You Break It, You Bought It

I'm clumsy. I trip over my own feet, bump into tables, and knock into doorways. My boyfriend even walks in front of me down stairwells, "just in case." So every time I do a photo shoot in a small, overstuffed boutique with tiny breakables hiding in every corner I start to sweat and immediately pull my personal items tighter to my body in the hopes of avoiding a massive, expensive collision.



But on a recent trip to Austin, Texas, I wasn't so lucky. I banged into a card table while checking out a stunning 1950s Broyhill dresser and sent the entirety of its porcelain display pieces flying onto the concrete floor. Fortunately, there was but one fatality: A small, gorgeously life-like pinecone. The damage was minimal--one knick to the bottom--but I bought it immediately (mostly out of complete and total embarrassment).

I've never been one to spend money on seemingly frivolous objects that I will most likely break. I think it's a trait I picked up while living with Lucky's senior beauty editor Cristina Mueller, who has never left a surface uncovered in her life (which is one of the many quirky things I love about her!). But I found myself quickly becoming attached to my accidental purchase. It just looked so perfectly at home on my small shelf of books. So much so, that I couldn't talk myself out of needing more pretty little things to fill more tiny crevices around my room, and thus a buying frenzy ensued. So far, I've kept it pretty much under control with a set of too-pretty-to-eat-off owl plates, a couple of sea urchin votives, and a so-small-nothing-could-fit-in-it crackled gold dish. But I've had my eye on this ceramic phonograph. I spotted it in the window of Michele Varian and find myself taking the long way home just to get another glance. It's completely ridiculous and super-pricey (though it does actually work like aspeaker), but I more than love it because of that. Is it taking my current obsession too far? Perhaps...





















Heather Summerville is the senior editor at