Can we all agree that chocolate is the universal love language? It is the standby gift for Valentine’s Day, your mid-afternoon pick-me-up, the expected apology gift, the way to soothe a broken heart, etc. Sometimes it’s the only proper way to end the day! The way to my heart is chocolate, and my husband will attest to this. I am a firm believer that we all deserve to indulge a little in life. Life is too short to not enjoy every moment, and lots of those moments should include chocolate!
I’m sure most of you are familiar with DOVE® Chocolate. It is a delight. In addition to delicious chocolate, DOVE understands the importance of living a full life. I am still so surprised at how often women feel like they cannot or should not accomplish their dreams or fulfill their aspirations. I love DOVE’s mission of encouraging women to make their hopes and dreams a top priority in addition to their responsibilities because I believe it brings a fulfilling life to you and to those around you. That’s why I was thrilled to partner with DOVE’s #ChoosePleasure campaign, where they encourage you not to just make the choice, but to get up and DO something about it!
One of the ways their company illustrates this campaign is through their PROMISES. The PROMISES are those delectable little chocolates with the inspirational phrase written on the inside of the wrapper. We were so thrilled to be given the opportunity to come up with an art piece for one of DOVE’s PROMISES. The one we chose is (drumroll…): What are you waiting for?
Each of us have things we want to accomplish, but end up putting them on the back burner for various reasons. Me? I’ve been wanting to do a mural in my town of Provo, Utah for some time. I even talked with the city awhile back to see about our possibilities, but for whatever reason, I just sat on it. Well, the time for waiting is over! With DOVE’s encouragement to #ChoosePleasure, we decided to paint a mural of our selected promise in a public setting.
While searching for the perfect location we came across a wall on the back of Block 100 Antiques in downtown Provo.
Not only was it just what we were looking for, but our motto really resonated with the owner of the store, Russ Evans. He told us the very sentiment of “what are you waiting for” was ultimately how his business came to be. After attending a show at the music house here in town, he walked out and noticed a “for sale” sign on the door. He was so inspired to do something he had wanted to do for ages so he bought it and opened up an antique store. So many wonderful things are on the horizon for all of us if we simply act!
We teamed up with letter artist Jill DeHaan, who took the phrase and ran with it. I LOVE what she did.
I tried out a number of color palettes before deciding on the red, blue, pink. and yellow.
What do you think of the choice? Would you have gone with a different one? Actually, don’t tell me 🙂
We projected the image onto the wall and with some helpers got to work!
It took us about 3 days to finish it up and I’m tickled with how it turned out and I feel proud to add something to the community that I’ve grown to love. The mural is located in the back of a row of stores and I love the idea that someone might be wandering around and stumble on it. Like a little secret.
The first day of painting we interviewed a number of locals to hear what they are waiting for in their lives and the responses are tremendous. Some are as simple as skiing with the family, while others revealed their hopes and dreams. No matter the scale of the response, there’s probably something we are all sitting on and verbalizing those things often leads to action. I loved hearing their responses and I’m so curious how you would answer the same question. Tell me, what are you waiting for?
The interviews were too good to keep it to just 1 minute so we decided to make an extended version.
Feel free to respond in the comments or tag your response with #WhatAreYouWaitingForwithLars I’d love to hear your thoughts.
Now, for a giveaway! A chocolate one!
One winner will receive 10 bags of DOVE Chocolate to share with family and friends. Ye haw! Here’s how to win:
- Share a photo of something that describes what YOU are waiting for and tag it with #WhatAreYouWaitingForwithLars OR Share a photo of yourself enjoying DOVE Chocolate and use #ChoosePleasure.
- Bonus entry: If you’re local, visit our mural behind 100 Block Antiques at 145 N. University Ave, Provo, UT 84604. Take a pic of you in front of the mural, tag it with #PaintTheTownLars
- Second bonus entry: Take a pic of something in 100 Block Antiques and tag it with #WhatAreYouWaitingForwithLars
Good luck!
Thank you to all the wonderful ladies we interviewed for the video! Susan Peterson of Freshly Picked, Claudine and Evelyn Bigelow, Hannah, Nassari Everett, Janiris Sanchez, Taylor Smith, Allison Lew of Provo City, Mary Lee, Vanessa Shumway.
Photography by Anna Killian | Lettering by Jill DeHaan | Art directed by Brittany Jepsen | Video by We are the Allans
This post is sponsored by DOVE, however, all content presented in this post represents my own opinions. Thanks for supporting the brands that keep Lars thriving!