And I didn't check e-mail. Not even once.

• Ben's Chili Bowl and Old Ebbitt Grill. Politicians and lobbyists are regularly seen at both places.
• There are tons of excellent restaurants in the Chinatown/Penn Quarter area, which is very near the Summit location. A local favorite is Matchbox. There is almost always a huge line and at least an hour wait no matter what night of the week you go.
• Also in that area are Cafe Atlantico, Jaleo, Rosa Mexicano and District Chophouse. All are yummy and unique to D.C.
• Friends who work on the Hill say Hawk & Dove and Tabard Inn are also big political hangouts if you're hoping to rub elbows.

We're back from Washington, D.C., where a team of folks from Hammock spent several days covering the NFIB 2008 National Small Business Summit, using our "association community builder" approach to share the event. Video, text and photos can all be viewed at the NFIB Summit website.

Bugsy works on keeping my chair warm while T.J. does some blogging and Thunder chases cats away. It's Take Your Dog to Work Day!

I'm not one of those folks who spend their days longing to quit their jobs to become professional photographers. But I do love to run around with a camera. And I love to eat. And I enjoy words. And just last week, I started playing with a way to combine all three.

So often we see pictures -- whether online or in print -- with words beside them or under them to describe exactly what's going on in the photo. But what if we put the words on the photo, right there in the heart of the photo so that your eye sees the image and reads the words all at once?

We do quite a bit of this for hammock.com, and I'm going to continue to play and learn with my own personal photos, too.

Using picnik.com on images that I took of food I actually cooked, here are my first two attempts. Bananas Foster French Toast and a spinach salad with grilled chicken, apples and feta: