depending on where u live u can either pick them from the wild (only if u know what you're doing as the wrong ones can kill you) or order them fresh online (i think this is illegal in most places, certainly is in the UK now) or get some spores/a growing kit.
to dry them i laid them out and had a fan blowing over them till they were dry, can't remember how long it took to dry them that way, maybe about a week, possibly less? i like the texture of dried shrooms but it concentrates the bad taste (which isn't actually that bad imo). i always preferred eating them fresh dipped in some honey or by making a shroom-tea, i never got any nausea from them.
i can't remember the exact amounts i ate (was quite a while ago) but i think it was about an ounce fresh (which is like 1/8th dry) of the cubensis. i found tolerance built up really quick and had to up the doses for further trips.
i never found the trip to be overwhelming or disassociative. for me colours got bright and vivid and bent and moved around. most of the time i felt really perky and happy. had a warm-stoned like feeling. i found myself thinking very deeply and questioning the reasoning for everything. i also found my emotions became a bit fragile. one second i'd be listening to happy music and feeling on top of the world, next second some dark music or a dark situation and would feel bad (not suicidally bad or anything though), then some more good music and i was back on top. i also got quite chatty and found shrooms to be a surprisingly socialiable drug.
the trip lasts quite long (like 6-8 hours or something) so i wouldn't plan doing anything after taking these until you have a chance to sleep it off. the trip wears off really slowly (like the main effects will go but you'll still feel weird for 2 or 3 hours) and i found i'd normally not feel fully back to normal until either sleeping or smoking copious amounts of pot.
anyway. have fun