Summer Blues? September is Hot!

With Labor Day behind us and Fall events in full swing, it’s time to pull out our Blackberry (or day planners for those who won’t give up the pen and pad) to fill our schedules with a month jammed packed with events. Some of the highlights for September?

September Happenings:

Fashion’s Night Out – September 10
When Anna Wintour and Mike Bloomberg get together to throw a party, you know it's going to be huge. Vogue and the Council of Fashion Designers of America team up with NYC & Company to produce Fashion's Night Out, a fabulous citywide shopping event to kick off Fall Fashion Week and kick-start the City's retail industry. Hundreds of designers and retailers are participating, from the upscale (Versace, Chanel) to the edgy (Philip Lim, Stella McCartney) to the everyday (Uniqlo, Urban Outfitters). You’ll be sure to find in-store parties, fashion shows, freebies, celebrity appearances and live-music performances.

MTV Video Music Awards at Radio City – September 13
After staging last year's show in Hollywood, MTV brings its Video Music Awards show back to its New York City roots. At the first VMAs in 1984, Madonna rolled around on the Radio City Music Hall stage with a wedding dress up over her knickers; this time around, we're guessing featured performer Taylor Swift will comport herself in a more ladylike fashion. Still, bedraggled Brit comic Russell Brand returns to host again, which means something scandalous is bound to happen. Tickets to the VMAs are scarce (you have to be famous, a contest-winner or shell out a few thousand bucks), but remember: standing on Sixth Avenue screaming as the limos pull up is free.

New York 400 Week – September 8 through 13
While festivities celebrating Hudson's arrival have taken place throughout the year, NY400 Week will be highlighted by the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Johannes Vermeer exhibit, the New Island Festival, the unveiling of the New Amsterdam Plein & Pavilion at Battery Park and will culminate in NYC's first-ever Harbor Day. And, this time around Continental Airlines will make sure your trip goes smoother than Hudson's with a special airfare!

NY Craft Beer Week – September 11 through 20
Back for its second year, the NY Craft Beer Week is primed to saturate you in the country's best brews. Planned festivities include crash courses on hops and malt, citywide beer crawls and multicourse beer dinners hosted all over town.

Feast of San Gennaro – September 10 through 20
The Feast of San Gennaro brings more than one million people to the streets of historic Little Italy in the annual salute to the patron saint of Naples. The street festivities—including parades, entertainment, food stands and a cannoli-eating contest—are capped with a celebratory Mass and candlelit procession with the statue of San Gennaro.

Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week – September 10 through 17
In what is reportedly its final run at Bryant Park before moving to Lincoln Center in 2010, Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week promises yet another week of star-studded soirees at the tents. The world’s top designers debut their spring collections on the runways, as style-conscious celebrities from Hollywood, sports and the modeling world look on. You can be right there with them (but you'll need to land on a guest list first).

Couture fashion week at the Waldorf=Astoria – September 11 through 13
Launched in 2003 by designer Andres Aquino, Couture Fashion Week is a mini-event targeted at the international jet-set crowd (who are presumably also readers of Aquino's glossy magazine, Couture & Luxury). Designers from exotic locales such as Beirut and Turkey send over-the-top luxury wear down the runway (read: feathers, fur and sequins galore), supported by an equally over-the-top array of dancers, musicians and acrobats. The shows are capped off by a black-tie dinner and ball on Saturday evening, with tickets starting at $600 per guest.