The Real Lives of 'The Real Housewives of New York City'

March 4, 2008 — -- They party in the city and summer in the Hamptons. They cart their kids to school in chauffeured cars and dine at four-star restaurants on a daily basis. And oh, how they love to shop.

These are not your typical soccer moms. They're the "Real Housewives of New York City" — basically, Carrie Bradshaw and crew meets the ladies of Wisteria Lane. And in the new Bravo reality series that chronicles their fabulous existence, premiering tonight, America gets to see them in their natural habitats: playing on the private tennis courts of East Hampton, lounging in the sprawling penthouse apartments of the Upper East Side, visiting the local landmark presented to the United States by the ancestor of one of their French aristocrat husbands (the Statue of Liberty).

They have it all — money, family, friends, figures that defy their age. But what makes them tick? What do they do when they're not air-kissing acquaintances at galas and events? Would they give up their luxe lives for anything on earth? And do they ever eat fast food?

ABCNEWS.com asked. Find out how the other half lives:

Jill Zarin

Stats: Hails from "the ghettos of Long Island" and runs a fabric warehouse with her second husband, a successful real estate developer. Both live on the Upper East Side with her 15-year-old daughter, Allyson.

Favorite cocktail: I don't drink. Diet Coke. Actually I take it back … a mudslide. With an Oreo cookie on top.

Favorite high-end store: Bergdorf Goodman, where I can get it all under one roof.

Favorite low-end store: Target or Costco. Whenever we're driving out to the Hamptons, we stop.

Favorite fast food restaurant: KFC.

Favorite New York restaurant: The Waverly Inn.

Favorite physical activity/sport: It has three letters and I can't say, but it is a physical activity in my house! Real sport would be tennis.

Favorite weekend night activity: Going out to dinner with friends, or going to someone's house for dinner. Really, a quiet night with friends eating. The big parties are on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays … I like to relax on the weekends.

If you had to live someplace other than New York City, it would be: Florida. California's too far from the family.

Finish this sentence — "I can't live without…": My iPhone. If I wasn't able to talk to people, I would die.

What's your biggest extravagance/guilty pleasure?: My guilty pleasure is flying private. It's something I really want, love and try to do … Sometimes I rent a plane, but I wouldn't buy one.

What would you trade your life/lifestyle for?: I wouldn't trade it for anything. If we didn't want to be where we are today, we'd be somewhere else.

Ramona Singer

Stats: Self-proclaimed "sexy mom" who met her husband, Mario, at the gym. He owns an award and trophy business; she's developing her own skin-care line; they live on the Upper East Side. They have a daughter, Avery, who Ramona describes as "13 going on 30."

Favorite cocktail: A blood orange cosmo.

Favorite high-end store: Bergdorf Goodman

Favorite low-end store: When I go out to the Hamptons, I stop at BJs. I entertain a lot, I'll have dinner parties, and they have all the great things there. They the gallon-size olive oil for only $20. And they have the big bottle of Advil — we're addicted to Advil.

Favorite fast food restaurant: I never eat fast food. That's how I look so good.

Favorite New York restaurant: Locally, I like Tre Amici.

Favorite physical activity/sport: It's a tie between tennis and skiing. I go skiing twice a year and play a lot of tennis in the summer.

Favorite weekend night activity: What I love to do is get together with two to three other couples and go somewhere fun downtown — just a cool, hip, young place with good food, good people … like SoHo House or Stanton Social.

If you had to live someplace other than New York City, it would be: I haven't figured that one out, I always wonder where I would go if I didn't want the hectic pace … maybe California, but I'm afraid of earthquakes. Florida's too hot. Outside of the U.S. — I love Italy, so maybe there.

Finish this sentence — "I can't live without…": My daughter and my husband.

What's your biggest extravagance/guilty pleasure?: I have a lot of anti-aging products. I don't want to do surgery. I think I'm one of the few women my age in New York who hasn't had any surgery yet. Not to say anything of mine is drooping — they're pretty perky. But I have lots of skin care products. I mix them all up and I want to create my own brand.

What would you trade your life/lifestyle for?: Nothing. I'm very fortunate, I'm very blessed.

Bethenny Frankel

Stats: Celebrity chef who wants to be the modern, healthy version of Martha Stewart. She's been married once and engaged twice — she calls herself the "runaway bride." Currently dating a Wall Street businessman and living on the Upper East Side.

Favorite cocktail: The skinny girl's margarita. [Her own creation.] Patron silver on the rocks, 4 limes and splash of Cointreau. Clear liquor is better for no hangovers and a thinner waistline. No salt.

Favorite high-end store: I'm not a shopper, I'm very utilitarian. I have high-end clothes but I always have a way … my favorite site right now designersapparel.com. And Ebay. I'm obsessed.

Favorite low-end store: Target and Wal-Mart. Wal-Mart even more than Target because they don't know that they're so chic yet … Forget luxury/non-luxury — I'm obsessed. Costco is like religion to me.

Favorite fast food restaurant: I try to not eat anything with ingredients that I can't pronounce.

Favorite New York restaurant: Craft.

Favorite physical activity/sport: Snowboarding, Surfing, Yoga. In that order.

Favorite weekend night activity: Lay in bed. I don't like going out on weekends. I like locking down on weekends. Everything that I do that's social is networking related. I do not have a social life that doesn't involve work and networking.

If you had to live someplace other than New York City, it would be: Hawaii. It's all pineapples and surfing.Finish this sentence — "I can't live without …": My dog Cookie.

What's your biggest extravagance/guilty pleasure?: Regular facials and blackjack.

What would you trade your life/lifestyle for?: I wouldn't mind living in Hawaii with bleached blonde hair and bleached blonde hair babies.

LuAnn de Lesseps

Stats: A real-life Countess whose French aristocrat husband comes from the family that built the Panama Canal and gave New York City the Statue of Liberty. They live on the Upper East Side and have two kids, ages 10 and 12. A former model, she now works with various charities.

Favorite cocktail: Red wine.

Favorite high-end store: Emmanuel Ungaro.

Favorite low-end store: I kind of like H&M. Sometimes they have great little pieces or accessories.

Favorite fast food restaurant: California Pizza Kitchen, is that fast food?[Ed: no.] Then Burger King, I pull into Burger King sometimes leaving the Hamptons.

Favorite New York restaurant: Serafina.

Favorite physical activity/sport: Skiing in Switzerland. We used to live there.

Favorite weekend night activity: Hopping in my car and driving to the Hamptons. Even in the winter. And if not, I'm flying to Palm Beach.

If you had to live someplace other than New York City, it would be: In the U.S.; Miami. International; Rome.

Finish this sentence — "I can't live without": Traveling, and traveling with my Jimmy Choos. I have ones that are so comfortable that I wear them all the time.

What's your biggest extravagance/guilty pleasure?: A weekly massage. I have a great guy at the gym, or sometimes he comes home.

What would you trade your life/lifestyle for?: Nothing. We really have the best of everything. I am where I want to be at this point.

Alex McCord

Stats: Works in visual merchandising, lives in a Brooklyn brownstone with her hotelier husband and their 4- and 2-year-old sons and works in visual merchandising. Though she's from Kansas and her husband's from Australia, they hired a French au pair to drum the language into their sons' heads.

Favorite cocktail: A glass of champagne.

Favorite high-end store: We tend to do most of our shopping outside of N.Y., in St. Barts, because that's really the only time we have to shop. But we love Louis Vuitton.

Favorite low-end store: We buy a lot of jeans and pajamas for our boys at Baby Gap.

Favorite fast food restaurant: I don't eat fast food. We don't eat anything with stuff in it. No processed food.

Favorite New York restaurant: Boule

Favorite physical activity/sport: Scuba diving.

Favorite weekend night activity: We typically try and spend the weekends with the kids.

If you had to live someplace other than New York City, it would be: London, I love London.

Finish this sentence — "I can't live without": My husband and family.

What's your biggest extravagance/guilty pleasure?: We try not to do anything that we're going to feel guilty about … but perhaps, going out to dinner just the two of us, having a really fantastic meal with a tasting menu and wine. We're hardcore foodies.

What would you trade your life/lifestyle for?: : Nothing. Simon and I have had the opportunity to live in lots of different places. And we love where we're at.