Sure she missed out on some birthday cake and bonfires at the beach, but Lindsay Lohan’s jail stint would be considered a luxurious laid-back vacation for most people. The “Mean Girls” actress was allowed to hang out at her $7,000 a month Venice Beach rental house in lieu of jail time after she borrowed a necklace from a jewelry store without permission, an oversight that violated her probation from a 2007 drunk driving conviction. “I was really upset not being able to go to my little brother’s birthday party. He just turned 16. That bummed me out,” she said.

Despite her deprivations, Lohan got to relax during her house arrest by curling up on the couch with her favorite TV shows and even managed to make some rent money starring in a commercial for an Internet penny auction website. In the 15-second spot, the home-shackled Lohan claims to have discovered this “amazing site” while taking her legal lumps. The lucky actress not only pocketed $25,000 for her enthusiastic endorsement, she also received $10,000 to spend on the site’s auctions. Sure beats bartering for smokes in jail.

Lohan has also spent some of her house arrest time entertaining buddies with a rooftop barbecue, followed by a collective viewing of “Keeping Up With the Kardashians” — a TV show that some might view as a form of punishment.

Not all fans felt sorry for Lohan’s house arrest ordeal. Said one sarcastic commenter on TMZ, “Gee, this seems really dreadful for her. . . . I hope she can survive the remaining two weeks. Poor thing.”

The star of “The Parent Trap” should be sprung from her house arrest a few days before her 25^th birthday on July 2, a date that coincidentally falls two days shy of the holiday on which America celebrates its independence. Lohan watchers likely wonder whether the trouble-prone actress will use her own new-found freedom more wisely after she is cut loose from the confines of her cozy home or create more fireworks for herself.

The paparazzi pet makes no promises. When asked if she were through with nightclubs forever, Lohan declined to commit: “I don’t think you should ever say never.”

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