First off, my apologies as this is actually not a pure Bal reveal (though the star of it is definitely Bal) 
I decided to include the non-Bal Mother's Day gifts as well, since there's a bit of a story to it. 
Second apology for the long post!
When DH asked me what I want for Mother's Day, I told him a Bal Day in Bleu Tropical, since that was the next bag in my list (special thanks and shout out to pinkelephant 721 for helping me with my questions! She was so patient with me, and so nice!). I would have preferred gold hardware, but since I do not pay as much attention to hardware as I do color, I told him regular hardware was fine too. I pointed him to ****** since I've read so much good feedback on Erica and ****** here. So, he went there and ordered me a Bal Day with regular hardware (no gold hardware available) - Erica was so nice she even expedited his order to make sure it made it in time for Mother's Day! So, I knew about the Bal. However, what I did not know was that he would also buy me Tiffany jewelry with blue enamel because he thought the color matched my Bleu Tropical! It ws so funny - of course the colors are not exactly the same, but to him, it is! And that's the cute part - the fact he surprised me with the RTT blue enamel jewelry because he thought the colors matched! LOL! I found it so sweet. Our daughter meanwhile, bought me a beautiful Prada wallet in bluette.
These "designer purchases" actually mean more to me than most - while I was raised a spoiled Daddy's princess, hubby and I decided to get married very young, and had our daughter young as well - so I was not going to get spoiled anymore at that point. This was not a popular decision with our families, and we had to prove ourselves to them by getting academic scholarships (and maintaining those) while we were in college, to make sure we did finish (they were not going to support us through college). So, raising a baby and working hard to stay on top of our classes to maintain our scholarships to finish school, I did not have the luxury of buying (or even thinking of) designer purchases back then. After graduation, we worked our way up the corporate ladder - but I stiill did not have time to think about designer items since our money was now going to our daughter's preschool and school needs. A few years ago though, we made it to executive positions in a highly respected multi-national technology firm, and with our new salaries, we finally had enough for me to think of even looking at designer bags! I always loved bags, but again, never had the time or luxury to even consider designer bags until a few years ago, when hubby and I became more highly-paid executives. So I am actually just rediscovering designer bags, and it means more to me than most because it shows me that we've made it through our time of proving ourselves. That's also why Mother's Day means more to me - my path to and in motherhood was far from typical, but I am so thankful we made it.
So, without further ado, here are the pics of my HGBag reveal, along with my other Mother's Day gifts (the Prada wallet and Tiffany jewelry). Very last picture shows my designer bag (and wallet) purchases/gifts starting from January 2013.
I call them the 2013 bag family, and DH and our daughter find me funny for saying that 
I decided to include the non-Bal Mother's Day gifts as well, since there's a bit of a story to it. Second apology for the long post!When DH asked me what I want for Mother's Day, I told him a Bal Day in Bleu Tropical, since that was the next bag in my list (special thanks and shout out to pinkelephant 721 for helping me with my questions! She was so patient with me, and so nice!). I would have preferred gold hardware, but since I do not pay as much attention to hardware as I do color, I told him regular hardware was fine too. I pointed him to ****** since I've read so much good feedback on Erica and ****** here. So, he went there and ordered me a Bal Day with regular hardware (no gold hardware available) - Erica was so nice she even expedited his order to make sure it made it in time for Mother's Day! So, I knew about the Bal. However, what I did not know was that he would also buy me Tiffany jewelry with blue enamel because he thought the color matched my Bleu Tropical! It ws so funny - of course the colors are not exactly the same, but to him, it is! And that's the cute part - the fact he surprised me with the RTT blue enamel jewelry because he thought the colors matched! LOL! I found it so sweet. Our daughter meanwhile, bought me a beautiful Prada wallet in bluette.
These "designer purchases" actually mean more to me than most - while I was raised a spoiled Daddy's princess, hubby and I decided to get married very young, and had our daughter young as well - so I was not going to get spoiled anymore at that point. This was not a popular decision with our families, and we had to prove ourselves to them by getting academic scholarships (and maintaining those) while we were in college, to make sure we did finish (they were not going to support us through college). So, raising a baby and working hard to stay on top of our classes to maintain our scholarships to finish school, I did not have the luxury of buying (or even thinking of) designer purchases back then. After graduation, we worked our way up the corporate ladder - but I stiill did not have time to think about designer items since our money was now going to our daughter's preschool and school needs. A few years ago though, we made it to executive positions in a highly respected multi-national technology firm, and with our new salaries, we finally had enough for me to think of even looking at designer bags! I always loved bags, but again, never had the time or luxury to even consider designer bags until a few years ago, when hubby and I became more highly-paid executives. So I am actually just rediscovering designer bags, and it means more to me than most because it shows me that we've made it through our time of proving ourselves. That's also why Mother's Day means more to me - my path to and in motherhood was far from typical, but I am so thankful we made it.
So, without further ado, here are the pics of my HGBag reveal, along with my other Mother's Day gifts (the Prada wallet and Tiffany jewelry). Very last picture shows my designer bag (and wallet) purchases/gifts starting from January 2013.
I call them the 2013 bag family, and DH and our daughter find me funny for saying that 
