My 30th Birthday Presents - Balenciaga

As I said before, growing up, I've never had any interest in handbags. The thought of carrying something on me all the time without losing it is so burdensome to me. And then I got into having bags at 20 and I started to learn about Coach and Kate Spade and Gucci, LV, Chanel, Hermes. At the time I would covet the lower to middle end bags but I never really bought them. Most of my collection has been under $50 with the exception of 2 Kate Spade and 2 Marc by Marc Jacobs. Even the Coach stuff were just around $100 mark.

In the back of my head I've always thought, one day I will buy one nice bag that's over $1000 even though the idea seemed actually quite absurd. By the time I've been working full-time for a few years, I would consider the idea once a year and then do some searches and not find anything I want. The process was kinda like getting my tattoo. At some point in my life, the idea begins to take more concrete shape and maybe 2-3 times a year I'd browse and see what I like. In 2011, I had a convo with my friend about how i'd set myself a goal of buying the bag if I reach a certain status (e.g., my first pay cheque, my first promotion, etc) and then never doing it because I can't seem to justify it. We joked about how maybe I should make it my 30th benchmark bday present - big girl with a big girl bag and although at the time it was really just a joke, the idea stuck.

As I approached by 30th birthday, I started to get antsy, as I had pretty much decided what I'm going to get and researched the pricing and knew that the best place was to get it in Paris. Around October, I asked Caleb if I should buy it before my bday or after, since on my birthday I will be in North America and he laughed and said I can do whatever I want since it's a bday for myself. So on a weekend while he was here in Paris with me, I dragged him to the Balenciaga Boutique with me and made my purchase, 3 months before my 30th birthday. The best part about all this is that Caleb said Bal bags are the nicest luxury bags he's ever seen (and he's seen quite a few) so it really took a lot of the guilt away.

While we were there, we spotted something else that we both loved as well and while I bought one for myself, he ended up getting me my 30th bday present 3 months early as well!

 Purchase #1: The Black City G12 Silver Hardware I bought for myself. When Balenciaga took away the G21 Hardware, I was really disappointed because I loved the idea of the large Giant hardwares and was thinking that the mini GH will not live up to its original looks. However, they actually had some G21 in stock and after comparing it to the G12, we both found that the mGH is much more elegant looking that the G21. I think I would love to have the G21 on the Part-time but for the City, it was too overwhelming and looked tacky.

We also debated between the Silver or the Gold. Originally, I had wanted to Rose Gold, but after looking at some RGGH I saw that the hardware felt really muted against the black. My next selection was Gold, but after comparing it to the Silver, the gold felt a bit tacky and the Silver made a much nicer contrast. Thankfully our next purchase gave me my wish of the Gold!

Purchase #2: Mini City in Bleu Mineral in G12 Gold! The sales associate pulled this little thing out as I was asking about the bag and she was saying how she got this shipment from the summer collection and she loved it so much. Caleb being a guy who loves blue, liked the bag even more than the regular City and after confirming that it was okay with me that this was gonna be my bday present - it became mine!!

Here they are lined up next to each other.
And some modeling shots below :)

I even bought the Balenciaga cream to moisturize them regularly. There are a few things about the City I'n not that crazy about, such that the zippers are a bit hard to maneuver and the shoulder straps are not that comfortable to wear on the shoulder. The mini City is big enough to fit my 7" tablet but with my wallet, keys, and phone, it becomes a bit difficult to take in and out. But overall I love the way it looks and I can definitely stare at it for hours and moisturize it with leather cream everyday...

Is my 30th present worth the price tag? Is any bag ever? :)