanging out by a Lenape sunset...

Having a Toga Party...

Fighting virtual pirates at Disney Quest.

Two of my favorite friends 🙂

Having a Dance Party in Hollywood Studios

Loving the Rainforest Cafe with some Canadensis Guys

Remembering Blue Greased Lightnin', the best team ever.

Well, that’s it for now! The summer was full of so many wonderful moments which will make for the greatest memories. I’m so excited to begin making plans for summer 2011, and with Camper and Staff surveys rolling in, we’ve got so many great new ideas to implement. I’ve also been playing a whole lot of Mah Jong, so the CIT Girls of 2011 better be ready for some intense games!!!

Hi Camp Family! I’ve spent the last 11 days moving in and enjoying all that is the Camp summer office!

We’ve been hard at work:

…and doing our best to keep dry…

… more soon!

Well, today was the last full day in the winter office! Tomorrow we’ll come in, finish up as much computer work as possibly, and then start getting all of our office boxes ready to be picked up by Eric Forti and the PreCamp Staff. Once the computers are off and the files are packed, we won’t see them again until Monday morning, when we OFFICIALLY OPEN THE CAMP CANADENSIS SUMMER OFFICE!!! Yes, you all know what this means… next month counselors will begin driving down the camp road, followed a week later by ALL OF YOU!!! I honestly can’t believe this day has finally arrived… I should probably start packing, right?

Today I got to have lunch with Rebecca Waxman, and we chatted about her community study project and how excited she is to go off to Syracuse next year! This blog is going to be VERY different without Rebecca around to be featured in most of my dinner blogs, but I’m looking forward to getting to spend the summer with her, and with ALL of my favorite camp friends who will be going off (or back) to school in the fall.

Well, it’s the end of the day here in the winter office, and I’ve got TONS of work to do around my house before I can leave for camp this weekend. As always, I’ll get it all done in time, but I know you all know the craziness that is preparing to leave for camp. Just imagine packing for May – September at camp! CRAZY! I promise to take lots of pictures and keep you updated on all the silly precamp happenings.

Well, that’s all for now. Next time I’ll be blogging from Canadensis!

CIT weekend turned out to be the perfect day! We had bright sunshine and warm weather, perfect for a day spent with your best friends at your summer home. The CITs of 2010 are already making big plans for the summer, and having them up at camp made me realized just how very soon we will all be back together.

Of all the things we did together, this activity (which was completely unplanned) was my favorite:

CITs 2010 Strike a Pose...

Well, in exactly 2 weeks I will be blogging from the Main Office up at Camp! I can’t believe I only have 13 days to pack everything I need for the summer and get ready to move. It’s very overwhelming, but I absolutely cannot wait to see all my camp friends from last summer who will be coming up early for pre-camp! I hope everyone is as excited as I am!

In other news, this weekend was Dani’s musical, Thoroughly Modern Millie, and it was a blast! Saturday night brought out friends from all over the place, including Danielle Faden, Becky J, Dave Yedid, Rebecca Waxman, Karen Sharir, Rachel Bachman, and Max Blum. After the show we all went back to my house to play with my puppies and watch Max Blum do his best impersonation of a flapper dance. I’ll post some pictures as soon as I get them off my camera.

Hello Blogland! Can you believe that April is almost over? Camp is coming faster than I could even imagine, and I am so excited to pack my bags and start moving up to the 18325.

Over the weekend I had an extremely camp themed dinner with Karen Sharir, Jason Calabretta, Pam Levi, Eric Forti, Robin Hasson, and Will Armon! We went to a little pizza place in Philadelphia and had the BEST pizza ever! The next morning we all woke up and drove off to New Camper Bowling in New Jersey, and met so many of our new Junior and Lower Inter campers! It was so much fun, and really got me in the camp spirit… although I think I’m always in the camp spirit…

I’ve also been doing a LOT of planning for the new CANADENSIS TONIGHT show coming this summer. We will begin casting soon, and have already started to cast a few writers and production staff, but there are MANY more spots to be filled, mostly by CAMPERS! Here are a few promos to get you excited:

Pete Tarnoff for Canadensis Tonight

Rachel Waxman for Canadensis Tonight

Mara Bernstein for Canadensis Tonight

We all know and love the Canadensis Today show, and we are very excited to announce the addition of Canadensis Tonight to the Canadensis Entertainment Network Saturday night lineup. Canadensis tonight will feature series regulars, as well as weekly guests, made up of campers and staff of all ages, as we continue to bring you coverage of all the happenings of summer 2010.

To audition for a recurring or guest starring role on Canadensis Tonight, keep checking the blog for breaking news and details!