I was born and raised in the South — the great state of Georgia, to be exact. Even in the 21st century, there's still a lot of things that ring true for the south and all of the people that reside in it. Here's just a few:

1. Always use your manners.

If the person is older than you, even if just by a few years, you always say "yes ma'am" or "yes sir." If someone does even the smallest thing for you, you should always give a sincere "thank you." Never reply "nope," "yeah," "I don't care," or "whatever" to an adult unless you want a good southern serving of sass.

2. Expect a gentleman.

If a boy doesn't hold the door open for you and treat you with the utmost respect, that's a problem. In the south, boys are raised to treat a girl well and girls are raised to settle for nothing less. Chivalry is not dead; you just have to wait for the right guy.

3. There's only one kind of tea.

Waiters know if you order tea, you mean sweet, iced tea. Go to the north and ask for tea and they'll give you unsweet nastiness. We don't play around when it comes to sweet tea down here.

4. If it's not moving, monogram it.

I pretty much live by this rule and I'm fine with it.

5. Pearls go with anything.

I think I wear my pearl earrings 350 days out of the year. If I'm wearing a t-shirt and Nike shorts, I'm still wearing my pearls. It a staple item for southern girls.

6. Simply Southern, Lily Pulitzer and Vineyard Vines are all pretty common.

Every true southern girl has at least a few of these.

7. Dressing up is not a chore.

Getting fancy every now and then is fun. But don't get me wrong, I still love big t-shirts.

8. Curls for days.

Whether you're going to a wedding or going to lunch with a friend, you can bet that we'll take any chance we can get to curl our hair.

9. Always have your toenails painted.

It's just an unspoken rule that a girl should always have her toenails painted if she's wearing sandals.

10. Saturdays in the fall are for football.

We don't care about professional football down here. It's all about some college ball on cool Saturdays. (GO DAWGS!)

11. Stay classy.

Gossip isn't cool, and being a slob is never okay. Show respect for yourself.

12. Learn to cook, and cook well.

We take food very seriously, so learn to cook good, southern food. Momma always said the way to a man's heart is through his stomach.

13. Always write a thank you note.

People in the south will thank you for thanking them. We take our manners very seriously. (Refer back to #1.)

This is just the beginning of a long list of reasons the south is so great. I hope to always stay in the south, but even if you take this girl out of the south, you can never take the south out of this girl. I'm just your basic southern girl living in this crazy world, and I wouldn't trade it for anything.