The view north on Roncesvalles. The lights are out south of Howard Park Avenue. (Jeremy Gilbert/CBC)

There are probably 100,000 stories describing the problems people dealt with during the power outage in Toronto — more if you include the hundreds of thousands of commuters who were incovenienced by the disruptions to public transit, street lights and those who lost a day of work.

But Beatrice Lee decided she wasn't going to let –20 C weather and a small thing like a lack of electricty keep her from her daily routine.

She got up at her regular time and set about doing things normally in her Dupont and Lansdowne neighbourhood, in the heart of the western Toronto area hit by a power outage that started at about 10 p.m. Thursday.

"[I] walked my dog in the pitch black darkness, looked down the street and all the street lights were off," she told CBC News.

"I was standing there in compete darkness, a couple of cars going by, police officers driving around in our complex, you know circling the place and then leaving. It was just creepy."

Toronto Hydro estimates about 100,000 people in the area bounded by St. Clair Avenue, Spadina Avenue, Queen Street and Jane Street are affected the lack of power. The lights could be off for 24 hours before service is restored.

When Lee got back home she continued to do things as per normal, including taking her morning shower.

"[I was] lighting candles everywhere and bringing in as much candles as I could into the bathroom and then taking a shower in ice cold water," she said.

"So I was standing on the side of the bathroom, the side of the tub where there was no water falling and soaping myself up and sticking one arm under the water, then sticking the next arm under the water, sticking my legs under the water, slowly getting my shower done."

"Washing the hair was not fun, I can tell you. Brain freeze! It's still frozen right now."

Finally, before heading out to catch the TTC, Lee had to do one more thing — her makeup.

"My makeup is not fully done," she explained.

"And I learned the hard way when you do your eyes and like when you do your eyebrows with eyeliner, do not hold a candle up close where you can see better because your hair kinda gets singed."