1. Kentucky basketball. Not just the storied Wildcat program-- the sheer love for the game that transcends race, gender, geography, and socioeconomic lines across every little corner of the Commonwealth. From the way everyone congregates at the Hyatt before UK games to the way every high school ball game is a sellout.

2. Maker's Mark.

3. Dwight Yoakam. He's from Floyd County, and so am I. Even if you don't enjoy his glam-country rockabilly sound (a position I can't personally imagine, but whatevs), you have to love his brilliant acting turns as the husband attending divorce mediation in Wedding Crashers or the abusive drunk in Slingblade.

4. These two houses in Gratz Park. My favorite houses anywhere in the world.

5. The Highlands.

6. The recently departed Gatewood Galbraith -- a true gentleman whose unique voice will be sorely missed in the state political arena.

7. The Oaks.

8. George Clooney. He's a beautiful man.

9. Jenny Wiley Theatre. (We're not going to discuss the whole "moving to Pikeville" thing. I can't talk rationally about it.)

10. Louisville Stoneware.

11. The Lexington Junior League Horse Show .

12. The New Year's Day Pajama Party at Lynn's Paradise Cafe.

13. The Seelbach.

14. Discovering Kentucky with my dogs. From Cherokee Park to Ashland's Central Park. From snowy days in the Eastern Kentucky mountains to sunny Saturdays on Molly Malone's patio.

Baby Max in Cherokee Park, 2007.

15. The Old Courthouse.

16. The Kentucky Governor's Scholars Program. Where I met my future husband, though it would take me more than a decade to figure it out. Where so many friendships, partnerships, and relationships were sealed. Where at least one friend's husband learned to crochet.

17. The University of Kentucky's campus.

18. Kentucky politics. Hilarious. Fascinating. Infuriating.

19. Cheapside.

20. Derby Glasses.