But there were downsides to the Terror Island storyline. For starters, her love interest, Mark (actor Nick Stabile) was murdered. "It was very hard losing Nick," says Garita. "I still miss him. He's a great actor. It wasn't just 'hurry up and get on stage and do your thing.' We'd get together in the dressing room and rehearse, which is exciting for an actor. Sometimes you forgo that here because you're running around. We'd always make a point to sit down and work through it."

Garita also vividly recalls a moment during Terror Island where she lost it so much that she feared they might make her the killer's next victim. "I was doing a scene with Susan Ward (Meg) and for some reason I got the giggles!" Garita explains. "I couldn't look Susan in the eye. I'd have to look off to the side or I'd start laughing. I was so bad! Gary (Tomlin, Executive Producer) was directing that day and I was like, 'I'm going to get fired!' After a while, everyone else was laughing. My shoulders were shaking. I had tears coming down."

When they called a break, Garita immediately pulled herself together. "I said, 'I can do this. Just give me a few minutes.' And I got through it."

Being a bit of a troublemaker has always been a part of Garita's makeup. She grew up in Ansonia, Conn., with five sisters and a dad who did his best to keep his daughters in line. "I was very innocent in my parents' eyes, but we did a lot of stuff behind the scenes that they weren't aware of," she confesses. Such as? "We used to sneak out at night and meet the boys down at the Ansonia Mall."

Though she always dreamed of being an actress, Garita got a marketing degree from the University of Connecticut. "I really wanted to be an actress but I didn't think my parents would accept that," she says. "I thought, well, I have to make them proud of me and make lots of money and I guess I'm good at math so I'll do marketing. And I hated it, I hated it, I hated it."

After graduation, she moved straight to New York City to pursue her acting dream. She soon landed several theatrical jobs, including one with the Puerto Rican Traveling Theater, and appeared at the Yale Repertory Theater in New Haven, Conn. Her first TV job was a Mennen Teen Spirit shampoo commercial, after which she got small roles on All My Children (she was the first Anita Santos) and As The World Turns as Rita, a bad girl she played for three days.

She was waitressing at the Hard Rock Cafe in Manhattan when she got the news she'd won the role of Gabi. "As soon as I got this job, I called the Hard Rock and said, 'I'm resigning! I'm gone!'" she remembers.

Garita vividly recalls her audition for SUN in New York. "It was absolute madness," she confesses with a laugh. "I just went in and they said 'Perfect.' I went back a few hours later and put it on tape. They said 'Perfect. Don't change it!' I was like, 'Just tell me what I did!'"

Whatever she did, she did it right, and soon she was nicely nestled in Brentwood, near co-star Ward. "I don't know if I'm going to stay," she says of her neighborhood. "I love it near the water. I've been going to the beach a lot more, but I also love going to West Hollywood and the Hills. Brentwood can get really boring."

Brentwood may be the only thing boring about her life. "It's changed a lot in the last 12 months," Garita reflects. "I have a lot better perspective because it's not all new to me. Just like any job, you're aware of what to expect a little bit more."

One of the added bonuses of a steady gig is a steady paycheck - and Garita is determined to spend her earnings wisely. "It's not like I am going out and buying a great car or house, although I'll treat myself once in awhile," she says. "Or if my mom comes out to visit, I'll treat her to a massage."

In her downtime, Garita has been trying to spend her hours outdoors and catch up on her reading. "I'm trying to organize myself," she confesses, adding that the one place you won't find her lately is at the gym. "It's so damn hard to get to," says the actress, who's a remarkable size 0! "I'm so lazy out here."

She also enjoys spending time with her fellow castmates. "I hang out with Sherri (Vanessa) and Tim (Casey). We relate really well because we're all from the East Coast and made the transition around the same time. I've been up to Hank Cheyne's place a couple of times - I love it! I want to move in, but he's not letting me!"

"I wish she was a little bigger so she could lift heavier things on the ranch," jokes the happily married Cheyne.

Garita has also been going out on auditions when she can find the time. "I want to do film," she says. "Because of all the downtime on SUN, I get a little antsy. I'm a workaholic."

Her latin heritage - her parents are Costa Rican - makes Garita doubly employable. "I'm fluent in Spanish," she says, adding that it probably helped her land Gabi. "I wanted to make the character more authentic. I grew up speaking Spanish. When I get angry, I instinctively lash out in Spanish!"

While Gabi hasn't been lashing out lately, Garita wouldn't mind bringing her back to the naughty side. "Nice is like in real life - it can get boring after a while," she says. "You need some excitement."