It’s easy to look at yourself, your life and think about everything you HAVEN’T done. But why don’t we ever take a minute to think about the things we HAVE accomplished? I am 30 years old today, and as a woman in NYC, I can very easily sulk at the fact that I’m single, not engaged to be married and probably past my prime birthing years. OH BUMMER *rolls eyes* But why in the world would I ever do that when I’ve accomplished so much and have a ton more to look forward to? Why is it that our marital status is what defines us in society? Because of these ridiculous perspectives & pressures that we have on life, I decided to take a couple of weeks to think about everything that I HAVE accomplished in my 30 years. From the smallest mountain  to largest feats. There is much that all of us do in life that is taken for granted. So I wanted share with you a very raw, candid, and in some cases, hilariously honest outline of what I feel I have accomplished in my 30 years. That’s how I’m celebrating my 30th birthday. Don’t worry, I’m still going to be wearing ridiculous panda shirts, red glasses, stuffing my face uncontrollably and “aww-ing” at every dog that passes me on the street even though I’m “old” 😉 Oh, and this is supposed to be in chronological order but may be a bit jumbled, deal.

1. Being Born – you may not think this is MY accomplishment, and it surely wasn’t, but having survived 9 months in a womb and going through birth is quite an underrated accomplishment, I’ll say.
2. Heart Murmur – yup, this little fatso was born with a heart murmur . Survived that!
3. Outgrew the largest cheeks probably known to babies in my generation. My nickname was fat chunk thanks to my middle sister. 
4. NY Regional storytelling champ in middle school – don’t hate
5. Competed and Won IMTA’s Acting division for Young Teen in a Series Role
6. Learning to fly internationally alone starting in college
7. Lived Abroad in London for a semester
8. Graduated college – didn’t know if I could make it with all that Indian girl drama and pretending to want to be a doctor nonsense
9. Became a vegetarian – going on 10ish years now!
10. Started a blog based on my passion for cooking
11. Overcame an act of mugging & assault in my home city – yup. My teeth are fake, no joke.
12. Traveled to 31 countries, and counting!!
13. Learned to live life without a BF and being confident in myself
14. Learned to not depend on someone else for my happiness
15. Bought a house in NYC before the age of 30!
16. Was on national TV – starring on Food Network’s Cooks vs Cons in September 2017 & WON!
17. Owned my accomplishments and talked about them openly – learning to brag about yourself in a non-obnoxious manner is an art and is nothing to be ashamed of. We work hard for what we want, so why not share it?!
18. Began writing a cookbook
19. Pushed my boundaries for being adventurous 
20. Experience a handful earthquakes outside of America
21. Recorded my first podcast as a guest
22. Not holding on to people who were toxic for my life. It’s easier said than done, trust me.
23. Became a contributing editor to the Food & Entertainment Section of SI Advance
24. Working at Twitter – full 360 – Twitter was the platform I used to grow my Chef Priyanka brand 7 years ago, and now I’m working where it all started! 
25. Became open to meeting new people abroad
26. Accepting that I am on my own right now and being mentally and emotionally OK with that
27. Stopped trying to be a “people pleaser” and instead focusing on what I want
28. Scripted, Directed and Acted in my first Chef Priyanka short film
29. Traveled to my #1 bucket list destination – Japan! 
30. Last, but not least – brought my vision & passion for food to life through Chef Priyanka