Ivanka Trump and real-estate golden boy and New York Observer owner Jared Kushner have been dating for over a year, and seem to be heading towards marriage—especially when you consider Ivanka's highly-publicized conversion to Judaism. But they keep denying that they're getting engaged, and we've heard a possible reason why: their families can't stand each other.We hear that Trump isn't happy about Jared's dad's time as a jailed felon over real-estate dealings gone bad, and the Kushners aren't happy about Ivanka's shiksa status, despite her ingratiating attempt to convert—maybe because the effort means she's serious about marrying him for real. It's so romantic—like the Montagues and the Capulets! They'll probably want to be together even more now.

• Michael Jackson is a secret Muslim who is actually called Mikaeel, meaning angel of Allah, after the pop star rejected the name "Mustafa," which means chosen one. In a few days Jackson will appear in London court, where an Arab sheikh is suing him for seriously breaching a multi-million-dollar contract. Related? Who knows. The headline? "The Way You Mecca Me Feel." [Sun]

She has a job in real estate, a brand of jewelry, and a line of microwaveable meals, but it looks like Ivanka Trump is now branching out into book publishing, too. According to Publisher's Weekly, the daughter of The Donald has inked a deal with Touchstone to pen a motivational book for women based on her "personal experiences in life and business" as well as "lessons learned from her father." The book is scheduled to come out in 2009. No word yet on what seemingly insurmountable hardships Ivanka managed to overcome that will provide her with the fodder to inspire and motivate, although something tells us her oft-repeated story of having to model in high school to pay her own phone bill will somehow make its way into print.

The upside of being in a recession is that you can score some sweet concessions on a new apartment! Assuming you have money to get an apartment. If you're lucky enough to be a buyer these days, "Don't be afraid to ask for anything." So says boy wonder Jared Kushner, the publisher of the Observer and also a real estate mogul in his own right! Want to ask the current owner to come clean your kitchen every week? Need them to throw in a hypoallergenic puppy free with your purchase? Or something a bit more kinky? Nothing's too obnoxious to ask for, according to Jared. Click through to hear some buyer's wisdom straight from the lips that regularly make out with Ivanka Trump:

Vito Schnabel (son of Julian) and Olivier Sarkozy (half-brother of Nicolas) hosted Terence Koh's "Flowers for Baudelaire" exhibition on Wednesday night at Richard Avedon's former studio, where the unusual art was admired by the likes of Anna Wintour, Simon de Pury, Jeffrey Deitch, Allison Sarofim, Stella Schnabel, Olmo Schnabel, Lola Schnabel, Jacqueline Schnabel, Zac Posen, Ann Dexter-Jones, Nadine Johnson, Theodora Richards, Alexandra Richards, Byrdie Bell, Benjamin Cho, Cynthia Rowley, Salman Rushie, Lyor Cohen, Todd Eberle, Derek Blasberg, Genevieve Jones, Yvonne Force Villareal, Drena De Niro, Lisa Anastos, and Gilles Bensimon. [PMc, NYM, GoaG]

We received a celeb-stalker sighting this morning: "Ivanka Trump—5th avenue and 57th street - Her hair was a mess. Didn't bother to dry it before leaving her place. Other than that, she looked great." Wet hair? We've got news for for 26-year-old Ivanka, whose job with her dad comes with a fancy title (Vice President of Real Estate Development and Acquisitions) and an assistant: According to Megan Hustad's newish book, How to Be Useful: A Beginner's Guide to Not Hating Work, she's just broken a cardinal rule for young twentysomethings in the workplace.

At some point last night, the Daily News fed the Web address above into its RSS feed. The XML file appears to have been subsequently cleansed, but Google Reader still has the original address, attached to the much tamer headline, "Side Dish: Juliette Lewis isn't into 'Gossip'." Clicking it is a dead end, of course, but we're now way more intrigued by what the tabloid's gossip section didn't say than by anything it could have possibly printed about Jared Kushner's girlfriend. Maybe it's a clever bit of reverse psychology, hyping tomorrow's Rush & Molloy. Anyone care to clue us in?

Britain's Guardian profiled Jared Kushner, and while the Observer owner makes some positive noises about his company, the salient facts are as follows: After two years and a purported 40 percent revenue increase, the paper is still losing about $2 million per year. Kushner said he is " definitely scared about newspapers" and compared the industry to "a falling knife." And despite having Ivanka Trump on his arm, Kushner was recently turned away from fading nightclub Bungalow 8:

Ivanka Trump chats with Lloyd Grove over at Portfolio.com about the turbulent real estate market, her silly new lunch venture with ConAgra, and where she sees herself in 20 years. (Answer: The same place as today, just with more experience.) She also tells us who she's voting for: John McCain, just like her dad and unlike her boyfriend, in case you were wondering. [Portfolio]

What is it about Ivanka Trump that rankles journalists so? She had the Times' Ruth La Ferla all but calling her a harlot last December, and today on the Portfolio website she is irritating an openly exasperated Lloyd Grove. Theory: She's got (nearly) the looks of Paris Hilton and the mouth of a flack. Hilton is obnoxious but palatable to the media, since she acts out and constantly gives regrettable quotes. Trump was summa cum laude at Wharton (undergraduate), which makes it a touch harder to hate her for her privileged life. Grove seems to be trying, at least:

How's that going? They're grooming the Trump daughter to marry boy-mensch and 27-year-old New York Observer owner Jared Kushner. But first they've got to beat the Gentile out of her! Of course the YNet's Jewish World has something to say about it, declaring Kushner the "perfect match" and informing us that " following her husband-to-be's request, Ivanka has begun the conversion process at the Kehilath Jeshurun Synagogue in Manhattan's Upper East Side." Has she been turned away by a rabbi three times, as is the custom? Update: But Kushner & Trump are not engaged as this article suggests, says Robert Sommer, Observer Media Group President. Apparently, they're just really seriously going steady.[YNet]

Good news if you're an employee of the Trump Organization! Your exceptionally kind-hearted boss, Donald J. Trump, is giving you an hour off from work next Tuesday so you can go and vote. (Just one hour, though, so don't go making excuses about how your polling station is Brooklyn.) He isn't the only one. If you happen to work for one of the 2,372 companies owned by Time Warner, consider this video by Jeff Bewkes as official notice that you're permitted to skip out of the Time Warner building to perform your civic duty. Not registered? Not a US citizen? See you across the street in Central Park!

It's a big day for birthdays: Ivanka Trump turns 27 today. (Hope Jared got you something nice!) Page Six's Paula Froelich is 35. Barneys creative director Simon Doonan is 56. The most powerful literary agent in the biz, Binky Urban, is celebrating her 62nd. Fashion photographer Mario Testino is 54. NBC News' Andrea Mitchell turns 63. Billionaire financier Wesley Edens is 47 today. Olympic gymnast Nastia Liukin is 19. Henry Winkler turns 63. Gavin Rossdale is 41. Actress Nia Long turns 38. Actor Kevin Pollak is 51. And Cash Cab host Ben Bailey is 38.

And you thought the collapsing economy was only good news for repo men and cardiac surgeons. Not only do Donald and Ivanka Trump not appear too concerned with the global financial crisis, they're both looking forward to profiting from the greatest economic misfortune in American history. Real estate prices have never been cheaper, says Donald, and everyone at the Trump Organization is "excited" because now is a "great time" to be in business, explains Ivanka. Oh, also? The queen of microwavable office lunches says her dad totally predicted this whole thing was going to go down, like, two years ago. What about the mammoth mess at the Trump hotel in Chicago? That didn't come up in the conversation for some strange reason! [YouTube via Jewssip]

Dylan Lauren celebrated the re-launch of Dylan's Candy Bar on Monday night with a bash at her Third Avenue store. In addition to siblings Andrew and David and mom Ricky, guests included Woody Allen and Soon-Yi (with their kids), Ivanka Trump, Donald Trump Jr. and wife Vanessa Trump, Lauren Bush, Dan Abrams, Olivia Palermo, Katie Lee Joel, Rachel Roy, Fabiola Beracasa, Stacey Bendet, Eric Villency, Jamee Gregory, Bettina Zilkha, Amy Sacco, Thom Filicia, Dori Cooperman, Ingrid Sischy, Dave Zinczenko, Kelly Killoren Bensimon, Karen Duffy, Kira Plastinina, Jason Biggs, Tyson Beckford, and fraudster Tatiana Boncompagni. [PMc, NYO, Wireimage, GoaG]

• Shiksa Ivanka Trump and Observer-owning Jewish beau Jared Kushner have the rabbi for her conversion all picked out. It was important to both of them that he hate the Times. [P6]

♦ Angelina Jolie is either "burning up with jealousy" over Brad Pitt's flirtatious relationship with co-star Diane Kruger, or she's completely happy and getting ready for her next adoption in the next few weeks, depending on which tabloid you pick up. [Star, OK!]
♦ Elisabeth Hasselbeck gets more death threats than any other host on the View, news that probably won't surprise you. [P6]
♦ Jennifer Aniston and John Mayer spent last weekend at a romantic spa in Arizona. [Star]
♦ Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen appeared at a book signing yesterday, but they did not permit fans to talk to them. [P6]
♦ Page Six follows up on the news from three weeks ago and reports Ivanka Trump is converting to Judaism for Jared Kushner. She's attending synagogue regularly, too. [P6]

♦ The Limelight can be yours for a mere $60 million if you happen to be looking to buy a club and/or a church. [GS]
♦ APT has been shut down for "criminal sale or possession of controlled substances or marijuana." [Eater]
♦ Top Chef runner-up Dave Martin has bid goodbye to Crave on 42nd. [Feedbag]
♦ Lovely Day on Elizabeth Street was shuttered following a fire. [Eater]
♦ You missed it: Ivanka Trump was handing out microwavable meals on the street today. [MidtownLunch]

Are you a weary office drone who chokes down a dry, overpriced sandwich from the local deli in front of your computer every day, wishing that you could take a full hour to relax and eat some quality food for once in your miserable life? Well the ConAgra corporation feels your pain! And in order to help you they've enlisted someone you, the little people, can look up to: Ivanka Trump. She is using a modern "blog" to reach all the depressed, overworked potential ConAgra lunch customers! It all began last week, when Ivanka, daughter of The Donald and main squeeze of The Jared Kushner, informed the public via some blog that she would soon be setting up a "lunch trade" to revitalize your boring existence:

The Times follows up on the news last week that Ivanka Trump is planning to introduce a line of lunch foods in partnership with ConAgra. So what is it that the real estate heiress is planning to offer up to busy office workers? Microwave meals called "Healthy Choice Fresh Mixers," which can be stored in a desk for up to a year with no refrigeration required. [NYT, previously]