For the month of January, to celebrate my upcoming birthday, I thought every Friday I’d share a little about me so you can get to know me better. This year I will be turning 31, and I’m beyond excited especially since 30 was such a great year for me. It can only get better, right? One can only hope!

Here are some fun interesting facts about me.

I was born on January 24, 1987 in the Bronx, New York. 

I was raised in both the Bronx and Mount Vernon, New York.

I share a birthday with my grandfather, Sidney. Every year we’d have joint birthday parties until his death. We also share a middle name, Noel/Noelle.

In Mount Vernon we had some pretty famous neighbors including rapper Heavy D’s family home, Phylicia Rashad, and Sylvia Woods of Sylvia’s Restaurant of Harlem.

I have one older sister, Michelle, who is 11 years older than me. And when most people see us, they think we’re twins. Several times we’ve been confused for each other. 

I come from a pretty musical family which probably explains why I love music so much. My uncle is a conductor, my mother was a pianist and performed at Carnegie Hall, and my great grandmother was a professional opera singer who performed for Queen Victoria.

For some reason as a little kid I had a fascination with cash registers. I wanted to be cashier and wanted to own a cash register. As a teenager I did get a job as a cashier at Michael’s and it was awful. At least I fulfilled my dream of being a cashier. 

My favorite memories of my grandfather was after school he'd pick me up and let me buy as much candy as I'd like. Before I had to work on homework he'd play jumprope with me since all the kids in the neighborhood were boys. 

Tune in next Friday for more facts about me!