KBacon,
The 1911, as a critter in general, has been heavily modified and improved from it's original design which actually came outaround 1903 and then had a major redesignaround1911 if memory serves. Kimber's big marketing push is that they specialize in out-of-the-box 1911s that have all or many of the 'custom' features that people have done over the years to make their guns more reliable, perform better, and be more personalized.
Original 1903:
note grip angle and overall shape
Original 1911:
note new grip angle, simple grip safety, hammer shape, poor sights, and small ejection port.
Some common modernupgrades that your pistol appears to already have:
-lowered and flared ejection port (for reliability)
-polished feed ramp (to feed hollowpoints better. The originals were designed to feed hardball ammo due to the anticipated military usage, Geneva Convention restrictions, and the infancy of hollowpoint development at the time)
-beavertail safety (to better protect the web of your gun hand from the movement of the slide, and also to better protect the rear of the cocked hammer from being struck at such an angle that it might damage the sear and fire a round unintentionally when dropped.)
-much better sights (a must for accurate shooting)
-skeletonized speed hammer (for quicker locks times that help keep the gun on target through the trigger stroke)
-a manual safety that is easier to manipulate than the original small bump (not visiblein the above view)
-allen screws for the grips (nice to look at, and generally will show less wear than regular screws.)
Some other things you may wish tochange about your new 'girlfriend':
What a great analogy!
-ambidextrous manual safety (so either hand can work it. Good for competition or off-hand use in the event of a combat injury)
-fancy grips (who dosen't want to change the way your girlfriend dresses occasionally?)
-a curved mainspring housing (most guys like the feel of the straight one, but there are curved ones of varying shapes available too.)
-higher capacity single stack magazines (there are various sizes, but a 10 rounder wont stick out of the bottom too much if you want a few more bullets without going to a double stack sized frame and a whole new gun. Test all magazines for reliability both full and with only a few rounds in them. Poorly shaped mag lips will fail to feed often when the mag is maxed out, and weak springs will fail most often when there are only 1 or 2 shots left.)
-add bump pads to the bottom of your mags since they are already drilled for them (makes it less likely that you will fail to seat a magazine deeply enough during a quick reload, mainly for competition. The rubber pads may not be a good idea for carry since they will adhere to clothing.)
Other than that, there isn't much to change. That pistol of yours is a good modern 1911 with plenty of bells and whistles. As with any gun, it may be more accurate with one bullet weight, brand, or style, so break it in properly with a few hundred rounds of any generic ammo, and then start playing around to see what shoots best.
Enjoy the girlfriend!
-Bulz