Or, rather, WHAT summer vacation? Or, perhaps, what I DIDN'T do on my summer vacation? Like…VACATION?

I have not had a summer vacation since the summer after my first year (and last year) of law school. That was quite a while ago. When I fell into deejaying and, later, writing for magazines, I was stuck in businesses that never allowed for seasonal breaks. When writing for magazines, the summer months are spent writing for Fall issues, which are very important. When deejaying, neither the clubs nor the parties stopped just because the weather suddenly got sultry. In fact, if I could take a break, it was normally in January; nothing goes on in this town in January. I would just stay home and watch TV or go to the movies, but I would tell everyone I was going to Miami. Unfortunately, Miami became a popular vacation spot ("Oh, wow! I'll be there too! Where are you staying?"), so I began telling everyone I was going back home to Detroit; I knew that I was safe with Detroit. And I believe that is one of the only times you'll ever see the words "safe" and "Detroit" in the same sentence.

Everything at the Patrick McMullan studio revolves around the Hamptons during the summer. Since I don't take pictures, I don't go. As the web site's editor, I deal with the copy on the site after the photos have been uploaded. Luckily, this is a chore that can be accomplished at the studio and at home. (God bless the Internet)

I got over the Hamptons sometime in the mid 90's. Up until then, I was a weekly and enthusiastic guest, until I began renting houses in August with 80's It Girl Dianne Brill, her husband Peter, their original son Keenan, the fabulous jeweler Janis Savitt and whatever snazzy gent Janis was involved with. Eventually, Dianne stayed in Europe, because that's where she lived with her and Peter's rapidly growing family. Because Janis' family had a place in West Hampton, she didn't need to rent anymore. So, that left me. And, except for the occasional wedding or birthday party, I left the Hamptons for good (?).

I stayed put in the city. The Hamptons had become a place where one went out all the time and the last thing I wanted to do with my weekends was to go out. By then, I had gotten to the point where I didn't even want to go out in the city, unless I had a paycheck waiting for me when I left whatever club or party I attended or I knew I had one coming in a couple of months because I had written a column about a particular event. And, no, that is not the sign of being jaded or burned out. It's just a sign of moving on, I guess. (Been there, done that...NEXT!)

I did have some fun this summer, however. There was a great rooftop concert of the new band ArcKid, that was presented by "Interview" and Hugo Boss. They had presented another concert two days earlier, but my husband and I didn't make it because he was busy and I wasn't feeling well. It was smack in the middle of that horrid heatwave and all I wanted to do was soak in a cold tub of water. Even by the night of the second concert, the weather continued to be oppressive, but we were both in the mood to do SOMETHING. So, we hopped into a delightfully air-conditioned cab and sallied forth to the farthest West borders of Chelsea.

We landed at an enormous building that my husband, an actor, said he was always auditioning at. He had an uneasy look on his face. For him, it must have been like those nightmares one has for decades after college where you come into a class and discover there's going to be a test you never studied for, nor even knew about. YOU know the one. I guess that he was silently rehearsing his long monolog from "The Taming of the Shrew"…just in case.

The large elevator swept us up to the top. "This is the floor where the auditions always are!" He whispered. Judging from the sound of his voice, I think he was now going over his shorter program…just in case. "And there doesn't seem to be much of a party."

But, before I could answer, we were pointed to a door that opened to an outdoor space.

We both lit up when we crossed the threshold. The rooftop was enormous, with gorgeous city and water views. Most importantly, there was a fresh breeze whipping through… a much better alternative to those cold baths.

An massive stage was set up near the entrance. A long bar was on our left. We grabbed a couple of drinks and kept walking. At the other end of the rooftop were many configurations of couches, ottomans and tables. On the tables were giant baskets of snack food. There were also more bars and a giant buffet center where hamburgers, hotdogs and all the fixin's were being dished out. We helped ourselves to some food and parked ourselves on a comfy couch. It was fabulous.

For a good while we sat, enjoying the food, drink and cool air. We watched a never-ending stream of MisShape clones swan about, back and forth, back and forth, desperate for attention. The most self-possessed trailed behind Sophia Lamar, as she is their highest rated Diva. Good for her; I like Sophia.

More widely known people, such as Donna Karan and David Bowie, were also taking advantage of the scene. You can check out our coverage of the event (August 2, 2006), so I don't have to make one of those dreary bold-faced lists. Just type in "arckid" in our search function and off you go! One guest who should be mentioned, however, is the skunk-haired Todd Rundgren. It was Rundgren who famously raised Liv Tyler (wife of ArcKid's Royston Langdon) as his own, until she discovered Aerosmith Steven was her father. Gives a whole new meaning to "Who's your daddy", doesn't it?

Anyway…

It was so much fun. I couldn't believe how all the super skinny ones were shoving cheeseburgers into their mouths. That just goes to prove that one's weight has as much dependence on genetics as diet and exercise (if this lot exercises, I'm totally confused as to where the muscles are! They don't even have behinds!).

And the band was terrific! I'm afraid that Spacehog, the Langdon brother's other band (previous band?), never did it for me, so I was quite surprised. Both the songwriting and performances were solid. And they were never boring…which is a MAJOR thing.

Neither was the night. It began winding down after the band got off, but people still hung out. We grabbed a lovely swing for two…until my husband went back to the bar and three other people decided to join me on it. I didn't care how skinny they were or how nice the breeze was… this was a little too intimate and close. So, off I went.

As I approached the door to go inside, "Interview" publisher Sandy Brant and Editor-in-Chief Ingrid Sischy were coming outside. "GREAT party?" Ingrid asked. "GREAT party!" I replied.

In fact, it was the best of the big summer soirees that I attended. There were smaller, more personal events that were super, but this was the top of the public ones.

For instance, I had a great time deejaying the wedding of Jordan Klineman and Mary Graham (now Mary Klineman) in East Hampton. It was a beautiful night in mid-July. We were lucky that it was the one weekend it didn't rain. And it was special because I've known Jordan's family (Kent, Hedy and Justine Klineman) for decades and have been a guest at their Hampton's home many many times over the years.

Then there was the great night eating vegetarian Thai takeout in the garden of my old friend Lisa Edelstein's new apartment in the East Village. The only other guests were Lisa's dad, Dr. Edelstein, Patrick, Jenny Lumet and a friend of Lisa's family. It was perfect. It was exciting, as well, to see the Marchesa gown Lisa had chosen to wear at the Emmys. She had a picture of herself in it on her laptop. We were all so proud and happy for her! It was Lisa's first chance to attend the Emmys and she was taking her mom. If you haven't checked out the show she co-stars on, "House", you should.

I'm going to end this back-to-school summary with Patrick's (latest) birthday party. His birthday was on August 31st and he's already had at least one party that I know of (in the Hamptons). Patrick has a habit of viewing parties for himself as too much is never enough… though I THINK we've seen the last of the ones for his latest book, Kiss Kiss. Of course, knowing him as well as I do, I wouldn't bank on it!

Okay...so I went. When I entered the party site, the Gallery at New World Stages, I immediately ran into Janis Savitt and Sam Bassett speaking with PMc Special Projects Diva, Sam Bolton. I thought that was a good sign, except they were leaving. Argh!

I soldiered on, looking at all the great prints still adorning the walls from Patrick's show in this space months ago. (THAT was a fun party!). I chatted with many of the kids who form our little extremely dysfunctional family here at the studio (we wouldn't have it any other way!), saw Beauregard Housten- Montgomery, whose hilarious blogs are a welcomed addition to this site, and the divine Sylvia Miles, but they were so deeply in conversation with each other, I decided not to interrupt. I waved at Patty Melt and then...well, I didn't know any other people there. So, I went home.

It was better that way. That night marked the official end of Summer and tomorrow is the official beginning of the new social season. That's right little kumquats- tomorrow is the first day of FASHION WEEK! Tonight is the last full night of sleep before the craziness bitch-slaps us upside our heads for the next seven days.

I'm so afraid...