Ma Crush Monday: Molly Salvi of Squashblossom Vintage

Tintype portrait by Lumiere. — Tintype portrait by Lumiere.

There is a bohemian rhapsody in Elgin, Texas. This week's #MA CRUSH MONDAY shines the light on Molly and family, the beautiful proprietor of SquashBlossom Vintage (an e-tail utopia for free-spirits and wanderlusts). She's a sublime collector, and her little tribe couldn't be more delicious. Take a look below, as she shares personal snapshots of her homestead and answers #thesamethreequestions.

We met Molly in photographs (of course) and once we connected, we were delighted to hear she has roots in Sacramento, California as well. We always hold a special place in our hearts and share an unspoken link for Gold-country kin! We fell in love with the sweet life of imaginary play, creativity, and exploration she shares with her little gals in their old farmhouse, about 25 miles off the beaten path from Austin ("though seemingly a million miles away.") We could spend hours looking through her assortment of gorgeously curated caftans, gypsy vests, and dream-denim. With pure ingenuity, Molly sometimes hand-embroiders a vintage find with a delightful memory plucked from her children's experiences... a finger-full of raspberries, or bubble-blowing and rainbows. (GAHH!!). Meet Molly and family below...

1.PS: Tell us a bit what's behind your children's names:

Susannah Gayle | 2 years

MS: Susannah’s name came to us very last minute- in fact, we chose her name right after I had her. The entire time I was pregnant with her, we (my husband Brian + I) called her Billie. Her name was to be Billie Josephine (Billie Jo) for very sentimental reasons but as soon as we saw her face, we knew it didn’t fit. She looked like an old-timey photograph, like a girl in a folk song. “Oh Susannah”. That was it. Suzanne is the name of my mom’s sweet late sister and Gayle was my Grandma and is my middle name as well. We call her Zuzu for short.

Louise Marguerite | 9 months old

We waited to name Louise until she was born. She was very active my entire pregnancy and I’d often yell “Geez Louise!” when she’d kick and turn in me. When we saw her, Louise seemed just right. Marguerite is a hybrid of many important women in our families: my mom’s middle name is Margaret, my niece’s middle name is Margaret, and Brian’s Italian nonna was Margherita. We call her Lulu for short.

2.PS: Can you share a few of your local Motherhood Favorites?

MS: In Austin, the four of us eat brunch at Enoteca on South Congress most Sundays. Its a rare combination of family friendly but with incredible food. Louise loves the polenta and Susannah is all about their potatoes.

So many of the choices we make as mothers are based strongly on intuition. I thought the sleep thing would be super natural and I would figure it out as we went along but that wasn’t the case. What my intuition was telling me was that I was tired, needed time for myself to work on creative things, and needed sleep and every book I flipped through or website I visited led me down a different path. I found a woman named Katie Bartley who is a sleep expert and within 2 days of starting her custom plan for each girl, they were sleeping through the night and taking great naps too. Just a few phone calls and a LONG questionnaire about each babe and we were on our way. The best money I’ve spent in a long time.

Roadtrips- we have taken the girls on so many road trips- this past summer we spent a month on the road going up the coast of California, camping, staying in cabins, and hoteling along the way and it was great. Traveling with them has forced me to slow down and take our time. It’s hard keeping a tight agenda with these two.

A big warm patchouli-spiked bath with my girls. Oshadhi makes my favorite oil.

Mason Pearson hairbrush. A real luxury. Brian bought me one for Valentine’s Day last year and I love how gentle it is on the girls, too.

3.PS: What commonalities of Motherhood do you reject, and on the flip-side...do you have any guilty pleasures?

MS: I don’t think you have to lose yourself. For me, it took a while after having each girl to feel like I had my footing again. As soon as I felt able, I starting running again. I try to make time for myself every day to do something creative so I don’t lose touch with that part of me.

I suppose my guilty pleasure would have to be netflix/amazon prime/hulu on the couch after the girls are in bed. If I don’t have a show I want to watch, I work on embroidery, catch up with my sisters and mom, or cook.

*A typical Squash Blossom Vintage set-up*

PS: Would you mind sharing a SCRIBBLE? (a doodle, a recipe, a poem- anything!)

*A few of Susannah’s paintings she does side-by-side with papa*

I make this every day as soon as the girls go down for their afternoon naps.  I swear by this elixir! — *I make this every day as soon as the girls go down for their afternoon naps. I swear by this elixir!*

Make sure to follow this awe-inspiring fam on Instagram.