Melinda 'Me Me' Anderson

Melinda "Me Me" Anderson is the type of lady everyone wants at their parties, possibly because she knows how to throw the best ones. The event planner is way involved with the annual Bravo Bravo! event at the Detroit Opera House -- which has evolved into a must-go event for the young professional set.

She also knows how to make it work at smaller settings, like intimate cocktail parties she's thrown at the Detroit Yacht Club. "Designing events is like ephemeral architecture and theater combined," Melinda says. She's working on launching a studio this year.

Melinda is quick to support locally owned shops, restaurants and bars. "I have lived in Detroit and Oak Park (a nearby suburb) for a while and have gotten to know a lot of people in the city, and I try to keep it in the family, economically speaking," she says. "I like to support my friends that have businesses and restaurants in the city."

Anderson spends most of her free time frequenting Ferndale, Royal Oak and Detroit. Here are some of her favorite Detroit picks:

For Saturday breakfast, Anderson has one recommendation: Russell Street Deli in Eastern Market. "My artist/entrepreneur friends, Ben Hall and Jason Murphy, bought this restaurant a year and a half ago and have kept the same standards and delicious food that it has been known for -- and people think that artists aren't business-savvy," she says. "These guys are the smartest I know." After eating, she heads to Eastern Market Antiques on Market St., Russell St. Antiques and Marketplace Antiques to load up on one-of-a kind vintage finds.

Anderson likes spending her Saturday nights on Monroe downtown at Pulse, which is essentially her own urban and sophisticated version of Cheers. "It's a very cool bar -- I've worked with the owners, Owen Burke and Tony Piranio -- for years on Bravo Bravo," she says. "I have a coterie of girlfriends that frequents this bar, and we have had so much fun during the years here," she says. "And the DJ always plays my favorite song upon arrival: Too Short's 'Blow the Whistle'."

It'd be hard not to love a place that has one of its menu items named after you, right? "One of my best girlfriends, Torya Blanchard, started this cute little creperie in Detroit called Good Girls Go To Paris," says Anderson. "Instead of putting it in Ferndale or Royal Oak, she tried it in Detroit and it has done phenomenal … and the Melinda crepe is one of the best!"

When shopping in the D, Anderson sticks to her credo of local support. She heads to Harmonie Park to hit up high-end design shop Mezzanine for home décor, and nearby Spectacles for t-shirts and accessories. She also likes -- and really, who doesn't? -- Midtown's Bureau of Urban Living, a modern home good shop. "Owner Claire Nelson has awesome taste, and there are great gifts for housewarmings and thank yous," she says. For vintage finds, she favors Value World on Woodward for clothes. "It doesn't sound sexy, but I like getting cheap things and dressing them up."