Writing Women You Actually Want to Meet

This week I want to introduce you to a woman you haven't met yet. And before I tell you about Madame J, I have to tell you about Elle. Elle was my imaginary friend when I was eight. A 1920s movie star with a jet black bob, cupid bow lips, and apartments in Paris, Hollywood, and New York City. Whenever I opened the imaginary door to her apartment I never knew which city I'd land in. Sometimes I held up a bottle of Palmolive soap and accepted awards alongside her while I did the dishes. She was the fun place to go. Madame J is not Elle. But there are qualities to her that remind me of Elle, as if these were real women who simply knew each other. This week I talk about: The childhood imaginary cast: Berg, Peter, Betty, and Elle What this season of life made possible that my eight-year-old imagination couldn't Why I wanted to write women I'd actually want to spend time with. She's not nice, but she's kind. The short story serial tradition: Sherlock Holmes, Agatha Christie, Beatrix Potter Bringing Madame J to life with illustrator Gemini.H My 26 girl cousins, the matriarchy, and the women we surround ourselves with Madame J arrives June 2nd on Substack. Five installments. Every Tuesday. Free to read. Connect: Instagram @judithgaton | Substack for weekly essays Gemini.H's work

This week we're continuing our A Collection of Lovely Things series with a theme of Blue: Hopes, Dreams & Aspirations, and this week's room is a little different. The Blue room has comfy couches, table space, journals, notebooks, whiteboards. It's a space for dreaming. And more importantly, it's a space with a microphone in the center because this week we're talking about something rarely discussed among highly accomplished women. Accomplishment Loneliness. Not platitudes about goal setting. Not a vision board exercise. The real, lived experience of what it feels like to accomplish much and still feel completely alone in it. In this episode, the three faces of Accomplishment Loneliness: The Loneliness of Outpacing Your Circle The Loneliness of the Summit The Loneliness of Not Being Able to Celebrate Fully Your missions this week: Find the part of the good thing you're willing to share — and share it with someone If you reach a summit and it's not what you expected, find the emotion you can name and share that instead Communicate your expectations of celebration clearly and unequivocally — no hinting, no hoping Ask yourself honestly: am I doing this for the love of the thing, or for the applause? Accomplishment Loneliness is real. It's common. It's survivable. Say the quiet parts out loud. If this episode resonated with you — share it with a woman in your life who needs to hear it. And if you're enjoying the show, leave us a review. It means the world. Until next time.  Read the full Blue collection — essay, playlist, poem, style inspiration, and book recommendations — at: maisongaton.substack.com Connect: Instagram @judithgaton | Substack for weekly essays

This week we're continuing our A Collection of Lovely Things series with a theme of Green: Home & Environment, and it's all about turning the space you already have into the retreat you've been waiting for. The episode opens with a reflection on a self-scheduled weekend retreat: a whiteboard in the dining room, a pillow nest on the couch, and the question that started it all: do you want your home to feel like a museum, a workshop, or both? From there, we dig into three ways to reimagine your space as an incubator for creativity, ideas, and mojo. No travel required. Just a willingness to break a few self-imposed house rules. In this episode: The Museum Mindset Your Home as a Workshop Move Your Damn Chair Chapters: 0:23 Introduction: The at-home retreat concept, inspired by friends and a Substack essay by Jamie Attenberg 2:55 The Museum Mindset: Think like a curator, rotate your collections, display what you love, and treat your home like a children's museum you can actually touch 6:26 Your Home as a Workshop: Break the house rules, use every room differently, reclaim the forbidden chair, and let your home become a living breathing mastermind space 9:57 Move Your Damn Chair: The simplest entry point, a literal new seat can unlock a figurative shift in perspective and spark the mojo you've been waiting for Your missions this week: Embrace the museum curator mindset: gather objects, find themes, display and rotate what you love Break one house rule: use a space differently than you normally would Move your damn chair: literally change where you sit and see what shifts If this episode gave you permission to finally inhabit your home more fully, share it with a friend who needs the nudge. And if you're enjoying the show, leave us a review. It means the world. Until next time.  Connect: Instagram @judithgaton | Substack for weekly essays

This week we're continuing our A Collection of Lovely Things series with a theme of Yellow Friendship Gathering, and it's all about the little pieces of ourselves we give to one another.   The episode opens with a reflection on being truly known by a friend, the kind of friend who can read a book you wrote and spot little pieces of you scattered across every character.   From there, we dig into what it actually takes to maintain real friendships as a very busy woman. Not the Instagram version, the real kind. And that means getting honest about three things: Time Energy Stage of Life Your missions this week: Ask yourself: What do I have time for in this season? What do I have energy for? What stage of life am I in? Walk through your home and look for gifts, trinkets, and items tied to friendships and look for chances to connect. Share your photo albums of gatherings and tag us on Instagram! If this episode sparked a conversation you and a friend have been needing to have — please share it with them. And if you're enjoying the show, leave us a review. It means the world.   Until next time, friends.   Connect: Instagram @judithgaton | Substack for weekly essays

This week on the Maison Gaton Podcast, we're stepping into the Orange Room, a space dedicated to creativity, whimsy, and permission to be a messy beginner. Drawing on a reframe from a MythBusters creator, we explore how creativity is really just problem solving in disguise, something you're already doing every day. Your missions this week: try micro creativity, be brave enough to be bad at something new, and take a color walk around your home.   In This Episode: Why perfectionism is the enemy of creative flow How creative people are really just problem solvers Mission 1: Micro creativity — starting small to build momentum Mission 2: The bravery of being a bad beginner Mission 3: The orange color walk Connect: Instagram @judithgaton | Substack for weekly essays

Petite Pleasures and Everyday Glamor: The Red Collection   In this episode: What petite pleasures and everyday glamor actually mean (and why it's a mindset first) Judith's personal story of finding glamor in the smallest of things, even a 99-cent Shasta soda Why you work too hard not to be savoring the life you've built How to do a Color Walk through your home and rediscover the gorgeous things you already own The two key questions to ask yourself this week to shift into a pleasure-first mindset Practical ideas: the good China, the red lipstick, the good candle…use it all, friend Your mission this week: Go on a red color walk through your home. Pull out 5–10 red items: beauty, home goods, clothing, trinkets, and actually use them. Enjoy them. Savor them. Connect: Instagram @judithgaton | Substack for weekly essays

Welcome to the first episode of a new series! Step inside the Maison Gaton house: an eccentric, curated space full of trinkets, textures, and treasured collections. This episode is an invitation to take inventory of the lovely things you've gathered throughout your life, and to truly enjoy them. Timestamps: 0:00 — Welcome & introducing the Maison Gaan house 1:17 — Grandmother's Folgers coffee jar full of buttons and odds & ends 1:50 — Marguerite's mother's button tin 2:27 — The collections all around our homes and lives 3:16 — The invitation: take inventory and enjoy what's already there 4:05 — Introducing the six color themes for the series 4:38 — The colors: Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue & Violet 5:24 — What to expect next week: Petite Pleasures & Everyday Glamors 5:49 — Each episode will include something practical to do In This Series: Red — Petite Pleasures & Everyday Glamors Orange — Creativity & Whimsy Yellow — Friendship & Gathering Green — Environment & Spaces Blue — Hope, Dreams & Aspirations Violet — Vision, Leadership & Passion If you know someone who might enjoy this series, please share it!Connect: Instagram @judithgaton | Substack for weekly essays

Why I Abandoned the Airbnb at 2am It started with a smell. In this episode, Judith shares the full story of abandoning a vomit-soaked London Airbnb at 2am — and what hauling a giant suitcase into a perfumed hotel in the middle of the night taught her about the year she was actually having. This is the episode that introduces the 2026 theme: Misadventures. In This Episode: The Airbnb from hell — feet, cheese, mold, a cracked window, and a ceiling that finally gave way Why we stay too long in things that clearly aren't working — sunk cost, pride, and not wanting to admit we were wrong How to let the year tell you what kind of year it is instead of forcing a theme onto January Why naming what's actually happening is the first move toward shaping what you want The difference between resisting reality and acknowledging it — with humor and levity Mission, Should You Choose to Accept It: Ask yourself what the year is already telling you. What have you been tolerating too long? What is your proverbial vomit-filled hallway? You don't have to know where the hotel is yet — you just have to admit the smell is no longer acceptable. Timestamps: 0:00 Welcome & Introduction 0:09 The London Airbnb Horror Story 2:53 Why Did We Stay So Long? (Sunk Cost & Pride) 4:01 Rethinking the "Word of the Year" Approach 4:44 Letting the Year Tell You Its Theme 5:50 Introducing the Theme: Misadventure 6:38 Invitation: Name the Year You're Actually Having 7:09 Your Mission: What Are You Tolerating? 7:46 What's Coming Next on the Podcast & Substack 9:19 Closing & Call to Action Connect: Instagram @judithgaton | Substack for weekly essays