5 Things: Walk to School

1. Forget the bus stop... keep walking all the way to school today. It's National Walk to School Day, and local schools are participating.

2. Experience some culture and a bit of mysticism at , 101 Ferry Road, Bristol, at a Victorian Tea-leaf Party today, 3-5 p.m.

After enjoying a tea party, complete with tea, scones, and other delectable delights, each guest will enjoy a private tea leaf reading. With accuracy and insight, Angel, a tea leaf reader, will go “around the cup,” reading the leaves for each guest.

Reading tea leaves has traditionally been practiced in many countries by the women of the family, typically at gatherings of family and friends. Come, allow the mysterious properties of tea leaves to create a unique picture of your future, via your teacup!

3. Head over to Warwick today for the 4th annual Ocean State Small Business Expo today from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. at the Crowne Plaza Hotel. The day-long event will have a “Business-to-Business” theme and feature more than 100 exhibitors throughout the Crowne Plaza’s outdoor Garden Pavilion tent.

The Expo will also include five educational breakout sessions led by area experts on various business topics, and a two-hour open networking event for attendees and guests. Educational breakout sessions begin at 12:00 p.m., each running for 50 minutes both inside the hotel and in the pavilion tent; and the open networking session is scheduled from 5 to 7 p.m., with food provided by the Crowne Plaza.

Admission is free with a business card. Featured speakers for the Ocean State Small Business Expo 2012 include Betty Galligan, APR, president/founder of Newberry Public Relations and Marketing (East Providence, RI), Corissa St. Laurent, regional development director for Constant Contact, New England, and Gil Lantini, founder of the Rhode Island Small Business Journal.

For more information, visit OceanStateSmallBusinessExpo.com or contact Susan Lataille at DiscoverYou Events, 401-769-1325 x 11 or susan@discoveryouevents.com.

4. Head across the bridge to the Pell Center and Newport CIV, 518 Bellvue Ave., Newport, for an issues forum and debate watch tonight. Kick off the evening at 7:30 p.m. with a spirited discussion of national security and foreign policy featuring Michael Auslin of the American Enterprise Institute and Michael Cohen of the Century Foundation.  We’ll use electronic survey tools to measure audience opinions, and leave plenty of time for questions and answer. 

Then, at 9, the main event: Obama v. Romney. Settle in with some popcorn and watch the debate with your Pell Center friends. Our experts will be around to answer questions and we’ll again survey audience opinion to decide who wins and who loses—at least at the Pell Center.

5. Showers may be lingering around in the morning, but should give way to partly sunny skies with temperatures in the low-70s.