Thursday Garage Sales

Today was the first day I've ever been to a garage sale on a Thursday.  It seems like most sales happen Saturday, with some Friday, and a few on Sunday.  I was the only customer at the two sales I stopped at, so it seems like most people don't go to garage sales on Thursdays either... (Then again, it could have been the time, I went in the afternoon between 2 and 3)

Now, I've just started (read about 3 weeks) going to garage sales on a regular basis, but I find them lots of fun.  I guess they combine two things I like: shopping, but not spending money.  The downside is that they are more time consuming then buying something in the store or online, because you never know what you are going to find. I'm trying to stock my apartment for next year, and am looking specifically for Corelle dishes, and that means stopping at lots of sales.  

I read about the first sale in the classified section of the local paper, and looked up directions on Google Maps.  It was in a subdivision pretty close to where I live.  However, I don't have a very good sense of direction, and don't have very good luck navigating subdivisions.  And you guessed it, I got lost on the way back trying to get out. But once I found a street I knew, I found a sign for a yard sale that was also going on Thursday, so I followed those signs, and ended up in the same subdivision at another sale! I didn't end up buying anything at either of those sales (but did find my way home!)

Penne Alfredo

An attempt at cooking (a.k.a. trying a new recipe)

Referencing Betty Crocker (a.k.a. my cooking idol), I attempted to make Fettuccine Alfredo... Attempted being the keyword in that sentence.  I encountered the first problem before I even started cooking; we didn't have any fettuccine noodles, so I had to substitute with penne.  Second problem: no cream, so instead I followed the "lighter" version using condensed milk (we happened to have a small stock on the brink of expiring sitting on the kitchen counter).  I followed the recipe, but ended up with a chunky sauce because the parmesan cheese never melted/dissolved into the rest of the sauce.  I have no idea why that happened, but if I try this again I want to try fresh cheese (instead of the Kraft from the can I used) and having the milk/butter mixture at a higher temperature before I remove it from the heat.  And maybe adding meat (and I really mean chicken in this case)

A Little Bit of Background Information

Hello world,

I'm an engineering student going into my sophomore year at Carnegie Mellon.  For those of you who have never heard of it, it's a private university (meaning its pretty expensive to attend) in Pittsburgh, PA.  Currently, I'm home for the summer, working a (menial) summer job, trying to make money, stock up for my apartment next year (!), and amuse myself.

So I've covered the three interests in my subtitle:

1. Saving Money = something I do because college isn't cheap, and its fun to shop but not to spend money
2. Cooking = something I do to amuse myself (and to save money)
3. Learning = something I do as I go along saving money and cooking (oh, and its basically my job as a student)