For The Love of …Pets.

Forthe loveofpets-Periwinkle Starr

Hello Y’all! I can’t believe its the middle of June already :/ My mind goes back to scary movie 3 (I think it was) where the guy is screaming ‘Nooo!!, with both hands in the air while he’s left behind with that weird dude with yucky fingers and I can’t stop laughing because that’s exactly how I feel about this year running by too fast.

Thank you for all the comments and personal messages on the last post. They meant a lot and I may do a part two on that topic in the near future but this time, my focus might be on progress we’ve made so far – in training ourselves to run in the right direction in all areas of our lives! 😀

Over the last couple of years, we as designers have seen an increase in the need for pet friendly housing projects here in North Texas. The demand has gone up 26 percent especially among the millennial generation. Its so high that our multi-family housing clients require us to have dog parks, wash and groom stations as a vital part of our marketing package which wasn’t the case just a few years ago. In my mind, this is such a positive change that speaks volumes to how we as people have evolved.

But I find that the term ‘pet’ means different things to different people 🙂 What comes to mind when you think of a pet would be a dog, cat, maybe a cute pig, birds, rocks or pebbles (I was perturbed when i heard about having rocks and pebbles as pets but its true). For others, they might go the exotic route by owning a pet that can eat them up just because they forgot to latch a cage door OR the ‘wild animal’ just happened to break free after studiously watching them lock and unlock that cage door a zillion times…ha ha.

I was having lunch with friends a few days back, the conversation turned to pets. Everyone had stories to tell of the good, the bad and the oh so frustrating experiences of past and presently owned pets coupled with the effort plus the responsibility needed to keep them healthy and active as long as we could. There was no denying the fact that the benefits far outweigh the discomfort. Its said that pet owners are happier, they appear to be more active and to an extent less stressed than the rest of the populace 😀 😀 which I think is true. I’m by no means implying that this is the green light to visit the pound and grab the first thing that barks at you just because you can but knowing that animals possess personality traits unique to their breed.  If you happen to work long hours and are out on the weekends or gone for days on end; shoving bowls of food and water at an animal that wants to play, be talked to, cuddled or taken for rides is not going to cut it. You may need to start off with a rock or a bird.

Caring for an animal is such a beautiful thing and you do know that life is so much more  colorful with a pet in it than without. 😀 I hope you have a fabulous week ahead and feel free to share your most hilariously funny pet tales. Until I come your way again, I remain

 

Periwinkle Starr

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Are You A Runner?

AreYouARunner-PeriwinkleStarr

Hello Y’all! Its been a minute 😀 and I hope your week has been ‘Aah-mazing’ so far. If you’re in the States, you know you’ve hit the jackpot when you get to stay home on a Monday and pretend like you’ll sit still and do absolutely nothing…which probably never happens anyways… :/ ha ha.

Over the weekend, I was driving home from the gym. The heat is slowly beginning to creep in and its taking a bit longer to cool the car in between errands which is a mild irritant….but hey! its Texas right :/  So I get to a traffic stop and as i’m waiting on the green light, I see this couple running. I look at my dashboard and its 95 degrees  outside and I’m wondering why on earth anyone would do that to themselves in this heat and my mind flashed back to high school.

Growing up, I went to boarding school…and yes we wore uniforms (the whole nine yards). A lot of people liken it to an upscale lifestyle…but truth be told; I honestly didn’t like it and as much as it did ‘straighten me out’ according to my Mum, I have quite a few pet peeves as a result of my time spent there. I remember we had schedules for E-V-E-R-Y-T-H-I-N-G and it was like boot camp – clock work – day in – day out – year in -year out. 😦 :/ There were days where we were awakened  early in the morning to go running by this annoying bell that sounded like 10 million angry elephants auditioning for the Dallas symphony orchestra at the same time. :/ And I, being the rebel I was back then remember skipping out, jogging over to my big sisters dorm room, climbing into her bunk bed and catching a few more hours of sleep while all the ‘great athletes’ ran their hearts out…’And for what’? my teenage mind would ask. In my mind, a lady was supposed to look like a lady…not the buffed up ‘manly girls’ with deep throaty voices and hairy legs that the matrons were in some way trying to transform them into…Not me sweetie, that ship had left the dock even if it couldn’t sail just yet. 😀 😀

But I do find that in life, we are all runners. Whether you’re running from something or you’re running to something. And for every individual, it all boils down to your state of mind. Scientist say, the human mind is the most powerful thing you could ever come across; but just like any smart machine, it has to be trained, re-set and reprogrammed ever so often in order to function at it’s ultimate best. I like to think that the mind is likened to a computer running programs in the background while you work – in other words, your life as a whole is a product of your mindset… more than anything else.

As you go into this amazing new month of June,  I encourage you (myself included) to take some time to re-evaluate, ponder, breathe and reset your mind so you can be up and running in the right direction – whatever that means in your personal life. I invite you to share your thoughts in the comment section but better still become an amazing Starr reader by following this blog. Until I come your way sooner 😀 I remain

Periwinkle Starr