It's been a while since we checked in on my girl Lindsay Lohan. The last time she graced this column with her presence was back in November 2011, when she was heading to court to deal with theft charges and parole violations.

But it seems like Lohan may have genuinely gotten herself back on the straight and narrow in the past few weeks, beginning with her grabbing the role of Elizabeth Taylor in Lifetime's upcoming production (it probably won't win her any Oscars, but it's a start!) and culminating with her hosting Saturday Night Live last weekend.

This was Lohan's fourth time hosting the show. Her last appearance as host was in 2006, when she was on the verge of her spiral into drug addiction. Since then, she has been in and out of jail and rehab multiple times, and the show has had no trouble making fun of her for it.

But Lohan didn't seem to have any hard feelings and began the show with an opening monologue during which other cast members approached her to tell her how pleased they were that she was hosting—while humorously checking to see if Lohan would really make it through the whole gig.

Kristen Wiig gave Lohan a long hug that soon turned into a frisking, Kenan Thompson checked to see if she was high by shining a flashlight in her eyes and SNL alum Jimmy Fallon popped in to tell Lohan that Mad Men's Jon Hamm was on call if she flaked out during the show. Lohan took it all in stride and with good humor.

Later in the show, Lohan popped into the recurring "Scared Straight" sketch, playing herself as she and Thompson attempted to scare a few young men caught stealing a bicycle with ominous tales about the consequences of theft, a path that Lindsay said ends "in Malibu in rehab."

Lohan also appeared in a sketch mocking the Real Housewives series, in which she played Rapunzel in Real Housewives of Disney. Sadly, there were no musical numbers.

While Lohan is still a far cry from where she was at the height of her career, her hosting gig marked the beginning of what I hope is an upward swing for her. As much as I love to make fun of her, she got a second chance (well, really a fifth or sixth), and I hope this time she uses it well.