PUBLIC.

Our trip to NYC was the stuff dreams are made of. Being there with Paul for such a huge event in his professional life was an amazing opportunity and one that I knew I couldn't miss.

Paul started at Vivint Solar about 4 years ago with 4 other guys and a pipe dream to make this huge. They are now the second biggest residential solar company in the country And have about 3,000 employees. It has gone through growing pains and personnel changes and Paul has stuck through all of it. He has been passionate and diligent and was responsible for raising over $780 million and now is the Vice President of Operations and manages so many aspects of the entire company. For the past year or so the goal has been to go public and it's been something that we had talked about so many times, sometimes it seemed attainable and sometimes it seemed doubtful. On September 30th, the night before the IPO we went to dinner in the financial district right down the street from the NYSE building. There, all lit up, were the banners for the next days events- huge and glowing orange. That's when it finally hit me. This was happening! Paul's dream and goal. He had pounded the pavement of the financial district and walked past the NYSE building countless times while raising money to build and grow VS and now here were his colors flying high. I got emotional seeing that and feeling so proud and excited for him.

October 1st was the IPO. It was such a privilege to be at the stock exchange and it was an event I won't forget. We got to the building early in the morning and took pictures outside (in the drizzly rain) and admired the gigantic banners in the daylight. Typical of Vivint's style... They went with the biggest banner possible. We came in and each of us got our special gold badges. Funny story: the people selected to be on the podium had a blue sticker on their badge. It looked like a strip of paunter's tape so when Paul put on his badge he thought "why is this little piece of trash on here?" And ripped it off! Luckily someone noticed and got him a new one. Everything throughout the building was displaying Vivint solar marketing and there were big balloons everywhere. They had brought a bunch of t-shirts and hats and people throughout the building were sporting them. We got to go inside to the NYSE board room. This is the room where men like Carnegie and Rockefeller used to meet on a regular basis. We had breakfast and a couple speeches. There was a buzz in the air and everyone was nervous and excited. After our breakfast they took us down to the trading floor and led the group of about 16 to the podium. That group was made up if executives and board members. They rang the opening bell for the stock exchange on tv then came down and we went to our own area of the floor. We were there for about 20 minutes while the "market makers" did their thing- started collecting info to decide what to price the stock at to open. The initial offering was $16.00 and it opened at $17. Greg Butterfield (CEO) rang a separate bell to signify beginning of public trade and there we were.. VSLR live on the stock market. It was all very exciting and I learned a lot about the stock market standing there on the trading floor right next to brokers talking into their headsets. Afterward we got to your the NYSE building a little. And that was it! Vivint Solar IPOd and it was a huge step towards more great things in the company! It was an exciting and educational experience and such a great event to celebrate and highlight Paul's hard work!

Also on Wednesday we walked around the financial district and crossed the Brooklyn bridge for some yummy pizza. We also went to Magnolia's bakery and got their famed banana bread pudding which was so amazing. That night we had a celebratory dinner and party with the rest of the Vivint group.

We got there late Monday night and went to the Four Seasons where we stayed for the week. Our Room was nice and big, which was especially nice since we also brought Rebekah with us! Bekah was such a lifesaver and was able to watch Maverick for us whenever we had work events or things that we couldn't bring him to. She was so amazing and willing to help and it was so fun having her there and having someone I trusted with little Mav. (Also a huge shout out to my mom who came and watched our other kids at home even though she had only been home like a week and then turned around and came back and made it so fun for them while we were gone!) It was also fun to have Paul's parents meet us there and experience these things with them.

Tuesday we explored around out hotel...the Shops on fifth avenue and Madison and then met up with friends for lunch at serendipity! This was my first experience with the famous frozen hot chocolate and it was delicious! As was my lunch (I got the "summer briese" sandwich) then we did a little more shopping and went back to the hotel. That night Paul and I went to an executive dinner at a steakhouse right by the stock exchange. 

Thursday we went to Norma's and had the most decadent, interesting and amazing breakfast. Then we went to Canal Street to barer a little then walked to the 9/11 Memorial. It was my first time to see he memorial as they were just beginning plans for it last time I was there. It is still not completed but it was really pretty and I'm excited to see it when everything around it is done. It was crazy to walk the streets and think of what it would have been like to see the huge towers among all the other huge buildings fall. That night we went with a big Vivint group to dinner at Rosa Mexicano and then saw Aladdin on broadway.

Friday we rode bikes around Central Park in the morning which was a blast. There was a big group of us and the weather (the whole trip) was amazing. We put Maverick in the front pack and he rode along with Paul and was happy for most the time. After bikes we walked to Greys Papaya for a hot dog (as seen in the movie "Fools Rush In") and then went up the block to Levain bakery for their cookies. Now THOSE were amazing. Probably the most delicious thing I ate the whole trip. Huge cookies and gooey in the center. So yummy. We also had to stop at he "Waffles and Dinges" food truck which is one of the best ones in the city. We got little waffles and ate them at a table in between the Lincoln Center/Juilliard and the Manhattan temple. That night we went to dinner at Capitol Grille, another steakhouse in the financial district. This was one was in a historic bank building and was very masculine and opulent feeling. We ate in a private room that was in the basement of the building that used to be an old deposit room of the bank, so there was a gigantic lock to close the room... we literally ate in a safe! Definitely one of the coolest rooms I've ever eaten in and the food was delicious as well. That night we went to see Les Miserables on broadway and had amazing seats. The singing was excellent, I really enjoyed seeing such a classic on Broadway.

Saturday it got rainy and cold but we had time to squeeze in a trip to Times Square and then lunch and then went to the airport to catch our flight home.