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The Windy City offers many opportunities for finding your one-and-only. Here are some choices to help turn the wind into a zephyr ...

You might think it's a piece of cake to meet new friends in the "City of Big Shoulders," because we're husky enough to support weightier issues like business as well as social prosperity. As the Second City, you might also assume we try harder, going out of our way to offer Chicagoans a convivial city in which to build relationships. Like most large cities, though, it's just not that simple. Yet there are many opportunities to mingle with singles and maybe meet your one and only. Here are some possibilities to make connecting a breeze in the "Windy City."

The Scene at the Goodman Theatre
Single, professional Chicagoans who enjoy a little drama should check out Goodman Theatre's newest package, a mix of cocktails and culture that includes three nights of dynamic plays, with a party before each play at different downtown restaurants.

Cooking up Fun at The Chopping Block
If you want to spice up your cooking skills while also mixing in a little love, or hot romance, The Chopping Block's two locations (Merchandise Mart or Lincoln Square) offer hands-on and demonstration classes. Specific classes for singles are almost always on the class menu.

Cheers to Being Single at Sam's Wines and Spirits
With three locations (Chicago, Downer's Grove and Highland Park), a Sam's Wines and Spirits class is always just around the corner. These classes are taken seriously, falling under the domain of Sam's Academy, and as such are not marketed to singles. The buzz, however, is that 40 to 60 percent of the attendees are single, amateur sommeliers.

Make a Date with the Museum of Contemporary Art
On the first Friday of every month, the Museum of Contemporary Art turns happy hour into happy cultural hour. For a $15 ticket ($10 for advance ticket purchases and $7 for members), you'll enjoy museum admission, a showing by an up-and-coming Chicago artist, live entertainment, a cash bar, complimentary Wolfgang Puck hors d'oeuvres and the world's only iMac G5 digital dating bar that hooks up people already mingling at the event. The party moves to various Chicago hot spots after happy hour.

Highlife Adventures Takes You Places
Highlife Adventures is a social club for singles, with several locations around the country. Here in Chicago, the organization claims around 2,500 members with the average member 36 years old. (For the record, the oldest member is 83.) There are different membership programs and prices, but they all lead you to events like pro-sports games, Murder Mystery dinner parties, Cirque du Soleil, hiking, biking, rafting and skiing.

The Single Gourmet Dining Club Dishes up Fun
For those who like to eat as they meet, The Single Gourmet Dining Club's Chicago chapter provides one to two weekly events when members socialize while dining at city and suburban restaurants. The average age, as stated at their Web site, is late 30s through 50s. Dining is a broad term for the organization and includes eating in restaurants, private clubs and private estates, as well as during sporting events, theme parties, wine and beer tastings, cultural events, tours and journeys to cities within the United States and abroad.