This is my perfect day
Summer is here. Time to unwind. Take a day to shed that starched suit jacket or those painful pumps. Banish words like “Excel file’’ and “conference call’’ from your mind. Read a good book. Pour a fierce cocktail. Let the kids run wild in the backyard (or ship them off to camp). Here, we ask some notable Bostonians to envision their ideal summer day - from boxing gyms to Buddhist meditation. Maybe you’ll get a few ideas for yours.
MING TSAI
Chef and owner of Blue Ginger in Wellesley, of Natick
7 a.m. Wake up in beach house in East Dennis. Grab a steamy mug of black coffee - and another for wife Polly - and head down to the beach. See the tide go out as sons David and Henry, ages 9 and 7, run around.
Noon Lunch at the Sesuit Harbor Cafe. Lobster rolls and fried clams. Boys inevitably get chicken fingers and french fries. Watch boats bobbing in the harbor.
1:30 p.m. Drive 10 minutes to golf course in South Yarmouth to play nine holes. Henry alternately whacks the ball with reckless abandon and plays his Game Boy in the golf cart.
5:30 p.m. Cocktails with friends: gin and tonic, beer, Sauvignon blanc. David and Henry get Sprite. Eat crackers and Wicked Good Crab Dip. Put on music, watch the sunset. The kids dance.
7:30 p.m. Fire up the grill. Throw on some fresh fish or lamb. Cellphones go unanswered unless the restaurant’s on fire.
8:30 p.m. A jigsaw puzzle, Monopoly, or Scrabble. Someone gets upset because someone loses. Eventually, the boys are so tired they put themselves to bed.
KEVIN MCBRIDE
Boxer who defeated Mike Tyson in 2005, of Dorchester
6 a.m.Son Caoimhin, age 15 months, wakes up. Get him ready, feed him milk and diced strawberries.
7 a.m. Daughter Grainne, age 4, wakes up. Eat oatmeal, make Grainne a breakfast of Lucky Charms and Irish tea with sugar. (“Two scoops, daddy!’’ she says. Give her one.)
9 a.m. Head off to the public parks on Castle Island, bring jelly sandwiches. Kids romp on the playground.
Noon Grab hot dogs at Sullivan’s. Wander the beach. Grainne plays in the sand.
4 p.m. Head home, drop kids off with wife. Go to Greenhills Irish Bakery in Dorchester. Have a cup of tea, look at boxing pictures on the walls, talk to fellow Irishmen.
5:30 p.m. Off to Petronelli’s gym in Brockton.
7 p.m. Back home. Read Grainne a bedtime story. Maybe “Cinderella.’’ Then tell a made-up tale about polar bears, her favorite.
COLETTE PHILLIPS
President and C.E.O. of Colette Phillips Communications, of Brookline
5:30 a.m. Start the day with a little meditation. Then breakfast: a powder drink with hemp.
11 a.m. Get in car, open sunroof, blast Caribbean music. Drive to Gloucester. Go whale-watching.
2 p.m. Drive to Woodman’s restaurant in Essex. Pick out a lobster, wait for them to cook it.
4 p.m. Drive home. Meet friends for ice cream. Sit out on back porch for a few hours, laughing and lazing around.
ELITA KANG
Violinist for the Boston Symphony Orchestra, of Brookline
8:30 a.m. Wake up, take dog Scout for a long walk around Jamaica Pond.
10:30 a.m. Breakfast: half a cup of Greek yogurt with honey and a handful of almonds.
11:30 a.m. Hop in the car. Take Scout to doggie day care. Pick up friends. Drive to Rockport.
1 p.m. Lunch at Roy Moore Lobster Company. Sit on packing crates and eat by the water. Watch gulls circling overhead.
2 p.m. Go to Helmut’s Strudel on Bearskin Neck. Eat some light, flaky strudel. Then go to Crane Beach and walk around.
4 p.m. Get donuts at Russell Orchards in Ipswich.
5 p.m. Head home. Make dinner with friends.
RYAN LANDRY
Writer/performer and founder of theater company the Gold Dust Orphans, of Dorchester
7 a.m. Wake up with a start, slap boyfriend across face thinking he is the alarm. He is not.
7:11 a.m. Gaily descend haunted Victorian staircase, trip over terrier and land on parlor floor with only minor bruising. Things are looking up.
7:15 a.m. Enter kitchen and gingerly prepare pot of discount instant coffee.
Noon Shower and dress in whatever clean clothes can be found beneath Dale Evans-inspired log cabin-style bed.
2 p.m. Lunch. A simple tomato sandwich on white toast with Miracle Whip. Delicious, sure, but nothing to write home about.
3 p.m. Pop in a movie. Anything made before 1950. Two hours of bliss ensue. Doze off. Awake. Doze off. All the while Bette Davis is saying, “With all my heart I still love the man I killed.’’
8 p.m. Realize that I am child of the universe and that every day, in every way, is perfect.
10 p.m. Drunk.
10:15 p.m. Bed.
STEVE GARFIELD
Videoblogger on new media and technology, of Jamaica Plain
7 a.m. Check e-mail, Twitter. Send Tweet: “Reminder, at 10 a.m., see everybody at Doyle’s.’’
10 a.m. Head to Doyle’s for meeting with the Boston Media Makers, a group of new media fanatics. Check out everyone’s new cameras and microphones. Order fruit pancakes.
1:30 p.m. Go home, work in the yard.
3:30 p.m. Jump on Orange Line with wife and find an open market or art show.
7:30 p.m. Dinner at Vee Vee in Jamaica Plain. Get North African vegetable stew. Chat with Dan, the owner.
9 p.m. Back home. Watch Conan and Jimmy Fallon on bedroom Tivo.
ERIN JUDGE
Comedian, of Somerville
9:30 a.m. Wake up, feeling quite virtuous for getting up so early.
10 a.m. Breakfast at Deluxe Town Diner in Watertown with husband. Addicted to their goat cheese spinach omelet.
11 a.m. Take a turn around Mount Auburn Cemetery.
Noon Lunch at Emma’s in Kendall Square. Order pizza, half buffalo chicken and half gorgonzola-tomato-bacon. Eavesdrop on nerdy conversations as fodder for stand-up routines.
1 p.m. Walk over Longfellow Bridge. Stroll down Newbury. Eavesdrop some more. Cross Harvard Bridge toward home. Pick a day when there is not a Phish concert at Fenway.
5 p.m. Drinks at Miracle of Science bar with friends, then dinner at Garden at the Cellar.
8 p.m. Perform at Comedy Studio in Harvard Square.
11 p.m. Walk around the Harvard campus, which seems enchanted late at night. Then head home and snuggle up with husband, who is likely already asleep.
MELISSA HOUGH
Principal dancer with the Boston Ballet, of the South End
8:30 a.m. Wake up. Watch Regis and Kelly. Go to
10 a.m. Class at Boston Ballet.
11:30 a.m. Sunbathe on docks by Charles River.
1:30 p.m. Lunch at the Butcher Shop in the South End with friends. Order gazpacho.
4 p.m. Nap, then Starbucks again. Grande vanilla iced chai.
8 p.m. Steak tartar at Pigalle.
10 p.m. Go to Dancing on the Charles.
BO BURNHAM
Teen YouTube sensation, of Hamilton
Noon Get out of bed. Shower.
1 p.m. Go to Subway and get a turkey sub with jalapeno chips. Definitely don’t go to the beach, where you’d just stand on a million little rocks and hang out with horrible people with their shirts off.
2 p.m. See a 3-D movie. Not a big outdoors guy.
5 p.m. Go to driving range. Not too much physical strain. Get an Oreo frappe.
7:30 p.m. Dinner at Nick’s Famous Roast Beef in Beverly. Steak and cheese egg roll.
9 p.m. Fool around at the piano in bedroom for the rest of the night. Eventually make way across the two feet of carpet to bed.
CHUCK HOGAN
Author of “The Strain’’ and “Prince of Thieves,’’ which is currently being made into a movie directed by Ben Affleck, of Sharon
5 a.m. Wake up. Write for a few hours.
11 a.m. Ultimate Frisbee in the park.
1 p.m. Go to a movie, because on nice days it feels so truant to see a matinee. Something dark and moody. Emerge afterward like a mole coming out of a hole.
5 p.m. Trolley ride with the kids. Then ice cream at Emack & Bolio’s. Order six small Milky Way cones for me and the kids.
6 p.m. Dinner at Canestaro by Fenway. Listen to the announcers and the distant roar of the crowd.
8 p.m. Head home and let the kids run around in the yard for a while. Use up the daylight we wasted at the movies.
Laura Bennett can be reached at lbennett@globe.com. 