Padma Lakshmi turns 50 like a total boss; Says ‘50 is the new 30, feel like I’m just getting started’

Padma Lakshmi just celebrated her 50th birthday! The Top Chef star hit the half-century mark on Tuesday and shared a bikini-clad picture of herself on the beach, the picture read “50 is the new 30, feel like I’m just getting started.” “Thank you for all of your sweet birthday wishes. here's to the next 50Thank you for all of your sweet birthday wishes.  here's to the next 50,” she captioned her post.

Thank you for all of your sweet birthday wishes. here's to the next 50. #photoshopfreezone

Padma also celebrated her milestone, by reflecting on the year as a whole while offering inspirational words for her fans earlier in the week through Instagram in another post. “This year has been a mix of misery and elation. The whole world was swallowed up by the plague In March. We were lucky but so many weren’t and I felt an impending doom, a creeping anxiety I could not shake,” she penned in a lengthy post on Instagram. “Then another Black life was taken and it was good that we all rose up- but so painful too. So painful that some of our fellow Americans could not even bring themselves to say that Black lives matter, some who hold our highest offices.”

Birthday thoughts ⛅️ This year has been a mix of misery and elation. The whole world was swallowed up by the plague In March. We were lucky but so many weren’t and I felt an impending doom, a creeping anxiety I could not shake. Then another Black life was taken and it was good that we all rose up- but so painful too. So painful that some of our fellow Americans could not even bring themselves to say that Black lives matter, some who hold our highest offices. But personally, at home things were peaceful. We made a cocoon for our family. We lived for the first time-all under one roof. We became closer. And professionally, I finally got to show the world what I would do if I got to build a show from scratch. 'Taste the Nation' was well received beyond my wildest dreams, 100% even on rotten tomatoes! But the best of all was hearing how all of you felt when you watched it, reading how families watched together. The episode with my mother and littlehands felt like a tribute to all my mother and millions of other immigrant parents had sacrificed. I cannot ask for anything more. I am truly blessed: a loving and attentive partner, a child that continues to be a miracle every day and work that I am proud of and fully engaged by with people I love. I am today very lucky. But I am also a product of the toil and troubles my younger self endured. And I thank that version of me. Thank you all so much for joining me on this trip. I have loved sharing it with all of you everyday (even the Trump supporters or those that disagree with me) #thisis50 #virgoseason

The India-born beauty, whose mother Vijaya is a retired oncology nurse, said amid the global coronavirus pandemic, her family has grown together in unimaginable ways and took the moment to issue a minuscule pat on the back for the success of her Hulu series Taste the Nation. “But personally, at home things were peaceful. We made a cocoon for our family. We lived for the first time-all under one roof. We became closer,” she explained. “And professionally, I finally got to show the world what I would do if I got to build a show from scratch. 'Taste the Nation' was well received beyond my wildest dreams, 100% even on rotten tomatoes!”

Lakshmi said the best part of creating “Nation” for the streaming giant was “hearing how all of you felt when you watched it, reading how families watched together. The episode with my mother and little hands felt like a tribute to all my mother and millions of other immigrant parents had sacrificed.”

The former model shared a revealing bikini snap while she stood along a beach and held a small starfish in the palm of her hand. A second image showed her among her family in a swimming pool. “I cannot ask for anything more. I am truly blessed: a loving and attentive partner, a child that continues to be a miracle every day and work that I am proud of and fully engaged by with people I love,” she cherished. “I am today very lucky. But I am also a product of the toil and troubles my younger self endured. And I thank that version of me.” Lakshmi issued a huge token of appreciation to her fans “for joining me on this trip.” Added the author and activist, “I have loved sharing it with all of you everyday (even the Trump supporters).”

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