DECK THE HOLIDAY'S

   The most important opera festival in Italy opens in Verona on June 22nd, making again of the city the perfect stage for the most anticipated musical event of the year. In stage, some of the most significant pieces in the history of opera.    The 2012 season is the ninetieth of this legendary festival which will open this edition with Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's masterpiece Don Giovanni based on the libretto by Lorenzo da Ponte. Attendance at this opening in the Arena is sure to fill the amphitheater with this first show directed by Franco Zeffirelli and with Daniel Oren leading the orchestra. Among the starring voices, Ildebrando D'Arcangelo as the incorrigible seducer Don Giovanni and Anna Samuil in the role of Donna Anna.    Other equally famous operas will follow alternating two or three evenings per week until Sunday, September 2nd which will mark the end of the 2012 season: Aida, Carmen and Turandot are some of the shows that will fill the Arena with fantastic

   This diy comes from www.aplaceforusblog.com .  Every cool! Brown Paper Flowers Tutorial Making the Flowers 1 pair of scissor 6-8 brown paper bags 1 glue stick leaf template if needed……. 1. With bottom flap towards you cut off the bottom of the bag right above the fold. Save the bottom parts! I might be using them in another craft and well,so might you! 2. Free hand a leaf shape or use a template leaf shape on the brown bag and cut. Make the leaf shape as wide as you can. 3. Leave one end flat and the other pointed. *As you cut the leaves, smaller parts will start to fall out. Save these and collect them for the second part of the flower. 4. Slightly fold the larger leave in half and glue flat end leafs together in a flower shape. Repeat until you have a full flower. I stop at about 8 leaves for the large flower. 5. Now get those smaller leaf parts and do the same thing you did in step four. *TIP as your gluing the leaves down don’t flatten them.

Notes: When preparing buttercream, make sure the butter is soft, or it won't easily incorporate into the buttercream. If you don't have a pastry bag or tip, fill a zip-lock bag with buttercream and then snip 1/2 inch off corner. Avoid letting the bowl touch the simmering water, or it will overheat the mixture. You will have leftover chocolate coating. This is purposefully done so that there is enough to easily dip each cupcake. Freeze leftovers for the next time. Store the cupcakes in a cool, dry place to enjoy a creamy, soft buttercream. For continued storage, refrigerate. Before serving, allow cupcakes to come to room temperature to re-soften the buttercream.   Yield : 10 cupcakes Active time : 1 hour Total time: 3 hours Special equipment : standard size muffin pan, paper cupcake cups, instant read thermometer, mug, pastry bag, pastry tip Ingredients For the Chocolate Cupcakes: 3/4 cup all purpose flour 1/3 cup cocoa powder 3/4 teaspoon baking soda 1/2

So You Want To See a Real Circus?     In the late 1800's and early 1900's the circus was a very popular form of entertainment. Traveling from town to town, they brought their shows filled with exotic animals, daring performers, and rousing music to adoring crowds.     One town in Indiana, USA proudly celebrates it's circus heritage every year. If you want to see a circus come to life in a small town big top, to see amateurs learning the craft, and to learn more of the history of the circus in the US, a visit to "Circus City" Peru, Indiana will be memorable.  This year it's from July 14th to the 21st of July. Visit to Peru Indiana     For a number of years, I had seen occasional news articles about a circus training camp and performance in Peru, Indiana. Finally, in the summer of 2008, I decided to make the trek to this small town to see it for myself. I had been to larger, modern circuses and even visited the Ringling Brothers museum in S