At the start of a new relationship, everything is exciting and new, and both people typically put in a little extra effort before they go on a date. Girls are notorious for taking forever to get ready before they go out. Sometimes we have to send pictures of our outfit to all our friends to get their stamp of approval, spend an hour on makeup, and hour on our hair, and go to great extents to look beautiful. All this is really normal at the start of a relationship because you're trying to impress the other person, but it's easy to get lazy once you're comfortable with one another. Over a year into my relationship with my boyfriend, I still like to dress up when we go on dates.

Cue Selena Gomez's song, "Good For You," because there's a lot of truth to it. I know that I'm supposed to want to look good and feel good about myself for myself, but I have to say, I really enjoy putting in extra effort to look nice before my boyfriend and I go on a date, even if it's just to pick up carry-out Domino's pizza. It's not that I don't feel comfortable enough around my boyfriend to wear sweat pants and a T-shirt, I just like to look pretty when I go out in public with him because I know he appreciates my effort, unlike the random people in my eight o'clock speech class. I like knowing that someone notices that I'm wearing something besides an oversized sorority shirt and leggings.

I don't dress up and do my hair and makeup because he thinks that I need to. He tells me that I'm beautiful when I have dark circles under my eyes and my hair is in a messy bun. I'm really thankful for this, but it's always nice to hear "wow," when I walk through the door when I've actually put effort into my appearance. I dress up when I go out with my girlfriends, so why wouldn't I dress up whenever I go out with my boyfriend? I know he wants to show me off when we go out, and I really don't mind knowing that he thinks I'm pretty enough to show off. I already know that he loves me for other reasons, but it's always nice to know someone thinks I'm beautiful.

I really don't have a problem with putting in extra effort around my boyfriend, even if we've been dating for a while. It helps keep the relationship feeling new and exciting, even when I know he doesn't know what the word "chic" means. Whether we acknowledge it or not, we all want approval. When I was little, I used to put on Disney Princess costumes and twirl around my house. Dressing up when I go on a date with my boyfriend is the grown-up version of that. We all want to feel pretty, and there's nothing wrong with that.