Milwaukee: Retique // The Sophisticated Man // Odd Duck // Dial M for Murder

Dress: Dreamy Date Woven Midi Dress by Flying Tomato

Tights: Snag

Shoes: Fluevog, Operetta: Marcello 

Earrings & Necklace: Colleen Toland

Bracelet: Vintage

Stats: 5'7" 38-32-42

This is my first dress from this brand...their website has lots of pretty colorful dresses (& then I paused here for 1/2 an hour while I browsed their sale & bought 2 more). We picked this up at Minx in Asheville. 

Despite all those colors, I had a difficult time finding the right tights & shoes combo...because I'm not a muted colors person, I picked out the bright blue bits.

See? Close up, this all makes sense...

The neckline on this dress isn't my favorite & I'm not sure why. 

I wore this outfit to spend the day in Milwaukee with David. Guess where we went first? This Retique by Goodwill is just so good. Actually, what usually happens is David parks here & I go in to start looking around & he walks to Likewise to get us coffee.

The find of the day was this black 50s number...I was going to wear it for NYE, but a few weeks later I thrifted something sparkly. 

Then we walked down the street to Lela...where I tried on a red sparkly dress & green sparkly pants that match a dress I got in Asheville that David & I both love. Next, we accidentally went to someplace new...The Sophisticated Man Boutique. I had made a list of men's clothing stores to check out in Milwaukee & this was at the top of my list. We parked directly across the street from them to go to a bookstore & I recognized the name, so we went in...it was meant to be. 

There was this amazing older couple at the store...Jack & Diane...they were adorable. Diane has owned the store for 50 years & she & Jack went to school together, but reconnected later in life & they are a fabulously stylish & charming couple. David found several shirts to try on & I picked out a bunch of socks for him. And we finally made it to the bookstore. Dinner at Odd Duck.They number their cocktails rather than name them...David's first drink was #61 (Denizen dark rum, Cihuatán Jade rum, Stateline coffee liqueur, Giffard Banane du Bresil, Yemeni spiced orgeat, lemon) & I had #51 (Wheatley vodka, Lillet Blanc, Salers aperitif, cassis, lemon, sparkling wine). Then the food started rolling out. I'm always nervous at these small plate places because we have had servers bring us too many things at once & it's overwhelming...our guy here was fantastic. First up, Lamb & Potato Pierogi (roasted root vegetables, parsnip purée, mustard greens)...my goodness this was tasty...those pierogi were the best I've ever had...& I don't even think I like lamb. Berbere Braised Short Rib (ash roasted sweet potato, Da'ata, Malawah, pine nuts).Our next cocktails were #32 (Alto del Carmen Pisco Reservado, Fruitful clementine liqueur, quince nectar, lemon) & #75 (Arette reposado tequila, basil eau de vie, Rothman & Winter Orchard pear liqueur, fennel seed cordial, lime, fennel salt). More food...Filipino Style Pork Belly Lechon Kwali (peanut kare-kare, mustard greens, Sinamak chili vinegar, sesame rice crisps) & Cornmeal Crusted Crispy Oyster Mushrooms (cane vinegar mayonnaise, creole hot mustard, pickled green tomato, scallion) Cocktails, round 2:#14 (Buffalo Trace bourbon, St. George bruno americano, Cocchi di Torino vermouth, Bittercube cherry bark vanilla bitters, Luxardo cherry) &...#83 (Tanqueuray Sevilla orange gin, blood orange, rosemary, juniper berries, Rishi scarlet tea ice, Fever Tree Indian tonic water) Our final 2 savory plates: Wood-Fired Brussels Sprouts (sunflower butter, pear kimchi, everything seasoning, miso mustard) & Odd Duck Cassoulet (smoked duck ham, pork lardons, duck confit, Toulouse sausage, white bean, duck cracklin' bread crumbs). David sipped an Espresso Martini with dessert, which was...Baba al Rum Cake (spiced rum syrup, spiced pastry cream, oat & pumpkin seed granola). Dessert was just ok, but the rest of the meal was spectacular, as always. And finally...the reason we came to Milwaukee, Dial M for Murder. We got here just in time, so I didn't have time to look at the program...so we were delighted by the surprise of Marcus Truschinski (one of our favorite APT actors) as one of the leads in the play. This was an excellent version of Dial M for Murder...they made the affair between 2 women instead of the traditional man/woman. Enormous Christmas tree in the center of the building...so pictures had to happen. Our spoils from Retique...Pants & dress from Lela, & I also got this leopard coat at Retique...& immediately wore it the rest of the day. Gorgeous things from Sophisticated Man...not one, but *two* gold shirts. Another marvelous Milwaukee day.