A twin, a gemini, a birthday in June and a best friend in yourself.

My twin sister, Anna (left) and I (Michelle, right) at our 29th Alter Ego Birthday Party!

Anna (left) and I (Michelle, right) at our Red Carpet Themed 30th Birthday Party

​Birthday week is always an exciting time for me… well, for us. I’m so lucky to be a twin and share my birthday. Hang on, sharing hasn’t always been a strong point growing up. We fought big time over silly things like who got the bottom bunk bed (we were both too lazy to climb to the top each night), whose teen poster got majority of the wall space and who got to play their favourite music in our cassette player!! 

Twin “personal space” is sugar coated with a warm fuzzy feeling knowing you shared a womb, so you WILL share everything for the rest of your life. Especially her wardrobe and shoes… but it works both ways.. good thing we have same same but different fashion styles. That same same but different twin thing has worked to our advantage more so than not. Although, when people find out I’m type 1 diabetic, the first thing they ask is, is your twin diabetic? No she is not.. and fortunately that’s one of our differences. Thank goodness I’m the one who got this. I believe part of my mission is to share my story and inspire everyone to love themselves more (put your oxygen mask on before helping others). Then use that love to spread love. 

Anna (my twin) and I love birthdays!! We love anyone and everyone’s birthday! Every year we have a theme and love to get dressed up. This year we’re having a birthday brunch. The dress code is to wear white to ring in summer. Living in Dubai we finally get to celebrate when the sun is shining (or more like an outdoor oven)! Growing up in Australia we were winter babies where the weather was damp, but our spirits were full of sunshine each birthday. Last year we had a Karaoke Party, our 30th we had a red carpet theme and for our 29th we had an alter ego party… naturally we dressed up as Miss Universe.

Every birthday it’s nice to reflect on how far I’ve come, I don’t do it enough. I want to take this moment to ask you, my dear reader, to congratulate yourself for how far you’ve come in life. For all that you’ve achieved, whether externally recognised or not, you know how hard you’ve worked and you deserve a little self praise. Literally pat yourself on the back! Whether you have a twin or not, you always have a best friend in yourself. 

Marinate your thoughts in positivity and simplify what it means to be happy. The rest will follow.

Our Karaoke Themed Party! I'm Sandy from Grease (left) and Anna (right) is Marilyn Monroe.

Our family at our Red Carpet Theme 30th Party. We love this pose and clearly my dad on the end is having fun!

Our Miss Universe dreams came true for one night! Gotta love birthdays!!