It didn't take long for Miss May Christi Shake, who rolled into Los Angeles a year ago, to tell us what she misses most about her hometown, Baltimore. 'Everyone is really close and watches out for one another,' she says. 'In a big city like LA, you don't know whether anyone's real or not. I'm used to being up-front and telling people how it is.' The 21-year-old is also accustomed to hell-raiser-friendly club hours back East. 'Everything here closes at two a.m.,' she says. 'I'm kind of glad it does, though, because then I don't stay out too late. I also miss the crisp autumn air, the falling leaves and the smell of chimney smoke -- but not the snow.' Christi is thankful that her mother encouraged her to start modeling at the age of 13. 'If I ever got lazy, she would say, 'Come on, you have to do this!' She still calls me every day to make sure I do everything I have to. That's what I love about my mom -- she'll never let me slack off.' After two years of modeling school and fashion shows, Christi worked for American Dream Girl, Merry-Go-Round and Hawaiian Tropic. Now she wants to design threads, not model them. 'I'm coming out with a clothing line on my website, christishake.com,' she says. 'My mom is helping me with everything, and I'm starting with a catalog of pretty, funky attire.' Christi has a head for business and even studied it in college, but now she wants to try acting school. 'I think it's time to go in a new direction,' she says. 'I want to be a serious actress. I like looking at my modeling pictures and seeing work I've done, but to see yourself on a TV show or in a movie has to be incredible.' Miss May says it is important that she feel a spiritual connection with the lucky guy she's dating. 'It's all about a man's eyes,' she says. 'You can tell if it's something real within the first five minutes. One time I was shopping and I picked up a teddy bear for my boyfriend because he was out of town. When I returned home, there were flowers from him on my doorstep. That told me we were thinking of each other at the same time, so I feel like he's connected to me.' What about other dating deal makers? 'I like a nice smile,' she says. 'If a guy's teeth are mangled, how can you kiss him? Also, I have always hung out with people who are at least five years older than I am. I like learning from people's life experiences, and guys my age just don't have the right mentality. I want to be in love -- marriage, kids, all of that. I'm in love with being in love.'