Conscious by Chloé

Chloé Lepeltier - Conscious By Chloé

Bonjour & Welcome! Conscious by Chloé is a Sustainable Lifestyle Blog focusing on Zero Waste, Slow Living, and Ethical Fashion.

    Self Care - Know Yourself Better

    consciousbychloe-tarot-reflections-cards

    Happy 2020!

    This year I've decided to not put pressure on my shoulders for the new year.

    I'm again in a limbo, sharing my time between France and the US and not really knowing where I'll be able to settle down this year.

    So I'm not making big plans and I'm just taking things one week at a time.

    I haven't really thought about my one-word theme for the year or made a list of 20 things I want to achieve in 2020, though now that I wrote about it, ideas are flowing in my head...

    I haven't taken any resolutions, yet I've already committed to a 30-day challenge.

    Right before I left the States, I started reading a little more about manifestation and human design.

    I signed up for the To Be Magnetic course, and my friend Rachel gave me a book that I spent a good chunk of my stay in Paris and the train ride to my parents' reading while also working on my chart.

    Whether you believe in manifesting and astrology or not, I think those are amazing tools to learn about yourself, either by reflecting on their teachings or by questioning them and putting them in perspective against your own experience.

    In Karen Curry's book Understanding Human Design, I learned a little more about my Generator profile and gleaned affirmations that could just as well be new year's resolutions, such as:

    I trust in the infinite abundance of the universe, and I wait for what is right for me to show up.
    I am perfectly designed to do the work that is right for me.
    I have to use my energy every day.
    I have nothing to prove and I value myself deeply.
    I pay attention to the source of my emotions and allow others to experience their feelings without making their experience my own.
    I take frequent breaks when the emotional energy is too intense.
    I listen to my body.
    I rest and take care of myself.
    I honor my sense of time.

    and lastly:

    I trust that I know enough to help me bend and flow with the changes in my life.

    All of these affirmations are characteristic of my own chart and really resonated with me. I wrote many more in my notebook and frequently go back to them when I feel unsettled. Having tools to help me manage certain situations and knowing that "it's not just me" really opened new perspectives to me and allow me to design a life that really fits me rather than trying to fit into a mold or do things "the way it's always been done".

    I'm excited to read further, do the work, ask questions, meditate, journal and manifest a lot more this year!

    If you're curious to learn more about Human Design, I highly encourage you to start by generating your chart for free on Jovian Archive or on Genetic Matrix (I used both).

    The Conscious List

    Stroodles for Conscious by Chloé
    Credit: Stroodles.

    Happy Saturday!

    What are you up to this weekend?

    I'm gonna take it slow, and maybe hop on a bus and explore a new neighborhood, sit down at a café and make a dent in my ever-growing stack of books.

    I hope you'll have a great one and in the meantime, here are a few things that made my week and a couple links from around the web...

    In the name of full transparency, please be aware that this blog post contains affiliate links - marked with an * - and that any purchase made through them may result in a small commission for me - at no extra cost for you. Thank you so much for investing in sustainability and supporting my work!

    Have you read, made, watched or listened to something worth sharing with us this past week?

    Productivity - Back Up Your Computer

    How to Back Up Your Computer and Never Lose Your Files Ever Again by Conscious by Chloé

    This is a little unsual post, but it's something that makes my life simpler, and definitely happier (you'll understand later) so here it goes.

    There have been a couple occurrences in my life when I wished I had made better decisions, like that time I switched from Windows to Mac and -for some reason I still do not understand- I FORMATTED my external drive with all my pictures on it. I still regret this bitterly, but I was fortunately able to manage to retrieve (part of) my archives thanks to a dear friend who had kept a copy of my drive.

    I vowed this would never happen again and, thanks to the very precious help and guidance of my personal IT guy, I now have a pretty solid back-up system.

    Also, I've been meaning to write this down somewhere so I could share this blog post with all of my friends, some of whom have told me many horror stories about losing all of their work when their computer was stolen or their computer/hard drive/external drive died.

    So here are the tools that save my life every time I make something stupid, or every time my computer decides that it's time to crash and erase my life, work and memories.

    How to Back Up Your Computer and Never Lose Your Files Ever Again by Conscious by Chloé

    But first, let me tell you about my set-up.

    I have a laptop that I connect to a monitor with a separate mouse and keyboard when I'm working from home. It makes traveling and working from coffee shops very (too) easy. I also use a separate external drive (the light grey one on the picture above) for my photo library, as the raw files would take too much space on my laptop. The tiny black drive is my local back-up (see details below).

    And now for my 2-step back-up plan...

    How to Back Up Your Computer and Never Lose Your Files Ever Again by Conscious by Chloé

    Time Machine (local-back up on an external hard drive)

    If you have a Mac, you can use Time Machine, the built-in backup feature, to automatically back up all of your files, including apps, music, photos, email, documents, and system files. When you have a backup, you can restore files from your backup if the original files are ever deleted from your Mac, or the hard disk (or SSD) in your Mac is erased or replaced.

    To create backups with Time Machine, all you need is an external storage device. After you connect the device and select it as your backup disk, Time Machine automatically makes hourly backups for the past 24 hours, daily backups for the past month, and weekly backups for all previous months. The oldest backups are deleted when your backup disk is full.

    This external desktop hard drive or this portable hard drive are great options.

    How to Back Up Your Computer and Never Lose Your Files Ever Again by Conscious by Chloé

    Backblaze (cloud back-up)

    Backblaze will automatically back up all your files including documents, photos, music and movies, including your attached external drives. Unlimited files. Unlimited file size. Unlimited speed.

    It is a great way to complement your Time Machine back-up.

    Get a free month here.

    How to Back Up Your Computer and Never Lose Your Files Ever Again by Conscious by Chloé

    For all the details on how to set up all these tools, I highly recommend this article (regularly updated).

    How to Back Up Your Computer and Never Lose Your Files Ever Again by Conscious by Chloé

    Friends, if you follow this and invest in good quality tools, I promise you'll never lose precious data again.

    How to Back Up Your Computer and Never Lose Your Files Ever Again by Conscious by Chloé

    Have you ever lost data or it is just me? Feel free to share your stories (and hopefully happy endings or lessons learned) below.

    The Conscious List

    Soulbase Magazine for Conscious by Chloé
    Credit: Soulbase.

    Happy Friday!

    What are you up to this weekend?

    I'm going mushroom hunting on Saturday and will not tell you where, don't insist :) I'm also gonna try and attend a guided meditation on Sunday, wanna join me?

    I hope you'll have a great one and in the meantime, here are a few things that made my week and a couple links from around the web...

    In the name of full transparency, please be aware that this blog post contains affiliate links - marked with an * - and that any purchase made through them may result in a small commission for me - at no extra cost for you. Thank you so much for investing in sustainability and supporting my work!

    Have you read, made, watched or listened to something worth sharing with us this past week?

    Habit Shift - Women-Owned Natural Skin Care Brands I Love & Support

    Berlin Skin Skin Care for Conscious by Chloé
    Credits: Berlin Skin

    Lately my skin has been feeling drier than usual and my skincare routine hasn't been able to do anything about it.

    Maybe it's the change of seasons, maybe it's the move, maybe it's the water in my new home. But anyways, it was time for a switch!

    I like to keep a list of brands and products I'd love to try some day. I prefer not buy them in advance as I want to make sure that the products I use are the freshest possible (natural products usually have a shorter shelf life).

    So without further ado, here's a list of women-owned natural skin care brands I love & support:

    Natural Science Beauty

    Natural Science Beauty Skin Care for Conscious by Chloé
    Credits: Natural Science Beauty

    I met Natural Science Beauty founder Kelly Casey a couple years ago and got to sample her products at local shops here in Portland. Natural Science Beauty is a handcrafted, organic, and wildcrafted body care line that nourishes your skin's natural glow by using plant-based and food-grade ingredients. Natural Science products are scented with essential oils, bringing pure nutrition to your skin and good vibrations to your day.

    On my shopping list: Matcha Velvet Face Mask

    lagom body co

    Lagom Body Co Skin Care for Conscious by Chloé
    Credits: lagom body co

    As a woman-owned and herbalist-operated company, lagom body co. is proud to procure the majority of the ingredients in their skincare from north american farmers, growers, and distillers who care about the land and growing their own plants and herbs whenever possible. I once attended a gathering at Kristen's house - where I had the chance to participate in my first flower mandala - and have been following her work ever since. Kristen's approach to formulating skincare is a synergy of thoughtful creation, vibrant ingredients, and healthy plants that, together, translate into beautiful, natural products that you can add to your daily ritual for truly healthy + balanced skin. I am bummed she's moving to the other side of the country (hint hint, there's a moving sale going on!), but I cannot wait to follow her new adventures closer to family.

    On my shopping list: Nirvana Daily Face Cream

    Berlin Skin

    Berlin Skin Skin Care for Conscious by Chloé
    Credits: Berlin Skin

    I was once gifted a sample of Berlin Skin's sandalwood cream at an event 2 years ago and have been obsessed with it ever since. The minimalist aesthetics definitely caught my eye and helped me remember the brand when I was on the lookout for a new skincare routine. I absolutely agree with founder Monica's german grandmother’s age-old advice: keep it simple and don’t strip the skin of its natural oils.

    On my shopping list: Cocoa Eye Butter

    This post is not sponsored.