My cell phone finally rang last month. This was a good sign because a) my phone was back on after three months of faulty checks and angry phone calls from my carrier and b) it could possibly be a freelance assignment leading to more money. Turns out it was my editor from the paper asking if I would do a story on handbags. Yawn. It was the fourth story I'd written on handbags in a year. Oh well, it was work. I'd take what I could get and give my phone a reason to stay charged.

So I drove out to a local boutique ready to act impressed when the owner pulled out her latest collection. This was becoming so routine that I had practiced "ohhhh" and "ahhhh" faces in the mirror. But when she pulled out a Pink Panther Swarovski^®-covered purse, my jaw dropped. "It's a Katherine Baughmann. She does handbags for the stars," the owner explained. It was just so gorgeous. The crystals sparkled and sparkled. I was awestruck.

For days that purse wouldn't leave my head. It was something I had to have, but coming up with the money would be another story—literally.

I called my editor (love it when the cell phone works!) and proposed writing an additional piece on Swarovski crystals—the Austrian beads that covered my soon-to-be-had Pink Panther purse. I had never heard of them before, but my editor, being the avid fashionista that she is, loved the idea. She warned me that it was a broad topic and I would really need to stay focused, something that's not a strong point with my bemused mind.

Where to begin? Would I write primarily on the collectible crystals that adorn people’s keepsake chests? Or would I lead with decorating the home with Swarovski—enhanced wine glasses, covered salt and pepper shakers, accents on mirrors? Should I dive right into jewelry? These crystals have seeped into every aspect of our being…My God, my deadline was approaching like the final stretch the thoroughbreds take at the Kentucky Derby while the announcer goes hoarse from his screeching excitement.

The only way I was going to get this story done was to talk about the hundreds of ways in which Swarovski crystals can be used. I began with jewelry—not just the obvious chokers, bracelets and brooches, but belts and buckles. I stumbled across belt buckles encrusted with pink and black zebra stripes and orange and green ropes to be worn around skinny midriffs. I wrote about these crystals serving as the sole ornament on drop earrings. I noted the beads piled on top of each other and worn around wrists, necks and in hair.

Swarovski beads can be glued onto shirts and act like an accent around words or silk-screened martini glasses. Isaac Mizarahi engulfed a minidress with crystals and was asking a mere $20,000. They’ve been seen on tights and decorate the straps on shoes. On purses they act as an eye-catching tease.

I thought to write about the Swarovski crystals embedded on my beloved purse and how beautiful I thought it was. Again, a list of problems in doing that: a) someone other than myself would inevitably buy the purse and b) the other aspects of Swarovski are just too important to overlook.

I began to write … and write and write. I felt like my article went on forever, but my editor was delighted. Letters poured in from readers so excited to know more about these crytstals. But the highlight of all my research and writing didn't come from the praise or the working cell phone; it came when I was stopped on the street and asked where I had ever found the fabulous purse that was catching everybody's eye.

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