LifeLines by Melissa Bernstein

In all honesty, freelancing is amazing. It offers a flexible schedule, some type of control over who you’re working with, and the ability to work from home in comfortable pants. However. There are days, and there are clients that make me want to run for the hills, change my email address, and go work at the grocery store. Some clients expect me to work through the weekend, all hours of the night and morning, answer my phone when I’m taking a shower, and prioritize their work over everything else. What’s nice about freelancing is I can charge a rush fee for things. What sucks about that is that it’s still taking my time away from other things I needed to do. I love putting a value on my time, but it also has almost turned into a subtle nod to chronophobia, because I think SO MUCH about how much time I spend doing things, how many things I still need to accomplish, and I worry that I’m not going to have time to fulfill all of my responsibilities. I also tend to overfill my plate–that’s on me. I don’t like to have free time, if I’m being honest. It sort of stresses me out to not be productive.

In order to balance my work/pressure I put on myself/stress/life, I’ve been prioritizing walking my dogs in the morning, drinking more water, taking my vitamins and supplements, and surrounding myself with really nice scents. I enjoy my Pura diffuser, but in all truthfulness, I think it’s expensive for what it is. I do the best I can with guessing what the cartridges are going to smell like, but I have had a few serious disappointments and will probably never use some of the ones I’ve ordered. My favorite thing right now - truly - is my new PEN DIFFUSER. It’s from the LifeLines brand, which is all about “sensory immersion” using essential oils and activities to comfort and calm our hard-working brains, and was founded by Melissa Bernstein from Melissa & Doug. She’s focusing on this new product line made for teens and adults to find some Zen in these crazy busy lifestyles we all have so we can stay focused and get all of our sh*t taken care of, so of course it not only smells amazing but the texture of the actual pen is literally luxurious. It’s got a soft finish and writes so smoothly and it even comes with two additional ink cartridges. The pen that I have is (had to reword that after seeing what “My pen is” looked like…yikes.) A Walk in the Woods. It just makes me feel comfortable and at ease. I also have the stacking highlighters and they are super handy and really smell phenomenal…I have two markers/scents in my purse at all the times and the rest at my desk. I just ordered the Coffee House and the Candy Store pen diffuser sets because I don’t love drinking coffee (that’s a LIE, I love drinking coffee but the caffeine makes me literally shake sometimes so I have to drink decaf or half-caff like a BABY), but I want it all the time so maybe the smell would be enough for me…? Same with the chocolate fudge. Instead of grabbing a cookie when I’m feeling like an emotional womanchild and “NEED CHOCOLATE”, I can turn on some John Mayer (chocolate for the ears, am I right?) and grab a fudge-scented pen. My daughter is going to inevitably steal the cotton candy pen from me, so I’ll be sure to share my thoughts on these new scents before that happens. And then I’ll wrap up the other ones for teacher gifts. If you’re interested, click any of the links in this post, and yes I’ll get a small “commission” if you buy any of these, so thanks in advance, and also you’re welcome, because you’re going to love the pen diffusers. They also make lava-lamp kind of pens that use really pretty colors, if you enjoy those slow motion bubbles. Oh my gosh they also make diffusers that look like potted plants. SHUT UP. Here are some coupon codes to enjoy, too! These expire September 12, 2025.

• Scented Lava Pen 5-Pack – 20% OFF with code LLAVAPEN
    ○ Mesmerizing lava bubbles + scented ink = stress relief while you write. Perfect for note-taking or doodling.
• Scented Stacking Highlighters – 10% OFF with code 10LIFEHS
    ○ Fun, mix-and-match colors and scents make studying more engaging and less stressful.
• Pen Diffuser Gift Set – 20% OFF with code LLPENGIFT
    ○ 4 premium pens that diffuse delightful scents as you write — boost calm, focus, energy, and joy during study time.
• 20-Pack Rub & Sniff Colored Pencils – 15% OFF with code LLPENCILS
    ○ Aromatherapy meets creativity. Just rub the pencil to release beautiful scents for mindful coloring or doodling.

All promos will end 9/12/2025.