Favorite Chicago memory so far...

I'm in the midst of emails between me and a potential date right now, and a question that was asked has given me reason to think a lot about the past year I've spent here in Chicago. Simply, the question was "what's your favorite Chicago memory so far?"
Who knew it could be so tough to answer.
To be sure, I've created a lot of memories over these past 12 months.. and I've packed my days and weekends with countless activities and gatherings with old friends and new friends. I've been to quintessential tourist locations and found local joints too. I've strolled the parks and visited the museums. I've eaten at some of the best (and worst) restaurants. But I've never considered my 'favorite' memory.
So to you, reader, I offer a list of some of the most top-of-mind:
- Listening to "Right Here, Right Now" by FatBoySlim as Scot and I drove into Chicago for the first time...and promptly getting stuck in our first traffic jam on the Eisenhower for at least 30 minutes
- Taking the train out to see Missy & the Day family and our trip to the Arboretum in July
- Seeing my first Cubs game last September from the "Brixen Ivy" bleachers on Waveland behind left field
- Winning tickets to see the Cubs season opener at Wrigley field in April, and freezing my butt off with Sarah
- Listening to the Lyric Opera perform a free concert in Millennium Park last September (and drinking my wine out of a plastic cup because I thought booze wasn't allowed in the park.. boy was I wrong)
- Watching the first real snow fall last December... three whole inches! (little did I know we'd see the last snow fall on APRIL 28 - FIVE MONTHS AFTER THE FIRST)
- Riding on the Red line L train to work that first week after I had moved into my apartment in Lincoln Park
- Getting on a city bus for the first time in my life to take it home for the after-work commute, and enjoying the people-watching
- Being invited to "dinner club" with Chris, Larry, Hyun, Cindy and Praise and having a lot of really good wine
- Laughing my butt off with Missy when my Honda's back wheels were frozen in at least 4 inches of solid ice and we were trying to rock-the-car to get it out
- Having dinner with Christy when she came in town to visit me before her family reunion (with really good tapas at Cafe Ba Ba Reeba)
- WALKING to the beach on a random Saturday in the summer with Chris... simply because we had nothing better to do.
- the very eventful "Stu Years Eve" party on Dec 31, 2007
- Going on my first Chicago date (it was alright, not spectacular)
- Riding my bike all the way up the Lakeshore to Evanston on a brilliant spring afternoon in May
- Pizza & brunch with Heather, Kristen and Charles when they came to town-- and catching up on a few years of life
- Shopping for food at the Farmer's Market in Lincoln Park with my parents when they came to visit me for my birthday

And I'll never outlive the amazement I felt walking into Emilio's on my birthday and being surprised by a bunch of new friends that I had made in the past 9 months. I'm blessed and grateful and lucky and beyond proud of the people in my life.

Now that I'm for year #2 here in the upper midwest, we'll see what I make of it all.