New Jersey natives tend to take their hometown advantages for granted, and unless you abandon your "Dirty Jerz" life, and move to a place without all of your Jersey favorites, you may never notice just how lucky you are to have lived in the armpit of America. Don't get me wrong, change is great, but if you're a true Jersey girl, here are some of the things you love most about NJ, especially after moving away from them.

1. Bagels

Nowhere on this earth has bagels that are quite like bagels from New Jersey. All of you west coasters who think that Einstein Brothers Bagels is the holy grail of all bagels, hop on a flight to get some real bagels in the Dirty Jerz.

2. Pizza

Okay, I know, food is just the beginning of it, but seriously, get yourself some New Jersey pizza and then tell me that it's not 10x better than any of that knock off, wanna be pizza you have in your state. Moving away from New Jersey has taught me a lot of things, but the biggest is definitely that the food, and especially the pizza, always wins in NJ.

3. Driving

Drive slower...I dare you. It seems to me that New Jersey natives are the only ones who know how to drive, and not only that, they weren't given driving lessons from snails. Sitting in West Coast traffic drives any native Jersey girl crazy. I mean, why do you insist on driving 10 miles under the speed limit, yet still complain that you're late? Jersey girls, we know best, and these slow pokes will drive us insane if we let them. Oh, and don't get me started on slow walkers, because I could go on for days about that.

4. The Shore

Contrary to popular belief, not every New Jersey native talks, walks, or tans like Snooki, but you bet we love the Jersey Shore almost as much as she does. Living in a state without beaches means no morning sunrise trips, no summer beach days, and no chance to get sand everywhere. It may not be until you leave NJ that you realize how much you loved biting into a sandwich at the beach and tasting grains of sand, but trust me, once you leave it, you'll miss it.

5. Shopping

One of the most low key shopping states is New Jersey. As someone who has never had to pay sales tax on clothing in her life, trust me when I tell you it makes a huge difference. Aside from the fact that every other town in Jersey has at least one shopping mall, there are also a bunch of small boutiques and cute beach town stores that us Jersey girls live and die for. Shopping just isn't quite the same once you leave NJ, but at least it gives you something to look forward to when you come back!