Shopping - a pleasant surprise.

I've mentioned before that the 3 things in life I am willing to pay full price for are skin care, footwear, and books.  But if I can get an amazingly ridiculous deal on any of the aforementioned 3 categories, then it makes everything that much sweeter.

This Monday marked the official start of the new semester for me, but since I only have classes on Tuesdays I decided to hit up some of my favorite retail areas in hopes of finding a good deal.  Little did I know that virtually everywhere I went would have huge clearance sections because most stores are preparing for spring.

My first stop was Paper Source which is the cutest little stationary store.  Ever.  They not only have all the supplies for making stationary but they are well stocked with other little desk goodies and household decor.

Here are some of the calendars that were available. I ended up choosing a watercolor calendar that wound up being $25 (!!) which is a bit steep for a wall calendar but at least it was pretty. Unfortunately Barnes & Noble didn't have any calendars available, which was rather surprising since a month ago they had waaaay too many. 

My next stop was DSW where I literally found the best deal my entire life.  I was perusing to the clearance section when a Cole Haan box happened to catch my eye. I looked at the sales price and noticed that it was $109.94, marked down from $158.  What surprised me the most was that this box gold tag which meant that it was 80% on sale.  I whipped out my calculator and then realized that these adorable Cole Haan flats would be $21.98. I also realized that I had a $10 off coupon for DSW, meaning that I could get this pair of shoes for only $11.98 (!!!). Major score right?  There was also an adorable pair of mel shoes available in gold, which also happened to be 80% off of $29.94 (read: $5.98!). I made my way over to the checkout register, and noticed there was another bin full of things that were last chance clearance on sale for 80% off. Lo and behold but what do I discover? An adorable pair of Kate Spade tights originally $19.94, now available for $3.98! After applying my $10 reward, my total came out to $21.97.  I saved a total of $209.03!!

After finishing up at DSW I went over to Washington Square mall. I immediately went to Express where I had a $5.22 store credit. I guess it was a "shoe day" because Express also had a huge clearance on their flats. I found an adorable pair of black pointed toe flats with little tiny silver studs on sale for $11.99. I had to pay $6.77 in cash that was fine because the shoes were originally $19.94.  Select the end of the day I only spent $28.74 for 3 pairs of shoes and some cute tights. You can see my purchases below.

This was a very pleasant surprises normally I never find deals this good! Did you go shopping after the holidays for any sales? Feel free to share your deals below!