Happy (almost) New Year, friends. It’s absolutely wild to believe another year is nearly here. There’s this mind-blowing thing that time tends to do which is pass at a rapid, seemingly ever-increasing speed without our written consent! Absolutely unreal. Kind of rude of it to be honest. It is what it is.

This year at Wit & Delight, we’ve welcomed in new team members and some incredible new contributors. We’ve put our hearts into everything we’ve put forth into the world, from our posts right here on the site to The Wit & Delight Podcast to the prints and productivity tools Kate has designed for Shop Wit & Delight. In April, we launched a brand new site, ten years after Kate designed the first iteration. We hosted our very first mental health day at the studio (there will be more community events to come in 2020—we can’t wait to invite you into Studio 125 again soon!). It’s been a wild ride of the very best variety.

Today we’re diving into a recap of 2019 and some of our favorite stories from these past twelve months. We hope you enjoy browsing through them, and we hope you have a delightful time ringing in the new year, whether from the comfort of your couch, the cozy home of a friend, or the crowded haze of a busy bar.

From the bottom of our hearts, thank you thank you thank you for following along. It means the world. (I’m tearing up just writing this! So folks! You know it’s true!) We’ll see you in 2020.

In 2019 on Wit & Delight, we…

Wrote about our relationships and what they’ve meant to us.

Kate wrote about what getting divorced at twenty-seven taught her. Vanessa McDuffie penned a piece on how to know when it’s time to let go of a friendship. Raven Ishak shared her experience finding normalcy in grief in the first year after losing a parent. Brittany Chaffee expanded on the topic of love, and how real love can be positively boring. April Smasal wrote about how getting a dog helped change her approach to life and relationships. Our relationships are the core of our lives and they allow us to experience every emotion we can feel. They’re joyful, they’re mundane, they’re exhilarating, they’re heartbreaking. They’re the most human thing about us.

Explored the many ways design can impact our lives for the better.

Kate wrote about how decorating your home and taking care of your space can be good for your mental health. Kate shared the entire backstory behind her kitchen remodel and photos of the finished space. We wrote about kid + pet-friendly furniture that can stand the test of wear and tear. Brittany Chaffee introduced us to the Studio Apartment Society, and we shared tips for welcoming a guest when you don’t have a guest room (as inspired by Raquel’s beautiful apartment!).

Introduced you to a few of our team members.

We introduced you to Team W&D’s Brand Director, Bridgette Dutkowski (pictured above—hi, Bridgette!), our Graphic Designer, Illustrator, and Art Director, Raquel Benedict, and our New Business Director, Erin Hamilton. Raquel even got all of us in front of a camera and somehow made us feel comfortable enough to pose for natural-looking photos (a true feat, in my opinion). We’ll be sharing the stories of the rest of our team in the beginning of 2020, so stay tuned for more!

Encouraged each other to take care of ourselves and our mental health.

Kate shared fifty ways you can spend a mental health day and how she’s learned to tackle bad days when they arise. Megan McCarty wrote a deeply personal and moving essay about her experience with mental health struggles over the years. Julie Rybarczyk wrote about how to create a life that loves you back. We’re all doing our best in these lives we lead, and the ways we can best take care of ourselves vary day-by-day. Just keep going. Just keep moving forward. It’s the little things that make a difference.

Strove to become more creative and productive in the smallest of ways, every day.

Kate wrote about how making small changes can help you achieve your big goals. She covered how she prioritizes her time in a way that works best for her brain and penned a beginner’s guide to journaling. Jill Elliott shared five tips to starting a daily creative practice. Erin Huebscher wrote about how to thrive when you work for yourself.

And there was so, so much more. Kyle Thomas started writing horoscopes for us (he’s got your 2020 forecast on deck for this Thursday, so keep an eye out for it)! Sonja Overhiser introduced us to plant-based eating! Kate told us all about the now-infamous Cookbook Club! I can assure you that we have plenty of amazing things to come in the year ahead, and we are beyond excited to share them with you.