It is 12 p.m. when I finally decide to roll out of bed on Saturday. It’s not especially nice out so I don’t see the need to get my day started early.
I know I have an extremely busy school week ahead, so I decide to start early and do what I can to delay the imminent stress ahead of me.
At 1 p.m., I receive a text from a friend: “Have you decided what you’re painting on your cooler?”
Cooler as in Mountain Weekend cooler? As in Mountain Weekend cooler – the thing girls slave over? As in the cooler I have to have ready by this Friday? Yup, that one.
By 3 p.m., I’ve made it back to campus from Walmart, cooler and all. I drag the cooler out of my car and start aggressively priming it outside in the warm fog. After 15 minutes of continuous spraying, my cooler is snow white and ready for its makeover (and I was ready to pass out from the fumes).
It was at 3:15 p.m. and in that dizzy moment I decide I need to finish my cooler in its entirety. Today.
While I am waiting for my cooler to dry, I brainstorm on what to paint on the sides. My date made only one request: paint the starry night on one side. Yes, the starry night by Vincent Van Gogh. And no, I am not an artist.
That means I "only" have four sides to worry about. The top of the cooler is usually the fraternity flag, so that was easy. Now three sides left.
HOUR 1
At 3:45 p.m., I have all of my sides planned out: flag on the top, starry night on the front of the cooler, Budweiser logo on the back, an elaborate lion design on the left side, and a Mod Podge collage of drinks on the other. It seems simple enough.
The cooler is finally dry, so I bring it inside. I am ready to tackle this monstrosity and turn it into a piece of art.
HOUR 3
Going into my third hour, morale is high. I realize that I forgot how much I enjoy painting (and that I like Adele enough to listen to all of her songs three times each). I have almost finished the top of the cooler and began sketching the rest of my designs onto the cooler.
HOUR 6
Morale is sharply declining. I probably can't listen to Adele for another month. By now, I realize that I probably shouldn't try and paint an elaborate design of a lion on a side of the cooler as the Budweiser side is taking me three hours to finish. Who new painting took SO long?
HOUR 7
By the seventh hour, I despise my cooler. As revenge, I paint one of the smaller sides black (it was supposed to look like a chalkboard but that didn't end up being the case). I feel a little bad after, so I run to the library and print out a few democrat donkeys and Mod Podge them on there. Is there a reason they're there? Not really.
HOUR 9
By the ninth hour, my body is aching. All of my muscles are sore -- I feel like I had gone to a hot yoga class earlier. I have made some progress on my starry night, and discover that Selena Gomez's new album is my new favorite.
HOUR 10
I hadn’t realized what it was like to have every muscle in your upper body strained. However, around the tenth hour Starry Night finally comes together. At this point, I have been going for so long that seeing the Starry Night gave me hope for the remaining two hours.
It was 1:45 a.m. at this point.
HOUR 11
I never want to see this cooler again. The only thing I have left is one of the smaller sides. After I finish this, I put an outer layer over all the sides to protect the paint job. Most importantly... I AM DONE!
After twelve grueling hours, I am finally done with my cooler. It may not be the best, but it's something I am proud of. For those of you thinking about how to paint your cooler, I suggest breaking it up over a few days (as wonderful as my experience was).
Good luck painting!
