Mustard, Muscles and Music - A story of friendship

It all started with a wall. A hideous, newly painted, mustard-yellow wall outside the exercise studio.

Pauline and I clocked each other rolling our eyes at it as we waited for our BodyPump class to start. Initially, silently bonding, but then verbally sharing our mutual distaste and dodgy hamstring flexibility. And that was it. The start of a friendship as solid as a protein shake left out overnight.

Fast-forward a few months, and we were invited to the gym instructor’s birthday party. We turned up — independently — in nearly identical dresses, prompting the host to assume we were about to do a dance off! We leaned in, posed like divas, and let the night run wild.

For almost 30 years, we have been part of each other's lives — weddings, deaths, various music events, but more so spin classes (briefly; regrets were had by me but Pauline is still going strong!). An event we attended together, to see a comedian, is where I met my now life partner, so yes, thank you, mustard wall.

But like any bold paint choice, our friendship has grown from strength to strength despite the events surrounding us.

We are “soul squats," a nod to our love of soul music and squats! Definitely friends for life.

Even if the mustard wall was painted over in 2003.