But the airport's always almost empty at this time of the year, so let's go play on a baggage carousel.

I feel that my summer truly starts tomorrow.

Tomorrow I'll fly to Winnipeg, rent a car, and then head out to the Folk Festival to catch Feist.

I'll spend a few more days ambling about the Prairies, a couple days spoiling myself at the spa, and then I'm off to Chicago.

I feel that Winnipeg is the perfect destination for my first flight this summer.  Don't laugh.  Ever since I was a 21-year-old kid listening obsessively to the Weakerthans on my *DISCMAN*, I would picture this city that they sang about in my head.  I knew things about the airport, street names, etc., and thought "hmm, I'll go there some day."

And ironically I did.  Winnipeg was the first place I ever flew to, but not for pleasure, but for work.  When I was 23 (so young) I took a job on a remote reserve in Northwestern Ontario.  I had to fly through Winnipeg to get there, and spent hours in the airport, and a few overnights in the city, including a week for a conference that coincided with my twenty-fourth birthday.  Yep, you know your living conditions are harsh when spending your birthday in Winnipeg in February seems like heaven.

Anyway, so the point of this is that Winnipeg has always had a special place in my heart and seems like a good place to start a summer of self-care and rediscovery.  Through the magic of blogging, I have a good friend there, and my girl Feist is there, so it's a good place to go.  After that, I'm excited to spend a good week with my pal AlieMalie, who I haven't seen in over four years, as we roadtrip from Chicago to Minneapolis-St. Paul's.

The best thing about this summer is that I have pretty much every day filled with awesome people.  People who really care about me and have my back.  People who don't find me too introverted, who don't focus on my flaws, and who don't think life is too short for me.

Anyway, I am just SO FREAKING READY to leave this city for awhile and to remember what's important.  And to spend some time reconnecting with my old self, the optimistic girl who would watch the following video over and over again and didn't worry about bullshit because she knew herself.  I feel like I lost myself this year and I have so much faith this summer will help me find myself.