There’s nothing like a revived real estate market to lift one’s spirits! ■ Amadeus Ehrhardt of Brown Harris Stevens just sent me a copy of the firm’s second-quarter east end market report, which shows that for the first time since the third quarter of 2007, sales of at least $1 million accounted for the majority of Hamptons transactions. This is in stark contrast to the first quarter of 2011, when only 38 percent of sales were for $1 million or more. A pickup in high-end activity is good news for all of us in the home category. This means that our community of architects, designers, builders and real estate agents—we refer to them as our “circle of influence”—are extremely busy at the moment, with many of them rushing to complete projects that got off to a slow start because of the hard winter. It also means that as the summer draws to a close, prospective buyers and sellers will likely step up their activities. ■ Giving is part of the social scene in all our markets, and a new event has been added to the calendar. Our sister publication, Connecticut Cottages & Gardens, developed the designer table program for the red Cross red & White Ball in greenwich in May, which was attended by le tout Connecticut and featured Barclay Butera as honorary design chair. Now HC&G is the media sponsor for the american red Cross in greater new York’s first gatsby on the green event in southampton on august 27, so prepare for lots of croquet, cocktails and vintage cars. For details and a who’s who list of sponsors, turn to the ad on page 95. ■ Put it on your calendar, and i’ll see you there!