Chances are, if you have a social bone in your body, you were double-, maybe even triple-booked this past holiday season. Between the mix of chichi retailer events such as Bulgari's and Cartier's parties and private ones like art collector Frances Bowes's black-tie birthday bash and O.J. and Gary Shansby's holiday affair, the socially promiscuous found themselves running on fumes. At almost every party, the common refrain was "How are you holding up?" or "Isn't it crazy?"

Said O.J., who found herself rushing to make it to Bowes's birthday party, which took place the same night as the Shansbys' party, which also happened to be election night: "We barely made it, but 'tis the season to support your friends—I wouldn't have missed Frances's birthday for anything."

Indeed, many of the Shansbys' guests were also headed to the Ferry Building for Bowes's birthday fete. This included the perennially jovial Paul Pelosi Sr., Urannia Ristow (who had forgone giving her usual holiday blowout), Sandy and Kay Kimpton Walker, and Chuck and Ivette Esserman. The Shansbys' affair took place in the Shansby Group's new offices on the 29th and 30th floors of the Transamerica building, renovated six months prior by Orlando Diaz-Azcuy. Guests mingled throughout the duplex, with many congregating upstairs near, not so coincidentally, the bar.

Maria Manetti-Farrow arrived with handbag designer Lana Marks, for whom Manetti-Farrow had thrown a tea earlier in the day at her apartment atop Russian Hill. The afternoon tea party drew the likes of Daru Kawalkowski and Daniela Faggioli, who came to meet Marks and eye her designs, which got a publicity boost when Sarah Jessica Parker sported one of her bags at the Emmys.

And that was just what happened on a single day in December. Throughout the first two weeks, the pace was dizzying, as one champagne-fueled night blended into another. There was the Longchamp opening (benefiting Pets Unlimited), hosted by Vogue and Vanessa Getty. On account of Getty's pulling power, a crowd of glamour gals such as Leslie Podell, Summer Tompkins Walker, and the chic Kim Karp, who came dressed in a slinky black velvet Jean Paul Gaultier top and jeans, packed themselves into the 1,100-square-foot retail space filled with a motley group of older folks who were on another party list. As one PYT tartly observed, "Longchamp has never been so chic." In spite of the rabbit-covered handbags on offer, some FOVs (friends of Vanessa) were careful to leave their furs at home so as not to offend Getty, whose antifur stance is well known even if she isn't preachy about it. A steady stream of traffic flowed between the Longchamp and Cartier parties that night, but a contingent of younger singles broke off to scope out the talent at the Balboa Café.

Also on the retail hit list was Bulgari, which hosted a party for Joy Venturini Bianchi to honor her 50 years of work with Helpers for the Mentally Retarded. Bianchi, a fashion fanatic, arrived on velvet-covered crutches

("How chic," raved one partygoer) and talked about the inspiration behind "mouse couture" (in which about 150 fashion designers—including Armani, Blass, and Carolina Herrera—design gowns for four-inch-high mice figures). The results were displayed in the windows and inside the store.

"People are afraid of mice and the mentally retarded," Bianchi told a guest and the Socialist.

All told, there were dozens of events that reflected the numerous social groupings in the city. The lineup included Dede Wilsey's bash and her son Trevor Traina's shindig (for the younger set), plus a surprise party for Charlotte Shultz at City Hall, which drew the likes of Dodie Rosekrans, who flew out from Paris for the holidays. A festive charity bash called the Jingle & Mingle, partly organized by Tompkins Walker, put people in the holiday spirit by auctioning off specially designed wreaths. (Stanlee Gatti's lush green creation featuring the alphabet except for L—as in Noel—won praise for its conceptual conceit.)

And Keith Wetmore (chairman of top law firm Morrison & Foerster) threw a fete that drew a throng of the city's "A-gays," some of them self-styled. That same night, Katherine Post (daughter of Thérèse) celebrated her 30th birthday with a party hosted by Patrick Herning and Brad Lande at their new house in Pac Heights, which brought out the preppy crowd.

Against this backdrop of celebration, a disconcerting chatter was afoot among the younger set about the implosion of a society gal—one who's appeared in these pages. The episode is right out of a Proust or Balzac novel, or for those interested in camp references, Clare Boothe Luce's The Women. As the story went, the woman embarked on an undercover mission to ensure a couple she disliked was rejected for membership in the elite Peninsula club her husband belonged to. Bizarrely, she'd sent a damning letter to the club under the name of a close friend's husband without his knowledge. Yikes! The discovery of her ruse sent shock waves through social San Francisco and led to a falling-out between her and her friend. The phone lines were ablaze as the tale was rehashed ad nauseam, with a few sympathizers. Eventually, her husband resigned from the club he'd joined only a few years earlier. The episode even prompted an outraged onlooker, also anonymous, to inflame the situation by dropping a written account of the woman's transgressions

into what seemed like every mailbox in society. It was a sordid spectacle, one that had the social set pondering what had motivated the young woman to self-destruct. "I just don't understand why she would do this to her family" and "She'll probably have to leave town" were the oft-heard refrains.

But enough about society's dark side. Now that a new year's begun, a fresh start for all might be just what's needed.

Coming Attractions: I Know What You Did Last Holiday: The socialist catches up on everyone's travels.