Since venturing into the business world of cupcakes, I recently took a trip to NYC in search of the city’s best cupcake!

I went to the three of the most popular bake shops.

First I stopped by Buttercup Bake Shop…
(Might I add this bakery was voted best bakery for 2008)

Vanilla frosted cupcake from Buttercup Bakery

Buttercup Bakery cupcakes

The Verdict: The cake was dry (who wants a dry cupcake? lol) and the frosting was thick and disgusting! Oh sure they look colorful and delicious but unless you like snacking on a stick of butter you won’t like this cupcake! Between my brother, his wife and myself we tried three different kinds….and none of us liked them!

Then I stopped by the Cupcakestop.com truck….
(This truck has only been around for about a year, but they’re all the rage in NYC)

Cupcakestop's cupcake truck

The Verdict: Ok so I’ll be honest the reason I went to see the truck was because the concept was cool. But let’s face it you can’t eat the concept! I’ll give the truck props for creative flavors of cupcakes (like oreo crumb and banana chocolate chip)…but I’d rather eat cardboard. Again the frosting’s were not good and these cupcakes tasted more like a muffin then a cupcake…more like a week old muffin! lol Wouldn’t go there again let’s just put it that way.

Finally I ended up over at Magnolia’s Bakery…

The red velvet cupcake and the chocolate cupcake from Magnolia Bakery.

The Verdict: Ah Magnolia…I have loved thee ever since your days spent on the classic television series “Sex and the City.” Magnolia bakery can frost a cupcake like no one else. Oh sure they’re cupcakes are pretty and cute but it’s hard to believe that Charlotte, Miranda, Carrie and Samantha actually ate them! lol I say this because on the show (if you’ve seen it) they eat the vanilla frosted, vanilla cupcakes. (Quick side note the woman who used to work at Magnolia’s is the same woman who opened up the Buttercup Bake Shop…so you can imagine where I’m going with this) Unless you eat cupcakes every day there’s no way you can tell the difference between Magnolia and Buttercups vanilla frosted cupcakes, they’re twins…and I don’t recommend the vanilla. It’s like an accquired taste for butter lol However their red velvet cupcakes have a light and fluffy frosting which is fantastic, and the cake is moist and delicious! If you don’t like red velvet cake then I suggest chocolate cake with the chocolate frosting….the cake is not as dry as the vanilla and the frosting tastes like chocolate instead of vanilla flavored butter!
And the winner is (drumroll please!)…..
The red velvet cupcake from Magnolia! If you don’t like red velvet cupcakes you will after you eat one from Magnolia Bakery.

Next time you’re in NYC and you want a cupcake just remember one name…Magnolia!

Jon Gosselin of TLC's reality show "Jon and Kate Plus Eight" arrives at MGM's Wet Republic in Las Vegas Saturday, Aug. 29, 2009. (AP Photo / Alaric Lambert)

In a recent interview on ABC’s “Primetime: Family Secrets” Jon Gosselin said that he “despised” his soon to be ex-wife Kate Gosselin. I don’t think he  should be going on national television and telling all of America that he despises the mother of his kids. In this day and age I wouldn’t be surprised if his 9-year old twins are already googling mommy and daddy. I understand his anger with Kate but taking out all of his frustrations infront of the camera isn’t going to help his public image! Maybe try waiting to get a girlfriend until after you’re actually divorced then you wouldn’t have these problems!

He also accuses Kate of verbally abusing him and beating him down during their marriage. Which is not really a surprise for those of us who actually watch the show. Lord knows she was awful to him during most of those shows. So for that part I would have to agree with him that yes Kate completely demoralized him, but he also let her do it, so it’s both of their faults. After all every story does have two sides and marriage is always 50/50.

As if that wasn’t enough he also went on to say that he loves his current girlfriend, 23-year old Hailey Glassman, more than he ever loved Kate. Oh snap! Now that’s just plain cruel. How he’s going to explain that one to the kids later on down the road is beyond me. I mean he did marry Kate, he did love Kate and he did have 8 kids with Kate, regardless of how much he dislikes her at the current time he is stuck with her for the rest of his life. That’s the payoff when you have kids with someone. So my advice to Jon would be to just accept it and move on because it won’t be worth all the fighting and finger pointing in the end. You have to come together for the kids, because they’re the ones who suffer the most!

Eventually the kids will get old enough to figure out what’s going on and they’re going to end up resenting both of their parents if they keep this up. I guess in the Jon & Kate world money does make the world go round which is why they continue to do the show (isn’t it always about the money?). I understand it must cost a ton to raise 8 kids and put them through college, but putting them in the public eye while going through a divorce is NOT a good idea!

I am and always will be team 8!

He believed in the right to a college education and the right to be able to afford that education. He was always the man I wanted in my corner!

I too have fought against the corruption behind student loan lender Sallie Mae, which is the United States’ largest student loan company. The interest they add to their loans is insurmountable, as the students crumble they become billionaires. For them to say they are “champions of higher education,” is a lie.

Senator Kennedy you pioneered this movement for student loan justice and all your hard work will one day prevail, and never be forgotten!

Sincerely,
Michelle Misiaszek

Statement of Senator Kennedy on Sallie Mae’s letter to college financial aid professionals
“It’s hardly surprising that Sallie Mae would take a proposal intended to protect students and spin it as an attack on college financial aid professionals.  In reality, financial aid administrators and students are the ones being attacked by money lenders aggressively marketing private loans that may not offer the lowest interest rates for students.
This onslaught of pressure is exactly why I’ve proposed the Student Loan Sunshine Act.  Far from being “ill-conceived” or “unwarranted,” the Act responds to the growing number of documented cases in which private lenders pull out all the stops to pitch their wares to woo colleges and gouge students. The vast majority of financial aid administrators are doing all they can to make sure that students obtain the funds they need to pay for college.  The problem is the big lenders who put profits ahead of students, not the college administrators.” – Senator Kennedy.

Kennedy targets Sallie Mae’s role
“The student loan program works brilliantly for the banks, but not for the students,” Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) said in a speech on the Senate floor.

The Student Loan Scandal - Senator Kennedy characterized the student loan system as one that “squanders billions each year to provide corporate welfare to big lenders, rather than serving the best interests of our students.

Senator Kennedy leads Congress in crackdown on student loan scandal
“Banks like Nelnet and Sallie Mae can still drive right through, collecting outrageous profits at the expense of students and taxpayers,” said Senator Kennedy.

Senator Kennedy questions collection tactics
Kennedy says his office has acquired information suggesting that Sallie Mae may have implemented the following tactics in its collection process:

• Attempting to collect debts not owed.
• Firing employees who attempt to help borrowers obtain correct information about their loan status.
• Instructing employees to give borrowers “the run around” rather than providing them with correct information on their loan status.
• Intentionally sending loan-payment notices to an incorrect address to force a borrower’s account into default.
• Telling a borrower’s spouse that the borrower would go to jail if he didn’t pay—a blatantly false assertion.
• Putting a borrower who lost his home in a natural disaster into default, adding substantial default and collection fees to his loan balance, taking tax refunds, and garnishing his wages—all in violation of guidance from the Secretary of Education.
• Regularly calling borrowers at work after being instructed to stop.
• Using abusive and profane language to intimidate borrowers.

In his letter to Tim Fitzpatrick, CEO of Sallie Mae, Kennedy wrote, “I am concerned that several private lenders may be engaging in harsh and inappropriate tactics with regard to borrowers whose payments are overdue.”

Kennedy called for Sallie Mae investigation into student loan errors
In 2002, a billing error performed by Sallie Mae led to dramatic increases in monthly payments, and forced many students to default on their student loans. In response, Senator Kennedy, joined by a bipartisan group of senators and representatives, sent a letter to Education Secretary Rod Paige requesting an investigation into the billing practices of the multibillion dollar company. Senator Kennedy said that, depending on the outcome of the investigation, Sallie Mae should be responsible for compensating any student loan defaults that resulted from the error.

Men as so unemotional beings sometimes that I think that after a break-up they immediately jump into another relationship so that they don’thave to deal with the emotional pain of the previous one.

Nevertheless I expected this, and I wasn’t shocked by the fact that Jon moved on so quickly. I was shocked, however, by the girl he chose to move on with. In my opinion he could have done a LOT better!

Hailey is a the 22-year-old daughter of New York plastic surgeon Larry Glassman, who performed Kate’s post-sextuplets tummy tuck in 2006, and is now the arm candy on Jon Gosselin’s arm. I personally think that Jon wanted to date someone who was the complete opposite of Kate.

The funny part is that Jon was only 22 when he married Kate and that seemed to have turned out great for him! So why he thinks this new relationship with Hailey will work out is beyong me. I hope for his sake that he doesn’t get too attached to this little girl because Hailey stands for trouble!

- In 2005, Hailey was arrested for marijuana possession. ( Click here to check out the mug shot!)
- Hailey has auditioned for MTV’s “The Real World” and Oxygen’s “Bad Girls Club.”
- Her license was suspended in 2007 after she failed to appear in court for not wearing a seat belt. (Buckle up Hailey…it is the law!)
- She smokes (Jon does too now…he’s so cool!)
- She’s openly bisexual (hmmm…maybe Jon & Hailey + Kate?)
- Her friends say that Hailey is just with Jon so she can get famous. (Total shocker!)

Now there’s even rumors circulating that Jon and Hailey are actually engaged! (Gross!) Jon is of course totally denying those rumors….just like he denied that he cheated on Kate during their marriage (totally believe him, don’t you?).

Jon is what I like to call “in-lust” instead of “in-love” living out those 20’s he never got to experience because he got married too young!

Hailey on the other hand is living it up having just recently gone to Paris with her new man to meet up with fashion designer Ed Hardy (are you kidding me!). The sad part was that Kate was home alone with the kids…still wearing her wedding rings (talk about embarrassing!).

As crazy as Kate was to Jon I think this is mortifying to have to go through a public divorce and on top of it having your soon to be ex-husband running around Paris with a 22-year-old!

My personal thought on Jon Gosselin is that he’s with this girl because she’s helping him with his clothing line and it’s because he has no idea what he’s doing. Kate was always the business-minded one of the duo, he has no clue what he’s getting himself into.

At least now he’s back at his house in PA with his 8 kids. I can’t imagine what all of this is doing to them. I especially feel bad for the older girls, Mady and Kara, considering they probably go online and see all of this craziness!

All I can say is that someone needs to get all of these kids counseling before they all go off the deep end of crazy!

I think Hailey needs to go back to the bar she crawled out from, and Jon needs to act like a father instead of a teenager in love!

Click here for a sneak peek of the new upcoming season set to premiere on August 3rd.

Slideshow: Jackson Memorial Service

Slideshow: Jackson Remembered

Michael Jackson’s merchandise is now onsale online. One of the more interesting products is a sleep mask  with his ‘Dangerous’ eyes on it.

If you don’t know the background story on TV’s favorite family here’s a quick synopsis. Jon met Kate…Jon married Kate…Jon and Kate had twin girls, then decided to have one more child and ended up with sextuplets (with the help of fertility drugs). Then yay America was fascinated with them and asked them to do a reality TV show and of course they accepted…who wouldn’t?

So the 5th season is about to start and people will definitely be tuning in to see what unfolds with all the latest developments on Jon & Kate’s “marital problems.” At the end of the 4th season Jon went to PA to help his mom who was sick. Supposedly he was down there by himself for 8 days and partied until the sun came up on various nights with random young college girls. One girl in particular has been making a lot of headlines 23-year-old Deanna Hummel (who graduated from college in 2007). Allegedly Jon was seen leaving her house at 7:30am. She was seen sunbathing in the front yard of his new house. Her brother Jason claims he heard Jon and Deanna having sex (Eww!). Then Deanna comes back in people.com with “My brother is very shady,” says Hummel. “He has no job. He has a criminal background. He was charged for drug distribution. He’s on probation right now.”

So there are the current “facts” that are circulating. I put facts in quotations because you can never really believe what you read. I mean who knows. The brother sounds like a loser who just wants some publicity…maybe a little celebrity? make a little money? You know those magazines pay for those “exclusive” interviews right?

Do I think Kate is a little high strung? Maybe a little bitchy and mean? Yes in fact I do. But if you ask me if Jon loves her I would still say yes! I think Jon just wanted to pretend for a few days that he could just go back to being normal and that people would treat him normal and he could get away from the cameras and the fame that comes with having your own show. I think it’s all harmless since there’s no hard core evidence. I mean they say that video was from 7:30am but who knows what time it was taken or for that matter who knows where it was filmed! And why would Jon bring his “mistress” to his NEW house and have her sunbathing in a bikini on his FRONT YARD? Even if Kate wasn’t home he has neighbors, he has kids, he has camera crews and nannies and house keepers! If he was cheating he wouldn’t have done that. Men who cheat hide their cheating. Jon’s a quality guy, he’s a good husband and everyone who watches the show can see he’s a good father. He’s just a guy who is trying his best to handle the situation in front of him.

They make between $50-$75 thousand per episode! I once heard that it cost $1,000,000 to raise a child from birth to 18 years old. Considering they have 8 kids I wouldn’t be surprised if they tried to stick it out for the money.

I love me some Jon & Kate Plus 8 because the kids are toooo cute!!!!!!!! So I am routing for that family! I’d rather see them bicker on air and be real with the public then pretend they are the ‘Leave It To Beaver’ family of the new millennium!

New season debuts on May 25th!

Susan Boyle

Susan tries out for Britain’s Got Talent and in less than a month her audition has more than 49 million views on YouTube! I’ve got to say I watched her audition and I was really surprised…I was expecting something comepletely hilarious to happen (If you watch the video you’ll know why I say this) and got something completely different! It was like watching a scene out of a movie…which I really can’t wait for the Susan Boyle movie to hit the theaters lol Well I’m just kidding, no movie yet, but I can see her making an appearance into the Lifetime rotation, couldn’t you? Only time will tell what happens next for little Susan!

Good for you Susan Boyle, you rock!