Rachel is the stylish one. Phoebe is the cool, hippie one. Chandler is the funny, sarcastic one. Joey is the dumb, womanizing one. And Ross is the endearingly geeky one. Monica is supposedly the anal-retentive and ultra-competitive one, but that's only part of the Friends story.

She's scrappy and a survivor. She's the friend you'd turn to if you decided you didn't want to marry a boring dentist. She nurtures, cooks, and loves. She'll put on a wedding dress when you get dumped, and a turkey head when you're pissy. Things don't come easily to her — least of all romance — but it only makes her more determined and, of course, more relatable.

In honor of Courteney Cox's 52nd birthday tomorrow — yeah, we're struggling to believe it, too — we're going to break down just why there's a little bit of Monica in all of us. For the record, though — you'd never catch us hooking up with a Blowfish.