Sarah Beth Rosa

My Job at American Idol Rules!

Sarah Beth Rosa — Tue, 19 Mar 2013 05:26:58 +0000

So this is what week one of American Idol Live Shows looks like! AWESOMENESS!

Top to Bottom, Left to Right:

I got to meet Phillip Phillips! He performed his new song “Gone, Gone, Gone” during the show!
I got to live tweet the Idol Top 10 Live Show from the audience!
There’s me with my ticket in hand when I first arrived to CBS Studios!
Idol Finalists Angie, Lazaro and Amber in the Dressing Room 30-minutes till show start!
Lauren and I, the Idol Insider gals!
Aubrey and Charlie, the Tour Save contestants of Season 12 American Idol – after the show!
Keith Urban posing with a group of mega-fans!
Jane Lynch with mega-fan!
Nicki Minaj with family and friends!

I almost got a shot of Ryan Seacrest. Almost… Will have to do that in Week 2.

Extra cool – I had a nice conversation with Charlie Askew. He told me that his sister’s name is Sarah too! And he gave me a hug! When he took off in the Idol van, he gave me a personal farewell wave. Needless to say, he made me feel extra special!

Lots of exclamations in this blog post. I REALLY love doing social media for American Idol. Can’t wait to see what this week holds.

Oh wait – and there’s more! I love my co-workers. AND I love co-worker Chipotle lunches. They’re the best! Here with Brittany, Zach, Lex, Marc and Erin!:

Home Brew Kombucha Batch #5: The Final Brew

Sarah Beth Rosa — Mon, 04 Mar 2013 03:01:05 +0000

Based on factors of time and improper SCOBY growth, I’ve made the difficult decision to stop my home brew for awhile. I want to come back in a few months and start from scratch with a healthy starter kit.

Ironically, my SCOBY in batch five grew legs. I can only assume that’s a good thing. See photo above and below.

For my last brew, I decided on Raspberry Watermelon, mostly on request from my boyfriend. However, I am eager to brew strawberry in the future. I hear that’s the best fruit for high fizz content!

Here’s my final lot, Raspberry Watermelon Kombucha:

And just because this looks so cool, and I’m so amazed that I finally got legs, I had to share some photos of the SCOBYS with strands of yeast and bacteria! I took these outside to help with vision of the legs. See photos below.

SCOBY “LEGS”

Kombucha Resources

Follow my research and my journey on Pinterest via my Kombucha Love board.

See the progress of my first ever batch of home brew kombucha:

Home Brew Kombucha Batch #4: Flavoring and Troubleshooting

Sarah Beth Rosa — Fri, 22 Feb 2013 06:00:08 +0000

From flavoring and troubleshooting my home brew batch #3 to more flavoring and troubleshooting for batch #4, I did some things differently this time around:

Spring water
New flavor pairings

Not sure if people even use pre-made juice drinks to flavor kombucha. I use them out of sheer lack of time to prepare anything else. This batch of flavoring includes:

Evolution Pomegranate
Evolution Tangerine
Naked Power-C Machine

The bottles of fruit juice seem to work okay, however the ones with more pulp work better than the straight up juices. I really like the Naked Juice Power-C!

On the Troubleshooting Front

I’m still trying to figure out why I keep getting white patches on my SCOBYs. (see photo below)
This brew made the new thin SCOBY develop many bumps of white. Why is this happening?
Why can’t I grow thicker SCOBYS? Maybe this thin little guy is big enough to brew a new gallon. I’m just not sure.

What’s Ahead

Moving forward, we’ll see if I have the patience to keep at it or to start over with a proper initial SCOBY, as my starter brew was weak with little bacteria and yeast (the reformulated GTs Original).

For now, I’ll enjoy my new flavored kombuchas!

Kombucha Resources

Follow my research and my journey on Pinterest via my Kombucha Love board.

See the progress of my first ever batch of home brew kombucha:

Updates from the Top of the World

Sarah Beth Rosa — Sat, 16 Feb 2013 18:00:44 +0000

Fox Studios

Still riding on a high since the beginning of working on American Idol Season 12, I have some updates about my time at Fox Plaza and Fox Studios!

First and foremost, my friend Brittany was brought on to help us with social media! This is her and I the day of her interview. I worked with Brittany at Blaze PR last year. She’s comes from a array of big name companies, including Disney and LAX! She’s been an amazing support and offers mega-creative strategy ideas. I’m so lucky that Fox picked her to join he team!

In other news, this is where the Content Team holds weekly meetings – on top of the world! Well, at least it feels like that. Check out these views from 18 floors up in Fox Plaza:

18 floors up at Fox Plaza, looking down Olympic to the Pacific Ocean!

Looking up to the Pacific Palisades. Gorgeous sunset!

And some fun Fox Studios Gossip:

The cast of Modern Family was on the lot last week.
Neil Patrick Harris was on the lot last week.
I saw Ashley Williams, Victoria on How I Met Your Mother, at the cafeteria this week.
I took a few photos of MacLaren’s Pub on New York Street on the lot, but can’t share them.
I’ve had meetings and show viewings in these conference rooms: Lisa Simpson, Bart Simpson.
I confirmed, via The Pie Hole LA, that New Girl is being filmed in the Arts District of DTLA.

I think that’s all for now. American Idol is going live this week in Vegas! I’m stoked.

love is in the air

Sarah Beth Rosa — Sat, 16 Feb 2013 14:00:53 +0000

Turns out that people really like parasailing with their sweeties! Based off a promo campaign created by Marina del Rey Parasailing, I made these Valentines, and they were a huge success on Facebook and Instagram! I’ve noted this for future social media campaigns for them!

And, I’ve also noted, that The Voice used a similar look for their Valentines this year. Makes me feel special.

Little SCOBYs and Blueberry Ginger Kombucha

Sarah Beth Rosa — Fri, 08 Feb 2013 12:00:29 +0000

Little SCOBYs

They told me this may happen. And now it has. My individual bottles of kombucha have their own little SCOBYs. I got shots of this particular bottle because it had the best little SCOBY.

Mmm, healthy bacteria goodness. Have another!

Update on my Blueberry Ginger Kombucha!

The flavoring definitely helped with fizz and taste, however, the brew is still too vinegary. I’m slowly reformulating to get my brew where I want it to be. Follow my journey of home brew kombucha below.

Kombucha Resources

Follow my research and my journey on Pinterest via my Kombucha Love board.

See the progress of my first ever batch of home brew kombucha:

Home Brew Kombucha Batch #3: Flavoring and Troubleshooting

Sarah Beth Rosa — Mon, 04 Feb 2013 16:53:26 +0000

I have finally gotten to the point where I’m ready to flavor my home brew kombucha! And the fruit juice I chose – blueberry juice.

Why blueberry? Simple. I received some Tamaya Blueberry Juice in my goodie bag at the Foods From Chile Dinner Party back in November, and it was readily available. Why ginger? Because I’ve noticed that every home kombucha brewer uses ginger. It’s a staple. It’s easy to pop in a fresh chunk to aid flavor and fizz!

Portions used – 2 tablespoons of blueberry juice. 2 dime-sized chunks of fresh ginger.

Outcome of Batch #3 = 14 bottles.

Batch #3 yielded 14 bottles of home brew kombucha.

I’ll be checking the brew everyday for the next four days. When it reaches optimal fizz, I’ll refrigerate. I don’t want any lids flying off due to pressure on my watch!

Flavoring aside, I have a problem on my hands. My kombucha hasn’t been turning out as tasty and fizzy as I’d like. I have to work on troubleshooting my home brew. I’ve been reading up on Kombucha expert, Len Porzio’s Balancing Act blog post. He has some suggestions to help with the exact problems I’m having!

Problems with my Home Brew Kombucha

I haven’t been able to grow new SCOBYS.
The SCOBY growth I am getting is white in color and very very thin disks. See photo below.
SCOBY growth is slimy, probably due to poor water conditions.
My SCOBYs may not be getting enough air.
Taste is extra-vinegary.
Probably used a poor starter kombucha when I made my SCOBY. I used GTs reformulated Original.
Possibly due to weather conditions in SoCal during winter.

Solution

Change up the water to a cleaner water. I used Distilled and later learned that I need to use Spring Water. (I’ve been using home filtered water, but now I’m buying water to make sure it’s really clean.)
Add in GTs CLASSIC Original. With more bacteria and yeasts, it will give my home brew some aid in taste, bacteria and SCOBY growth.
Open cabinet doors at night to help the kombucha get air, while still staying in the dark.

Adding Classic GTs to aid my home brew kombucha

Sarah’s home brew kombucha batch #4

And that’s all she wrote. We’ll see what happens with my first ever flavoring of kombucha! I’m so excited! We’ll also see if my troubleshooting actions help re-formulate and balance my batch #4.

Kombucha Resources

Follow my research and my journey on Pinterest via my Kombucha Love board.

See the progress of my first ever batch of home brew kombucha:

Pink Marina

Sarah Beth Rosa — Sun, 03 Feb 2013 19:00:50 +0000

This happened during my meeting with Marina del Rey Parasailing last night. Love the pink and purple of this gorgeous sunset. Had to share!

I Finally Met John Mackey, Co-Founder of Whole Foods Market!

Sarah Beth Rosa — Sat, 26 Jan 2013 06:00:32 +0000

Let me preference what I’m about to write with:

I AM THE BIGGEST WHOLE FOODS MARKET FAN IN THE WORLD!

Well, at least in my world.

All of my friends reach out to me when they have a question about Whole Foods. When the music video Whole Foods Parking Lot came out, twenty people emailed me the link. I know the employees at “my” Whole Foods store (Pasadena Arroyo Parkway store) and they know me. I’ve been mistaken in the store for an employee because I live, breath and exist in WFM-land. I applied for the WMF “Biggest Fan” special weekend at the Flagship store in Austin three years ago, but sadly didn’t make the top 30. Shame on Whole Foods Market for not recognizing a MEGA fan!

Anyway, I would love to work at Whole Foods! It’s a dream of mine to be able to do Social Media for Whole Foods Market. They used to have a digital extension in Los Angeles, but sadly, that’s moved to another city. Sooooo……..

So, why am I writing to blog post? I Finally Met John Mackey, Co-Founder of Whole Foods Market!

Here’s how I met John Mackey!

I first learned that John Mackey was going to be in LA on his Conscious Capitalism book tour via this massively awesome book tour display at Whole Foods Arroyo.

I thought it so fitting and perfect to meet John Mackey in MY Whole Foods Market store. All good to go, and then I landed an amazing new gig with American Idol and had to miss the John Mackey event!

However. Call it Law of Attraction, or call it fate, I found two other speaking venues for the book tour that I could attend if I went to only the talk at the first one, in the morning, and only the book signing at the second one.

The Talk

Gensler DTLA – three blocks from my apartment. Led by Peter Gruber, CEO of Mandalay Entertainment. Here’s what I found exciting about the talk, other than a few government and sociopath references about big business. Didn’t know how to fit those thoughts into a tweet.

America can grow and succeed. But we just need a new narrative for business. #JohnMackey talks about new book Conscious Capitalism.

— Sarah Beth Rosa (@sarahbethrosa) January 25, 2013

Emotional intelligence & spiritual intelligence are in some ways more important than business intelligence. Says #johnmackey — Sarah Beth Rosa (@sarahbethrosa) January 25, 2013

Most entrepreneurs are dreamers. Success comes when you can articulate it. Says #JohnMackey of #ConsciousCapitalism.

— Sarah Beth Rosa (@sarahbethrosa) January 25, 2013

Most of the companies you admire in the world are young companies says #JohnMackey author of #ConsciousCapitalism.

— Sarah Beth Rosa (@sarahbethrosa) January 25, 2013

So I had to miss the book signing at Gensler to make it to work in time. But I was determined to meet John Mackey. Onto Santa Monica in the evening….

The Book Signing

Milken Institute - Santa Monica! There was no way I was going to miss meeting John Mackey! I crashed the tail end of the event at the Milken Institute to buy a book and have John Mackey sign it! And to shake his hand of course!

I had a whole spiel lined up:

Meet John and shake his hand.
I love of Whole Foods Market.
I want to do Social Media for WFM.
Here’s my awesome business card.
Please sign my book.
Let’s take a picture together.
Keep in touch.

Instead, I was thrown off AND completely star struck. All I could get out was — “Do you mind if I take a picture with you?”

So at least I got that! And now John Mackey knows my first name, and he’s seen my face.

He did sign my book too! Here’s what he wrote:

To Sarah

“keep your heart open.”

John Mackey

In hindsight, I wish I could have also gotten these words out. It’s all I really needed to say. John Mackey, if you are reading this, here’s what I really wanted to say to you:

Whole Foods Market is my favorite place on earth. Thank you for creating it.

And that’s all she wrote. That’s the story of my first time meeting John Mackey! I know I’ll meet him again. I’ll be more prepared. Until that day, I’m going to keep shopping Whole Foods Market, and I’ll keep making my kombucha home brew!

Watch this video to learn more about Conscious Capitalism. I’m eager to read the book!

Home Brew Kombucha Batch #2: Bottling & Healthy Bacteria

Sarah Beth Rosa — Sat, 19 Jan 2013 06:25:48 +0000

In continuing with updates on my Kombucha home brew, I bottled batch #2 tonight. I made two gallons this time because I had two SCOBYs from home brew #1.

SCROLL DOWN to see up-close-and-personal photos of the Mama and Baby SCOBYs and healthy bacteria.

Guess what 2 gallons of home brew Kombucha gets you?

Four cups of starter brew for the next batch.
Fourteen 160z. bottles of home brew Kombucha!

Based on what I learned in bottling brew #1, I will let these bottles sit for a day or two. I left a little air before I sealed with the lid. This will aid in getting me some bubbles! Bring on the fizz!

Up-Close-And-Personal with Brew #2

Close up of Kombucha from front

Close up of Kombucha from side

Mama SCOBY (from brew #1) up-close. Looks like air bubbles got stuck in between the Mama and newly formed Baby SCOBY underneath.

Baby SCOBY (from brew #1) up-close

Close up after SCOBY is removed. Floating bacteria and yeasts = good!

Batch #3

In home brewing batch #3, I’m using all green tea. (For batch #2, I used all black tea.) I’m just playing around in the hopes of finding the ingredients for my ultimate Kombucha, with just the right amount of fizz. We’ll see what happens.

Onward!!!

Kombucha Resources

Follow my research and my journey on Pinterest via my Kombucha Love board.

See the progress of my first ever batch of home brew kombucha: