So this morning when I woke up (late…) I decided, for no apparent reason, to check prices on plane tickets to Paris… (my next trip, in September, is already booked, but I like to see what’s available!)
This is a bag that would last the rest of your life, even if you’re a newborn infant… 
Then, just for the sake of comparison, I looked for one amazing personal style purchase that cost almost exactly the same amount:
This is a bag that would last the rest of your life, even if you’re a newborn infant…
But Paris… sigh…
These are the kinds of decisions that define our lives.
And who won the incredibly fun Hot Tips? One of my all-time favorite bloggers – Madame La Bas, who writes the beautiful, thought-provoking and always wise New Year, New Dreams! Chere Madame, I need your address… send me a note at theviviennefiles at gmail dot com.
Love,
Janice
Although the bag might last the rest of your life, as life changes you'll likely find yourself needing something different so where's the 'investment' then? I'll go for a (much) more reasonably priced bag and take those tickets!
I purchased a second hand botttega veneta several years ago. So not Paris but certainly a ticket cross country. I find real joy in the daily use of something so beautiful and functional. The quality of the leather and weaving. How it keeps getting smooshier with daily wear. How I can look forward to carrying it for years to come. So I don't think of it just in terms of tickets vs bag but rather a concentrated sort term dose of happiness vs a lower dose longer acting injection of happiness into my daily life. One isn't better or worse than the other.
A perfect explanation of the choices we face – neither are better or worse, they're just different, and sometimes difficult.
Ah Paris trumps a handbag!
Congratulations to Madame La Bas…I really enjoy reading her blog too.
Paris trumps the bag for me, too. I've always been more about experiences than things.
No contest for me – plane tickets!
Although I understand @Eileen's rationale above, I'm all about spending money on experiences. I'm all over the trip to Paris. In fact, I might actually be going there in August/Sept. Haven't decided yet.
Even within a choice like the one you pose, there are other possibilities. While airfare to Paris may be a given, one's accommodations are not. Ditto for food. If you downgrade your hotel or rent a small apt and eat, say, half your meals in the apt or in a park, you can have both the trip and the bag.
Written from Paris, by the way. We passed by your beautiful hotel and I thought of your wonderful anniversary trip.
Experiences over stuff (most of the time – I make an exception for very occasional pieces of jewellery). Also, to me that bag looks booooring! I like to be able to change my wardrobe and accessories every so often, not be stuck with the same (excellent quality) thing forever.
I wholeheartedly agree. Life over possessions. I love things BUT not so out of my financial reach that I would have to forego experiences. The hand bag may be of exquisite quality but… Even worse, though, is to fritter a bunch of money on a bunch of insignificant items that end up cluttering our lives.
I always look at choices with this same perspective Janice. Every 'yes' is a 'no' to many other options. I try to choose the 'yes' and follow it joyfully and without regret. Sometimes it is the experience (today my husband and I will spend the day in the city – Chicago – holding hands, eating, relishing in each other and the day) other times it's a purchase or giving to someone in need. Choices make us who we are and reflect us.
Hmm. Bag/Paris, Bag/Paris? Paris/Paris!! No competition, I will make do with un sac plastique rather than not go to Paris.