She's not out of the woods quite yet, but Lindsay Lohan is feeling optimistic about her life and her career. In her first post-rehab interview, Lohan sat down with "Extra" on Tuesday night (the second part of the chat from her new Los Angeles home will air Wednesday night) and said she's finally ready to reboot her stalled career.

"I feel great. I feel happy," said the "Mean Girls" actress, who is still facing potential jail time over her alleged [article id="1657729"]theft of a $2,500 necklace[/article]. "There's always things, you know, bumps we have in the road, and as long as I am focusing on the one thing I need to put first in my life, which is my recovery and stuff, and I'm doing good and that's most important for me."

She said she spent her 73 days in [article id="1644902"]treatment[/article] writing and reading and "talking to other people and hearing their stories."

It's been more than a year since [article id="1644341"]Lohan appeared onscreen, in "Machete,"[/article] and the combination of jail time and a stint in rehab have prevented her from working. The latter caused her to lose out on the lead role in the [article id="1652742"]Linda Lovelace biopic, "Inferno,"[/article] but Lohan said she's eager to work again.

"I miss being on set," she said. "I really do miss it. I know there's going to be a lot of steps I'll have to go through to prove myself again and get the trust from people I respect to work with, but I'm willing to do what I have to do to get there because that's my passion." But first, she needs to prove that she can be insurable again, because, she admitted, "I don't think I am right now."

More than anything, Lohan said she wants to get back into the game to make "great films" and tell "great stories," something she's aspired to do her whole life. "Personal instances in my life have gotten in the way," she explained of the multiple hiccups in her once-promising professional career. "But I don't want that to be what I am known for, the tabloid stuff, that's not me. I don't like the attention. I want my attention to come through my films and the work I am doing, not for if I'm going to the hair salon."

[article id="1658531"]Lohan[/article] is due back in court on March 10. The judge in the case has said she will most assuredly face jail time if she accepts a plea deal in the felony grand theft case. Her other option is to roll the dice by pleading not guilty and going to trial.

Lohan has avoided speaking about the case to date, but she did appear on [article id="1658835"]"Jimmy Kimmel Live!"[/article] on Sunday night after the Oscars, where she lampooned the incident.