It’s birthday week for our daughter Sophie and her bestest friend Isa. Both are turning 9. Both are adopted and both are part of multiracial, mutlicultural families. They met at preschool when they were three and are both in a five-year long Spanish immersion program at the local public school. They’ll spend part of the summer in the same camps and there are sleepovers and trips to Six Flags on the calendar as well.

Several years ago I bought Sophie, who loves patterns of all kinds, a pair of Miss Matched Socks. Miss Matched Socks, which feature cute graphics, come in packages of threes so you can intentionally make cute pattern combinations. I also love that she can just throw the socks in a basket and pick out any two to make a pair. Sophie had wanted to get Isa some Miss Matched Socks for her birthday but we came up with a better idea: Friendship Socks. We bought eight pairs of patterned socks and split them up between the two girls. Both would end up with the same bunch of eight unmatched socks to wear to camp this summer and school in the fall. Sophie and I made a little gift bag for them and threw in a kitten calendar and chocolate bar for good tween  measure. Sophie decorated the bag tag with thin Sharpies and asked me to sew a fabric “card” on the front. As Isa will be traveling in August we hope she’ll enjoy having a little stuff sack  with her name on it.