We had a great time last night at the 76ers game! Thanks to everyone who came out. Here’s a picture from last night and we’ll have an update in an upcoming episode of Canadensis Today!

Nothing like a weekend full of camp to kick off the New Year!

In my last post I mentioned that we were heading out on Friday night to see counselors Steve Scott and Ethan Cohen‘s band The Spelling Tree release their long awaited EP. There were SO many Canadensis friends who came out to support the guys, and see each other, and I tried to take as many pictures as possible. The little coffee shop was SO crowded, it was hard to move, and although we attempted to take an all camp picture after the boys finished their set, we could hardly make our way through the crowds to each other! Here are the few pictures I was able to take during the show:

Rachel and I enjoy our Chai Lattes!

Becky, Danielle, Dani, Liz, and Rachel, visit with Steve before he takes the stage!

SAM SIGHTING!

Saturday morning found Rachel Bachman and I up with the sun and getting ready to make the trip out to New Brunswick for the Leadership Staff Winter Meeting. A fabulous time was had by all, and when all was said and done we were more excited than ever for summer to arrive! We had a fun and delicious dinner, and luckily Camp Mom Steph had her camera in hand at the dinner table:

Pam and I ALMOST won the Newly Staff game... we'll get them next time!

L-R: Rachel, Brittany, Brooke, Hannah, Becky, Cara, Karen, and Rebecca, all having a blast at the reunion!

In other news, I thought I would share a fast fact with you all. For anyone who doesn’t know, my mom works for QVC… you know, the channel where you tune in and can buy thing by calling in. One of the companies my mom represents on air is a TOY company, which is exciting for Dani and I, because that means we get to see all the samples, and a lot of the time she lets us help her prepare for her airings. Recently my mom was on air with a children’s pop-up tent, which we got to practice putting together in our family room at home. Here are some pictures from my adventures in the tent:

Me and my puppies, Leo and Bella, hanging out in the princess fort!

That's my mom on QVC!

Here she is selling the princess fort, one of my favorite items she's had on air.

Well, that’s all for now! Tonight we’ll be at the sixers game- I can’t wait to see all the camp families in the Canadensis section!

Hello all from the windy city! As you all know, I never sit still and so following the reunion, I headed out to Chicago for a menu planning/food conference through our purchasing group. But first, the reunion was absolutely awesome! Every year it seems we have a bigger turnout and it was so great to get to see so many campers and their parents.

The younger camp may not know, but around 2PM we had a quick meeting with the Seniors/CITs in the room up front at the bowling alley and it was so amazing to hear how excited and spirited the CITs of 2010 (pronounced twenty ten according to them!). We announced the details of our options college tour for our Super Seniors and CITs and they responded with interest.  We also announced that the Super Senior trip will be a trip to Niagara Falls (as in the past) as well as Cleveland. We have decided to stay out of Canada for the main reason of dealing with passports. It has become increasingly difficult to cross the border with a group of kids (without parents) and the documentation necessary has been challenging for some of our families. Also, we have had problems in the past crossing back into the US with some of our international staff. We are so excited for the Cleveland addition, which will include a visit to Cedar Point (the largest amusement park in the US), a visit to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and some other exciting additions to the program. We will of course still do the popular jetboat tour in Niagara and additional attractions.

I hope you all had an amazing time at the reunion and for those campers who missed it, we missed seeing you! BUT, the good news is we will be coming to an ice cream parlor near you. We will be holding “Canteen on the Fly” in 6 towns over the coming month, so stay tuned for exact dates and locations.

I need to get back from Chicago quickly because tomorrow is our Sixers Night. Camp will be hosting a group of over 50 campers, parents, and alumni at the Jewish Heritage Night with the 76ers. If you will be there or are coming with us, please be sure to wear a Canadensis shirt and show your pride! If you are from NY/north Jersey, we have a night with the NY Knicks upcoming as well.

Well that’s all I have for now! See many of you tomorrow night- did I ever say how much I love/hate flying? It’s definitely a love/hate kind of thing:)

Check out the Canadensis Twitter for tweets from inside the Winter Meeting!

www.twitter.com/canadensis

See you all tomorrow!

So I let some of you down yesterday by not posting as promised (Sorry Marshall!). It really isn’t that great a story, but here goes the shortened:

I was supposed to fly back from Florida last Saturday and when I arrived at Miami Airport it was a zoo! They were looking for volunteers to give up their seat and I was the only one willing to. In the end, 3 people got “involuntarily bumped”, while I voluntarily was bumped off the flight. The problem was they couldn’t find me another flight out until Monday. So, I suggested they look into Fort Myers Airport, which is on the other side of Florida (West Coast) from where I was! In the end, they found me a 6:50AM flight the next morning to Philly. Next was trying to figure out how to get to the airport. Delta paid $350.00 for me to get in a Super Shuttle (alone in a mini bus thing) for a 2.5 hour ride across Alligator Alley to Fort Myers! I arrived around 1 AM, checking into a hotel paid for by Delta, was supplied with 3 meals paid for by (you guessed it) Delta, and was given a $600 travel voucher on Delta which will certainly help to pay for my honeymoon after the wedding!!

The moral of the story is if you have a flexible schedule, offer to give up your seat and you could get rewarded VERY nicely!

Anyway, Robin flew in last night and today (Friday) is a day off for me as we are having wedding planning meetings all day long. But, I got away for one hour and am now at the office blogging to all of you. Tomorrow is our annual head staff winter meeting in NJ, followed by the most exciting day of the winter months- the 2009 Summer Reunion!!

We hope to see as many of you there as possible. If you didn’t RSVP yet, just email and let us know you’re coming! If you are reading this on Sunday, just hop on over to Brunswick Zone in North Brunswick, NJ from 1-3PM.

Otherwise, have a wonderful weekend!

I hope everyone survived their first week back in the swing of things, after a nice long winter break! While I’m sure many of you shipped off to exotic destinations, I spent my winter break with my sister, hanging out with friends around town, hosting holiday parties, and taking a few fun day trips. My parents spent the holiday break with our family in London, and Dani and I stayed back to watch our two adorable doggies Bella and Leopold. We watched a lot of holiday movies, went on many mall excursions, and embarked on a multiple season marathon of our favorite show, Greek!

We can't wait for Greek to return later this month!

One of my favorite holiday purchases were the “Hannukah Key Covers” from Urban Outfitters. The set included a dreidel and a piece of matzah… I wonder if the manufacturers got latkes confused with matzah… either way, I think they’re a pretty cool edition to my keychain! Of course, my house key is still covered with mouse ears from our CIT trip to disney world (shout out to my CITs 2009!).

Even my keys got into the spirit!

Dani’s birthday was December 30th and I threw her a surprise birthday party at our house, and she had NO IDEA it was happening! While one of her friends, who was in on the secret, took her out for a few hours, the rest of the guest list arrived and we set up in record time. She was shocked when she entered the room to a huge “SURPRISE”, and it was a really exciting and fun evening.

Bella, exhausted after all the holiday festivities!

The next night, New Year’s Eve, was a tiny camp reunion of sorts! Myself,  Dani Corradetti, Rebecca Waxman, Jessica Cook, Danielle Cook, Liz Tarnoff, and Erica Carey got all dressed up and had a lovely dinner at a  little Italian restaurant near my house! We talked about last summer, next summer, and everything in between. After we couldn’t possibly eat any more, we went back to my house, changed into sweatpants and tees, and brought out more snack food than the table could even hold! Around 11:30 we realized we were running out of scoops, and made a late night trip to CVS (wawa was closed, can you believe it?!) to pick up a few more bags – you’ve gotta have your scoops, right Rory Mitchell? The ball dropped, the new year arrived, and we finally decided to get some sleep. We were so busy talking and laughing (and eating) that we completely neglected to take the usual crazy amount of pictures, but luckily Dani Cook managed to take one shot over the course of the evening:

Dani and Dani on New Years Eve

Dani and I had also bought tickets to see Ragtime on Broadway, and found out that the show was closing, and we needed to exchange or refund our seats! I called as soon as I got the email, and we luckily got seats for January 3rd, the last night the show would be playing. So, although impromptu, Dani and I hopped the train into NYC on Sunday, and it was absolutely one of the best shows I’ve ever seen! The audience was so thrilled to be there, and broke out into thunderous applause every time a song ended, or a scene changed, or something funny occurred. It was the ultimate Broadway experience!

Ragtime on Broadway

Now we’re back to life as usual in the office, although nothing is usual in the camp world! Last night I went to dinner with Forti, Unger, Pam, and Karen Sharir… along with another camp counselor, who shall remain anonymous until Sunday at the reunion.We went to a great Thai restaurant, my FIRST Thai experience, and I absolutely loved it!

Tonight Rachel Bachman will be arriving at my house, and we (along with Danielle Faden and Dani Corradetti) will be taking a ride out to Ardmore tonight to see  THE SPELLING TREE play their big CD release show! I hear lots of camp friends will be at the event, so be prepared to take lots of pictures for me to add to the blog!!!

Okay, off for a Taco Bell lunch with Pam! I can’t wait to see a lot of you this evening at the CD party, and even more of you at Sunday’s Camp Reunion!!!

Eric "I Have a Camp Snuggie" Forti

So I know I am a little bit late, but Happy New Year! I hope 2010 brings everyone much happiness and a great rest of the school year until CAMP!! Of course, it’s an exciting year for me as it’s the year of my marriage to Robin Hasson, camp’s Girls Head Counselor. Speaking of Robin, I spent 10-days down in Florida and while you would think it should be warm, it was COOOLLLLDDDD! Well, not as cold as Philly, but 40s overnight, and that’s just wrong.

While I was in Florida, we had tons of great meetings, appointments, meals, etc. First we saw Harold and Phyllis (camp’s baker and his wife) for brunch one morning. Harold took us to a deli, and they had the best omelets ever! Great choice Harold. Next, we saw 2010 first-time camper Leah Otner, her mom, and grandma. Since she is a first-time camper and she happened to be right nearby Robin’s house, I wanted her to meet with Robin before summer began. We had a GREAT meeting and Leah is so excited for camp. She is going to be such a wonderful addition to our theater program at camp, both on-stage and behind the scenes amongst other activities. So, welcome Leah to the Canadensis Family!

Leah, Robin, and I in Florida (sorry it's a little blurry!)

We also interview a new nurse at camp. No worries- Betty (our head nurse) will be back for her 5th summer at Canadensis as well as Bonnie and Mary. Anyway, Fredericka is going to be a great addition to our returning health center team and she is highly qualified! Robin and I also had dinner with Programming Director Roy Faden and his wife Lisa.

Robin and me with Lisa and Roy

Finally, we met up with a company who helps us bid out our food and paper good products to different vendors. Alan and Carol (H &H Purchasing) have become good friends of ours and they hosted us at their house for a pool party (but it was too cold) and a great BBQ. We also tried to see Geo (last summer’s hockey director), but we couldn’t coordinate our schedules.

So, it was a busy busy trip to Florida, but very productive! Now, things are busy in the office preparing for the reunion and upcoming Sixers game night. If you need more info about either, email me eric@canadensis.com.

Take some time to watch the videos below. Once again, great job Jaycal. He will be at the reunion with his camera (duh) as will Will Armon and I, so you know what that means- CANADENSIS TODAY ON LOCATION!!

Check back tomorrow for my airline bumping story on my return flight to Philly (I know the suspense is really killing y’all!)