The notion of a magazine all about the weekend has been around for several years. A decade ago Metropolitan Home used to produce individual issues all about what to do with your weekend (and your weekend home). Many home magazines have summer issues that discuss weekend homes and casual Saturday night get-togethers. Sally Koslow, former editor of McCall’s and Lifetime, even developed a magazine called Friday.

In fact, at many magazine brainstorming sessions, publishers often pitch the idea of doing a magazine focused on the weekend lifestyle. Up until now, the idea has been shot down. But this month, Hearst is launching Weekend, with 500,000 copies on the newsstand and a cover price of $3.95. Aimed at affluent working women over the age of 35 – who presumably can’t wait for Friday – the magazine will deal with every aspect of weekend life, including food and entertaining, travel, decorating, organizing, and ideas on how to spend your personal time, whether at home or away.

Weekend’s editor is Susan Wyland, former editor of Martha Stewart Living, Real Simple, and Lifetime. “When we started developing the concept for Weekend, we realized that people needed to read several magazines to find great ideas on how to spend their weekend,” Ms. Wyland said. “By the time they finished, it was Sunday night already.” She said the magazine will be a one-stop resource.

The current issue is divided into two sections, “Weekends at Home” and “Weekends Away.” “Weekends at Home” covers shopping, cooking, and easy weekend projects. “Weekends Away” discusses day trips, casual fashion, and second-home real estate.

Since I have a weekend house, I wonder if either section will give tips on how to find a repairman to fix a broken dishwasher or a torn slider screen or to cart away a raccoon that happened to expire in the garage. Just asking!

Advertisers in the first issue include Banana Republic, Home Depot, Target, Kraft, and Toyota. Before deciding on future frequency, Hearst will put out a second issue of Weekend in mid-August, then evaluate the response to find out if women really do love the weekend.

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Another lifestyle magazine soon to be launched is C, based in Santa Monica and all about the California lifestyle, from Palm Springs to San Francisco and Beverly Hills to Santa Barbara. C, which will publish its first issue in September, will focus on the needs, interests, and, yes, lifestyle of the state’s most affluent and sophisticated women.

The magazine is the brainchild of Jennifer Smith Hale, publisher and editorial director of the very successful Santa Barbara Magazine. Michael Coady, the former editor of Women’s Wear Daily and W magazine who ended his career at Fairchild Publications as president and CEO, has signed on as editorial director. “I moved to California in 2000, “he told me. “And it is great to be retired – for about eighteen months.”

Ms. Smith Hale approached him with the idea for the magazine, and he began researching California demographics. “I learned that there are more homes worth over a million dollars in California than anywhere else,” he said. “That of the top 25 zip codes in the country, 15 are in California. If Cal ifornia was a country, it would have the world’s fourth biggest economy: It’s bigger than Italy, and yet it had no statewide magazine. Italy has a lot of magazines. I realized Jennifer had a very good idea.”

Mr. Coady pointed out that California has started lots of trends in both style and attitude, from women wearing pants to casual entertaining. He also believes that the differences between northern and southern California tend to be disappearing. “There is a lot of money now in northern California and in Silicon Valley, too,” he said.

The magazine will launch with a rate base of 100,000, and Mr. Coady hopes for about 50 advertising pages from upscale advertisers. Former Teen People publisher Jack Rotherham will be C’s publisher. The creative director is Margot Frankel, who previously held the position of art director at Departures, LA Style Magazine, and Town & Country.

Mr. Coady said he thinks that, in the years since he left New York, the magazine business has stayed the same. “But I don’t understand the success of magazines like Lucky,” he said. “I don’t see where they can go.” He added: “It is terrific working on just one magazine again. For me, it’s a lot more fun than being the budget watcher.”

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Not to be outdone by the left coast, New York now has its own new lifestyle/shelter magazine, called New York Home. It is published by Hour Media, a Detroit-based publishing company that claims it has found that New York publishers missed “a hole in the market.”

“Whether modern, traditional, country or eclectic, stylish living can be found and sourced in New York. It is time that New York and the tri-state area take center stage,” said John Balardo, Hour’s publisher. Hour also publishes Detroit Home.

Jason Kontos, New York Home’s editor in chief, is a longtime shelter magazine pro who has been an editor at House Beautiful, Country Living, Classic American Home, Traditional Home, and Veranda. ‘All my career people would admonish me: ‘Jason, remember you are not editing for New York.’ Well, today, at last, I am!”

The first issue, now on newsstands, features a Chelsea apartment, a home in Greenwich, a garden in Staten Island, and a look at Harlem’s historic homes. There are also tips on great stores on Lexington Avenue between 69th and 74th Streets.

“We want the magazine to be a mosaic of the life and style of New York and its suburbs,” Mr. Kontos said. “Let’s face it, what does everyone think and talk about today? Real estate! And young people are really into design. Today, they hire designers like they hire trainers!”

Mr. Kontos has staffed his magazine with well-known editors, including Jacqueline Gonnet, a former editor at House & Garden; Carol Helms, a former editor at Metropolitan Home; and Deborah Barrow, former publisher of Traditional Home, who is now president of the Hudson River Heritage and will write a column. The magazine has a rate base of 100,000 and will publish bimonthly.

New York Home is already distributed throughout the country, just as C magazine plans to. “People keep calling and telling me, ‘We really need this in New York.’ But maybe they need it all over,” Mr. Kontos said. “I just heard we sold out in Portland, Oregon.”