I was stuck looking at this on my phone yesterday which meant I didn't couldn't see a lot of the links. Thanks so much for all the lovely suggestions
I think my cutoff is going to be $3000 (and I'll hopefully spend considerably less than that) because I'd like to remain married, so no Hermes for me... but lots of good inspiration here...
My "happy new job" purchase was a large Kate Spade bag in navy, large enough to accommodate my laptop. To make it MM, I got it at the outlet on 50% off coupon day
For lower priced, casual, less structured bags I like Liebeskind or M0851 (though I feel like both of these bags show better in person. The leather quality is really nice).