Last night at the annual San Diego Press Club’s Excellence in Journalism Awards, I received a plaque for first place in Architecture and Design writing in the Online and Daily Newspaper category for my March 26, 2022 story, “Mid-century makeover: Couple preserves past, embraces future of La Jolla Shores duplex,” which appeared in The San Diego Union-Tribune’s real estate magazine, Hot Property Estates.

I also earned awards for my UT story on the late chef, Anthony Sinsay: “Beloved San Diego chef’s passion for heritage lives on,” and another UT story, “Clean eating recipes help sustain a life — and renew a passion for food,” on local cookbook writer Rachel Riggs.

Back in 2017, I had earned several first-place awards, including “Best in Show” for my food blog San Diego Foodstuff. With that award I figured I’d hit the pinnacle of local journalism awards and decided to take a hiatus. This was my return to the JAwards, mostly because I felt passionate about my piece about Anthony and wanted to honor his memory one more time. And, well, you can’t enter just one, right? So, I entered two more and won awards for all. It was nice to be back.